He gathered up his clothes and dressed quickly, keeping his back to her.
“Is everything OK?” Her confused tone cutting him like a knife.
“It will be,” Lucian turned and steeled himself for the pain he was about to inflict, “thank you for this evening Miss. Daxton, however, I have business that I need to attend to.”
“Lucian, what’s going on?” She asked, her eyes searching back and forth over his.
“I no longer require your presence. Once again, thank you for a most pleasurable time, but I must insist that you leave.”
“Oh erm, OK, I guess I’ll be in my room,” Katherine picked up her satin robe and wrapped it around herself tightly, “I’ll see you tomorrow evening?”
The hurt in her eyes was too much to bear and Lucian turned away and opened the door to his suite, gripping the heavy wood tightly to stop himself from reaching out to her.
“You misunderstand me, Miss. Daxton. I am no longer interested in the contract with which we agreed upon. I will seek to retrieve your father so that his debt can be settled. I request that you leave my estate within the hour.”
“What?!” Katherine stammered. “You’re letting me go? Why?”
“I’m bored and wish for you to leave.”
“You’re bored? That’s it, you get one good fuck and you’re bored,” Katherine spat out, stepping into his space and glaring up at him
“Please leave, Miss. Daxton,” Lucian gritted out. He looked to the wall behind where she stood, unable to look her in the eye.
“Not until you tell me what the Hell is going on, Lucian.”
“You are not in a position to make demands of me.”
“Like Hell I’m not, we just shared everything with each other Lucian, don’t you dare try to tell me that none of that meant anything to you.”
Darkness swelled and poured over him, the pain he was inflicting threatened to destroy his resolve, he drew the darkness around him like a cloak.
“It was fun. Your father was quite correct, once you loosen up a little, you are most charming.”
A hard slap whipped across his face. Lucian inwardly cursed, knowing that her hand would hurt a great deal more than his face did.
“Don’t fucking lie to me,” Katherine shouted at him, cradling her hand to her chest, “you promised me honesty.”
“Yes, and it was almost disappointing how easily you believed me,” Lucian felt as though his soul were being shredded as he tore into hers, “still, the end result was satisfying, regardless of how easy a conquest you turned out to be.”
“Lucian. Don’t do this, you can’t mean that,” Katherine pleaded.
“I would have you address me by the title which I hold.”
“Stop it.”
“I am putting a stop to it, now do as I have requested and leave,” Lucian forced the words out.
“Look at me, Lucian. Look at me and tell me you don’t care. Look at me and tell me you want me to leave,” Katherine demanded.
Lucian closed his eyes and steeled his resolve. He needed to be the abhorrent beast that everyone thought him to be so that he could give her what she deserved. Her life: uninterrupted and free. He shut away his feelings and opened his eyes to look at her. The pain and destruction he had caused shone back at him from behind her golden-brown gaze that could command his very soul.
“Leave.”
It was all he could muster. His hand held onto the door with all his might as he watched the last remnants of hope dim in her eyes.
Katherine blinked back her tears and nodded silently.
“Goodbye, Lord Nightingale,” she whispered quietly, her voice void of any feeling, “thank you for your hospitality.”
She slipped from the room and he finally released his hold on the door, his feet moving on their own accord, following her to the stairs so he could watch her retreating back as she descended the dark and winding steps.
His heart broke. He desperately wanted to go after her and beg her forgiveness but the damage was done now. The love she had professed for him just an hour ago was already dead. The only thing left for him to do was honour her by doing as he intended, give her the protection she would need to live out the rest of her life as she deserved.
Lucian spun on his heel and gathered up his phone. He held it to his ear, as he waiting for the call to connect.
“Lucian, to what do I owe the pleasure, at… two in the morning?” The gravelly voice of the Darkhills Alpha answered him.
“Cayden, I need you to do something for me.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Katherine
Katherine angrily swiped away her tears as she pulled out of the underground garage. She’d taken the only car she felt Lucian wouldn’t miss, a beat-up, rusty-looking truck that had clearly seen better days. The deep rumble of the engine vibrated through her arms where she held on tightly to the steering wheel.
She was an idiot. He had broken her just as she feared he might. It was all her fault, she should’ve listened to her head and not her heart and now, now her heart was a mess. She had fallen for him only to be played like a fool and it seemed her foolishness didn’t end there because she still loved him. She felt it in every tear and every curse she uttered. She had opened herself up to love and now the stupid, pathetic, stubborn emotion refused to leave her alone.
She crunched the gears as she sped away across the bridge over the canyon. She glanced in her rearview mirror for one last look at Tumbricane and squinted as she could’ve sworn she saw the shadow of a man standing at one of the large windows.
He had dismissed her. Told her to leave. There was no reason why he would be watching her go, other than to make sure she was off his property. She focused her eyes back on the road ahead and slowed her speed, growling out in
