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“You said you were going out to meet your friends,” he says.

“And you said you were staying in for the night,” I counter.

We kept things from each other, and it’s going to be our downfall. There’s no going back to the way things used to be. Everything has fallen apart now. Nothing is fixable.

“Are you going to fire me?” I ask him.

He’s quiet for a moment.

“No,” he says. “We’re just going to go back to the way things were. We’re both adults here. We can pretend none of this ever happened and move on with our lives.”

I wish he had the guts to remove me from his life. That would be easier to deal with than whatever’s to come.

I stare out the window for the rest of the drive.

He’s sitting right next to me, but there might as well be oceans between us.

40

KLAUS

The image of Emma dancing with another man plays in my head on a loop.

I want to scream at her. I want to confront her and ask her how she could do this to me. I want to ask her why she let me down like this.

But instead, I retreat inside myself.

Alaric sits across from me. I told him he didn't have to come over, but he invited himself over anyway. I'm not going to lie, having him here helps a little. With him around, it no longer feels like the world is going to end.

"What the hell am I going to do now?" I ask, flipping the ring box open. I can't believe I thought she was the one for me.

"Okay, this will probably backfire, but I'm going to throw something out there," he says. "Do you think it's possible that you might be overreacting?"

"Are you kidding me?" I ask. "You were the one who told me the truth about her. You were right all along."

He looks at me with sad eyes. "I usually take joy in being right, but this isn't one of those times. I never wanted it to end like this."

"I saw her dancing with another man," I say. "Who knows what else she would have done if I hadn't stepped in?"

"The two of you had a whirlwind romance," he says. "I don't think you even had a chance to speak about things like being exclusive to each other."

"It was implied," I say.

"Maybe for you," he says. "Because believe it or not, people can't read your mind, Klaus."

"It was fucking implied, man," I say. "I knew it, and she knew it."

"Fine." He clears his throat. "There's one more thing I need to tell you."

"I don't know if I can handle any more, Alaric," I say.

"I told you that Emma took a client at Elysium," he says. "I just found out tonight that the client was you. She was the girl who came up to your room that one time. It was the first time she was anything more than a cocktail waitress at the club."

"I know."

"Youknew?" he asks.

"I didn't realize it until tonight," I say."She was wearing a mask at the time, so I didn't recognize her. I wish I had. I would've known then that it was all about the money to her. She's just another girl who tried to play me."