“Please don’t tell your brother about this,” he pleaded, a hint of fear tightening his features. I frowned, not expecting that to be the last thing he said to me tonight.
“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “I’m not going to tell anybody about this.” He hung his head and scrubbed a hand over his face, his eyes full of regret. Before he could say anything else, I stepped inside and shut the door, shutting him out entirely.
We never spoke of the incident, pretending it never happened. But he came over less and less, most likely to avoid running into me. When he was there, I found a reason not to be. When he left for college, I breathed a sigh of relief, glad not to have to face him, or what I thought was the biggest blunder of my romantic life.
Turned out, I was capable of far worse.
Dalton
“I can’t believe she called off the wedding with only five days to go!” Aiden fumed from the corner of the island, both hands braced against the marble, his jaw clamped tight as he shook his head.
My eyes remained locked on the counter, varying hues of grey, silver, and white swirling over the speckled surface. I let the tranquil pattern lull me into a false sense of peace. I should’ve been fuming, too. “At least she didn’t leave me standing at the altar,” I mumbled before taking a swig of my beer. “Silver lining, I guess,” I offered with a shrug, still in shock from the bomb my fiancé – well, ex fiancé now – dropped on me two nights ago.
Gianna and I had been engaged for nearly two years. Our wedding was supposed to go off without a hitch this weekend. She and her mother had planned everything down to the last detail. The caterer was booked and had been paid months ago. Our venue was the most sought-after wedding destination in the city. We’d secured our date and paid our deposit as soon as I slipped that ring on her finger. The wait list was a mile long, and if we hadn’t secured our spot that very moment, we would’ve missed out on the prime date during peak wedding season. Thank God her parents were footing the bill for everything else except the honeymoon, because it put a serious dent in my savings, but I was more than willing to do whatever made her happy.
Too bad it wasn’t enough.
“How can you be so calm about this?” Aiden asked incredulously. “She called off your fucking wedding!” he nearly shouted. “After everything was paid for! You’re never getting that money back!”
I brought my hand to my face, pinching my brows together before scrubbing my fingers over my stubble-covered jaw. I hadn’t shaved since that night, the night my world came crashing down on me.
Two nights ago
“I can’t do it, Dalton,” Gianna announced from across the table. We were at Exeter having dinner before everything became so hectic that we wouldn’t have time to share a nice meal together until the rehearsal dinner.
“Can’t do what, babe?” I asked before placing the bite of steak I had just sliced away into my mouth and chewing.
“I can’t marry you.”
My jaw froze mid bite and my gaze settled on hers. She wrung the napkin in her hands furiously, her lips pulled into a regretful frown.
I forced down the inadequately chewed morsel and set my fork on the plate. “I’m sorry,” I croaked, shaking my head. Surely I hadn’t heard her correctly. “What was that?”
“I’m calling off the wedding. I don’t want to get married.”
A warm, metallic taste filled my mouth as I took in her distressed expression. I realized finally, when my cheek began to sting, that I’d bitten down so hard on the inside of it that I’d drawn blood.
“Don’t you think that would’ve been important to tell me months ago?” I asked, my shock swiftly turning to fury. “You know, before I spent thousands of dollars to give you your dream wedding and honeymoon?” I threw my napkin down, my appetite suddenly gone.
“I’m sorry,” she whined. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Don’t you think this is hurting me?” My anger turned to panic as the pain of what she’d said finally started to seep into my chest. “Gianna, we’re getting married in less than a week. If you’re getting cold feet, we can talk about it. We’ll get through this.”
“Were,” she replied.
“What?”
“We were getting married,” she corrected. “I didn’t want to do this to you, but I’ve met someone else.”
The rage returned, hot and insistent, ready to boil over the edge. I flexed my jaw and covered my mouth with my hand. I wanted to yell at her, to shake some sense into her, but I couldn’t. She had me at a disadvantage. We were in public and the last thing I wanted was to cause a scene. She’d planned this out well.
“Who is he?” I asked between gritted teeth, ready to commit murder.
“That’s not important.”
“The hell it isn’t!” My voice rose, drawing the attention of diners at other tables.
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed.
“How can you expect me to stay calm when you’ve just told me you have a side piece and you’re cancelling our wedding – which, by the way, is only five days from now – because of him?”
“He’s not a side piece,” she said, her mouth tightening in irritation. “We have a real connection.”
Was this really happening? Was my fiancé really throwing away the last three and a half years of our lives together to be with someone she had a real connection with? What. The. Fuck.
“Look Dalton, things have been going downhill between us for a long time now,” she began, and I frowned. What the hell is she talking about? Our relationship was great. “Antonio makes me feel special. He makes me feel like you used to. I think I need to give what’s blossoming between us a chance.”
I’d heard enough. I couldn’t listen to another word of this nonsense. Scooting my chair back, I stood and pulled several bills from my wallet, tossing them down on the table. I didn’t know who this woman was, but she wasn’t my Gianna, that much was clear.
“You’re making a big mistake,” I told her calmly; not threatening, not warning, just informing. She would regret this. She’d always been impulsive, but never with anything as important or life changing as this. Maybe if she took a day to think on it and got a good night’s rest, things would be clearer for her in the morning.
But they weren’t clearer. Less than twenty-four hours after breaking off our engagement, she moved Antonio into her condo and all that was left of her memories with me were packed in a cardboard box and sent to my office.
What was supposed to be the happiest week of my life turned into a living nightmare.
***
“What am I supposed to do? I already lost my shit,” I confessed, shame filling my chest. “There’s currently a hole the size of my fist in the drywall next to my bathroom mirror.” Aiden’s eyes widened and snapped to my face. Ugh, why did I just admit that?
“Totally understandable, man. Sometimes you just gotta let the demons out,” he offered in understanding. “She’s been keeping some other guy’s dick wet. I’m surprised you didn’t rip the sink off the wall.”