Page 37 of Claimed Gem
Damon arched a brow and then sighed, “I need to speak with Ries.”
“Uhm…he’s not here.”
“Ries is not there and yet he left his computer unlocked with you? My brother continues to amaze me.”
“I can tell him you called,” she offered, biting her tongue to avoid saying something she’d regret.
“No, that won’t be necessary. Although, there is something you could do for me. For all of us, including Ries.”
Stephanie slowly nodded. The thought of being useful was enticing but she didn’t trust Damon’s tone of voice. “Okay. Shoot.”
“You already know that my brother is a playboy of the worst sort and has had a succession of girlfriends. He’s incapable of committing himself to only one relationship and usually is already started on the next one before he ever completely breaks it off with his current paramour.
“And then he has the gall to act heartbroken, which only serves to draw more women to his side to soothe his broken heart. He doesn’t seem to know how to do anything but manipulate people’s emotions.”
Stephanie digested his words. This was a strange thing for Damon to talk to her about – he hadn’t exactly given off the vibe that he was interested in her feelings.
“Why are you telling me this?” She demanded.
Damon sighed again, running his fingers through his perfectly coiffed hair. For a moment, the expression on his face was almost human. “Look,” he said, “you seem like a nice kid, and I don’t believe you want to hurt my brother. But you deserve someone a little more mature than him. Being unreliable and reckless is kind of his thing. I would hate to see you get hurt because he’s a careless jerk.”
Stephanie was shocked. She wasn’t sure if it was because Damon was acting human or because he was saying such awful things about Ries. “How can you say those things about your own brother? You clearly don’t know Ries like I do. He’s a good man.” But even as Stephanie spoke, doubts crept into her mind. She remembered how cold he had been. How tyrannical. How distant. Perhaps he was not so unlike his brother Damon after all.
“Because they’re true,” Damon said simply. “If you want to protect yourself from being mistreated, you need to leave. That would be the best thing for you, and also for Ries. Things are getting dangerous, and the longer you two continue to ignore the obvious…”
“Which is?” Stephanie interrupted him.
“That there is no future between the two of you. My brother is incapable of making long-term plans. The sooner you both realize that, the less it will hurt when you rip the Band-Aid off and goyour separate ways. You’re already emotionally invested in him as I believe he is with you. The longer you prolong things , the more the split will hurt. Best to do it soon and abruptly.”
“I’ll take that under consideration,” she murmured coolly.
“You do that.” Damon’s face told her that he didn’t believe her, yet also expected the inevitable split to come soon. “I’ll call Ries on his cell. Goodbye and have a good life, as I don’t expect we’ll meet again.”
Stephanie stared at the screen as Damon’s face faded away. She couldn’t believe his audacity.
Stephanie sat at the desk, her mind conjuring up how she might feel if Ries was ever to reject her. She would be devastated.
The thought of leaving Ries, even with the distance he kept putting between them, hurt. But she knew it would only hurt more the longer she stuck around. Could any relationship founded on an assassination plot last? Or would they realize they were too different as soon as the threat had passed?
Ries would be angry with her for putting herself in danger if she left, but Damon’s words about how Ries normally started distancing himself from his current woman before dumping her were loud in her head.
Was that what he was doing, and he was only waiting until the danger was over to send her away with a clean conscience
Stephanie decided her heart couldn’t risk that kind of rejection. Not after everything they’d been through. She wandered back toward the bedroom she’d been using and began to pack her belongings, tucking her clothing into a bag she’d found tucked away at the bottom of the closet.
She emptied the dresser drawers and started on the clothes hanging in the closet. Ries had been very thorough when retrieving her belongings, bringing everything she’d owned. He’d also bought her a few new things.
“It is nothing to me,” he’d said. “And you deserve to have more options than this.”
She’d only brought along clothing, toiletries, and a few books when she’d left the States for Greece, tucking everything else that had been worth keeping in a storage unit. She’d paid for the first year and figured that after a year in Greece, she would have a better idea of what her future plans were.
She took care folding things up and placing them in the bag. Once it was full, she retrieved her suitcase from beneath the bed and began filling it with her shoes and remaining clothing.
She kept one eye on the clock sitting on the bedside table, guessing she still had a few hours before Ries would return.
This is better for both of us. He won’t need to worry about me anymore, and I won’t grow dependent on him.
The only thing she hadn’t figured out was how to get past the guards Ries had protecting her.Carlos was stationed at the ground floor, just outside the elevator. She had not tried leaving the apartment complex after her first attempt when Carlos stood guard outside the penthouse door .