Page 137

DINARA

Weeks drag into months,and somehow, despite everything, Cillian and I fall into the same pattern. We meet at the club, pretending it’s nothing more than coincidence. Pretending we didn’t come looking for each other.

But the truth is, we both know what’s coming. We always end up the same way: lost in one another, surrendering to an all-consuming pull that neither of us can resist.

I tell myself it’s just a fix, nothing more. A quick escape from the ache that haunts both of us. We’re two bodies, tangled in passion, searching for something we’ll never find again.

But who am I kidding? The moment I leave him, when I get home and the silence settles around me, the emptiness comes. It always does.

I want the man he used to be. The one who held me close and looked at me like I mattered. But now we’re just strangers.

I know what’s best for me. I know I should stop going to that damn club. I should walk away, save myself from this torment. But instead, I find myself falling back into bad habits, back into his arms, where it’s easier to pretend that nothing has changed. That he hasn’t broken my heart.

“Dinara.” Konstantin’s voice cuts through the fog of my thoughts.

The sound of his fork scraping against the dinner plate grates on my nerves, but his next words hit harder.

“You and Cillian seem to be enjoying each other’s company again, I see.”

I stiffen, aware of every gaze around the table shifting toward me.

My sister suppresses a smile, no doubt having heard what I’ve been up to from Natalia.

“It’s nothing.” I keep my tone neutral as I reach for my glass of water, hoping it’ll cool the heat crawling up my neck.

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.” Aleksei’s voice is rough, laced with dark amusement. “But I don’t understand why you’re still wasting your time with him.”

Neither do I.

I don’t have an answer.

Konstantin doesn’t let it go, his focus unwavering as he turns to me. “So, there’s no chance at reconciliation?”

I swallow hard. “None.”

He chews slowly, considering my answer before cutting into his steak again. “Hmm. That’s a pity. I was really hoping for an alliance between our families, but maybe Cillian isn’t the right one.” He glances at me, a sharp look in his eyes. “I think it’s best we find you a more suitable match from the Quinn family.”

What?! He can’t be serious.

The words slam into me like a freight train, knocking the air from my lungs. A suitable match…from the Quinn family.

This can’t be happening.

The room tilts for a second, my stomach twisting violently. I nearly push back from the table, but somehow, I stay seated even as my muscles coil tight, ready to spring.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” My tone is sharp, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface of the fury bubbling inside me.

Konstantin doesn’t even flinch. He simply cuts into his steak, lifting the bite to his mouth with a maddening calmness, as if he didn’t just rip my future from my hands and place it on a platter for someone else to claim.

He finally acknowledges me, dropping his fork with an infuriatingly casual clink. “What do you mean? Did you think I wouldn’t arrange a match for you? It’s what we do, Dinara. You know that. So does your sister.”

His gaze flickers to Tatiana, who looks away quickly.

“And I still have every intention of making this alliance between us and the Quinns a reality,” Konstantin finishes with an air of finality.

A pressure builds in my chest, like something too big trying to fit in too small a space.

How can he treat me like this? How is he the same man who once bought me my own place and told me I could date whoever I wanted as long as I was safe? Now he’s deciding my future like my wants don’t matter at all.