Page 104 of Unforgiving Queen

I stared up at him, refusing to move, and heat curled inside me.

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do,” I hissed.

Of course he ignored me, ushering me out of the restaurant area and down the dark corridor. It was the worst place to find yourself with an ex-lover.

Amon, dressed in a three-piece black suit, was devastatingly handsome. His dark eyes burned into mine in a way that seared my blood. His dark hair was tamed into a neat style, my fingers itching to touch it. I wanted to tug on it as I brought his lips to mine.

All the pain and humiliation he’d put me through, and I still wanted to orbit him. Be part of his universe as he was mine.

A group of women passed us by, their eyes drawn in by the chiseled lines of his cheekbones and his tall, intimidating frame. The jealous side of me wanted to claw their eyes out.

But Amon’s eyes never wavered, all his attention fixed on me. Something shifted in the air between us.

His eyes caressed their way down my body, only to return to my face.

“Nice dress. I missed your light.” Was he mocking me? “Pink should be the only color you wear, cinnamon girl.”

My heart tripped. He hadn’t called me that since—

It hurt to think about it, but it was all the reminder I needed.

“You don’t get to call me that anymore.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Who’s going to stop me?” God, I hated him. It was definitely a thin line between love and hate.

He made me hungry for his affection and his love, and I hated him for that. For making me feel this way. For craving him.

“I don’t want to spend another second in your company.” I turned to leave when he grabbed my wrist. Maybe it was because it was the first time I’d been touched in three years, or maybe it was because it washim. His grip felt like a band of fire leaking into my bloodstream. “You are history. I’m looking to the future.”

His teeth clenched. “This…Us… It will never be over. You and I, we belong like the stars and the moon. Like the tides in the ocean.”

My lungs hitched. I had craved the words for so many years, and now he was offering them to me. Just like that.

But it was too late. I was his brother’s now. Okay, not really, but I couldn’t just forget about the arranged marriage situation. Nor the way he broke my heart.

“Then tell me why?” I breathed. “Give me a good reason. Just know that I will never be yours again.”

There were times over the last three years when I would feel like I’d moved on, but then I’d remember his smiles and his words and fall right back in love with him. I couldn’t afford to be that naive, romantic girl anymore.

A flicker of something passed through his dark eyes, soft and soul-wrenching. It was something I’d seen in my own eyes each time I looked in the mirror. But I didn’t dare believe it.

Fool me once and all that.

“I can’t,” he gritted. “But believe me when I say you are the only woman I want.”

We held each other’s eyes while something heavy brewed inside my chest.

“You’re three years too late, Amon,” I whispered. “You broke me, and now you can’t fix me.” I whirled around, not able to look at him anymore, scared I’d cave if I let myself gaze into his eyes for too long. But he refused to let me go. He moved closer, his jacket brushing my bare arm. “I hate you.”

I took a small step back.

“Tell me how much, cinnamon girl.” His lips tilted up.

God, that nickname. I hated it. Ishouldhate it.

“I can’t stand you.”

“That’s a pity.”