"Ahhh... well... you see..." he sighed, as though searching for the right words. "You are so special to me that you would always be in my thoughts, in my heart, no matter what happened."
"Stop with the sweet talk! Tell me how you got my number!" I was struggling with the urge to find out where he was.
"Oh! You see, I know a girl who works for a certain mafia gang." He sounded as though he was proud of himself. "She is really close with him. He trusts her enough to share his time with her."
He's talking about me! It's definitely about me!
His words stirred up a wave of unfamiliar emotions that were rushing through my veins—anger, hatred, and hurt.
"I really do love you so much," Damian continued in his overly dramatic voice. "I'll always love you so much. It was just a silly misunderstanding; I was wrong to have reacted that way. Please don't be angry with me."
I was holding on to my anger as tightly as possible. The more I listened to him, the more I wanted to wrap my fingers around his neck and strangle him slowly with his own words. I wanted to kill him with the words he had just uttered.
"You bastard!" I growled under my breath, turning my attention briefly to Tristan, who was still rummaging around in the grass for stones.
I guess I need to wrap this up quickly; Tristan doesn't seem to be in a good mood.
"Darling, you know how much I love you. You know that..."
"I couldn't care less what you feel or think!" My lowered voice was shrill with anger, and my heart was pounding hard against my chest.
I hated him for making me remember how much I had loved him once and for making me remember the pain that had caused me.
"I... I know..." he murmured softly before adding, "Please forgive me."
"So... what is it you want? Why are you calling me?" I demanded.
"Well, um, you know... we didn't part on bad terms. There was a misunderstanding—"
Why does he keep calling what happened a misunderstanding?
"A misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding? And don't try to act all nice now, because you are not fooling me," I interjected, shaking my head. "It was more than a misunderstanding."
"I know... but—"
"What? You're going to tell me it was all a big misunderstanding?" My voice was growing louder, and my frustration was rising with each word. "You're going to tell me you were only joking around when you left me in that room? You're going to tell me that when you said I'm not allowed to see you again, you were just playing? That all those things you did... were all part of your twisted sense of humor?"
There was silence on the line.
As I thought, he was still the same inconsiderate and manipulative bastard as ever.
"You bastard!" I shouted through the phone before hanging up.
I glared at the phone in my hand as though Damian were standing right next to me.
I let out a deep breath, then another, before continuing walking towards Tristan, who was now staring at me with eyes narrowed in anger.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he rose to his feet and walked towards me, taking my hand in his strong grasp.
I looked up at him, hoping he would understand. He understood me better than anyone else. But instead of sharing the burden of what had just happened, I closed my eyes and leaned my head on his shoulder. "Nothing."
A moment of silence passed between us before he gently pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. "Please don't keep this from me. I could help, you know. What's wrong?" He whispered against my ear, his breath warm and soothing.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat before speaking softly in a trembling voice, "That bastard called."
"The one who caused you so much pain?"
"Yes." My voice was barely audible, even to my own ears.
His grip tightened around my shoulders. "Tell me."
I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing so that it didn't sound as heavy as it was. "His name is Damian."
He tensed at the mention of his name, and his expression turned grim.
I kept my eyes closed as I continued, "He... he... he said he had always loved me, and that what happened between us was just a misunderstanding... that he would always love me..." I swallowed hard. "And it sounded as though... as though he wanted to patch things up."
There was a long pause before I felt Tristan's body shudder slightly and a deep growl vibrate from his chest.
"And what did you say?" he asked in a low tone that sent shivers down my spine.
I swallowed hard again before opening my eyes. His eyes were burning with rage, and his jaw was clenched tight.
"What could I say?" I whispered helplessly. "I didn't know what to say! He made me feel things for him again—he made me remember that everything that happened between us wasn't real." My voice cracked, and tears formed in my eyes.
Why?
Why am I reacting so irrationally right now? Is this some side effect of my pregnancy?
"How could I tell him that he's still a stranger to me when my plan for revenge is still on the line? He didn't care about me enough to remember that night I was left in the rain to fend for myself! Because of that, I'm with a ch..."
Shoot!
I had almost spilled that little secret.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my quivering lips. "He didn't deserve an answer!"
Tristan pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly as I cried into his shoulder. His fingers traced circles on the back of my neck, and he whispered soothing words in my ear. "Shh... it's okay. Everything is okay..." he murmured as his warm hands massaged my back, slowly soothing the tension away.
After a while, I stopped crying and fell asleep in his arms as his warm embrace wrapped around me like a comforting blanket.
Even in my sleep, I had managed to mutter words, which on a normal day would have been embarrassing to say the least.
"Please stay by my side forever."