A Love That Never Existed Chapter 37
“I know none of this brings Petra back. I know it doesn’t undo what you went through.” Damiel said. “But it’s the most I have to give.”
“And Yvosha… you do still feel something for me, don’t you?”
He looked at her, his voice almost certain of itself.
“You came back. You went after my company… you did all of this to get even, to make me suffer, to make me regret it, didn’t you? But I already regretted it. Five years now, and I haven’t had one decent night’s sleep. Every time I shut my eyes, I see you. You always wanted me to fall for you. Well – congratulations. You won.”
He raised his hand, reaching to touch her face.
“Surely the anger has burned itself out by now. Come back to me. Let’s begin again, all right?”
Yvosha simply looked at him, as if she were watching an oddly staged one-man performance.
Only when his fingers were a breath from her skin did she step back.
“Mr. Vorretti,” she said evenly, “I think you’ve misread the situation.”
Damiel’s outstretched hand stopped in midair, and what color was left in his face began to leak away.
“Revenge? Making you suffer?”
Yvosha let out a quiet laugh.
“Damiel, you think a great deal more of yourself than you should. Everything I did, I did for Petra – and to take back what belonged to my mother. Whether you suffer along the way, whether you spend the rest of your life regretting it… what does any of that have to do with me?”
Damiel’s hand drifted slowly back to his side.
“You can keep denying it.”
His voice dropped.
“But there are some things that can’t be performed. Yvosha, can you look me in the eye and tell me that in those three years, you felt absolutely nothing for me?”
The smile slipped off Yvosha’s face.
“Nothing.”
“That’s impossible!” Damiel’s voice broke. “If you didn’t love me, why did you put yourself through all of that? Why walk barefoot to the church? Why give me your blood? Why-“
“For the money.”
Yvosha’s soft voice cut neatly through his outburst.
“Didn’t your mother bother to tell you?”
Damiel froze, looking as though a lightning bolt had passed straight through him.
