Page 100 of Love Unspoken

"Don't worry about that," I cut in.

Were we doing this? Was I ending a two-year relationship, one that gave me so much over the phone? Was that the kind of asshole I was?

"I have to," she said softly.

Yeah, she had to. She wasn't independently wealthy. She earned a living. A good one, but I knew she'd sunk all her savings into her half of the down payment for the townhouse. I'd wanted to buy the place outright, but she'd wanted to own half. In my world, women didn't fight to pay, and the novelty of it had been just another way in which she cared for me. She didn't expect things from me. Amara gave more than she took.

"We're not done talking, Amara." No, I couldn't just let this go. Not over a conversation she overheard.

Jackass, you just told her you loved Kath, and you only care about her.

"Yes, we are," she murmured. "I'm heartbroken, Lucas. I'm hurting. Talking about this will only make it worse."

I could hear her agony and revolted against it. No. I didn't want this precious woman, this smiling, happy lover of mine, to feel any distress; she only deserved tenderness. In our two years together, we'd hardly argued and never fought, and that wasn't because she gave in every time; hell no, it was because she made us understand each other's perspective. She always came to me with curiosity about why I wanted to do something and why it was important to me. Was I prepared to lose this for the turbulence that was Kath? That relationship was all fire and ice. We fought, we made up. It was hate sex and makeup fucking. It was angry words and tender caresses. It was…all-consuming.

"I'm so sorry you heard what you did."

"I'm not," she replied, and I was once again reminded of her strength.

Amara was no coward. A weaker person would have pretended not to hear what I said, avoided the confrontation entirely. Most wouldn't have spoken to me at all after the way I broke them. But not her.

"Please, can we talk later?"

There was a long silence.

"Maybe," she told me. "But not right now. Next week?"

"I'll call you."

"We'll see," she said in response and hung up.

What the hell did that mean? Did she think I wouldn't even call her? That I wouldn't talk to her? That was bullshit. She should know me better than that.

I felt a combination of shell shock and confusion as I went down to stand with Grandma Rena.

"Where's Amara?" Grandma asked.

She was an elegant woman who reminded everyone of Audrey Hepburn. Petite, she may be, but she was a force to be reckoned with. I loved her and worked hard for her praise all my life because I knew it was real. She wouldn't lie to make me feel better.

"I think we broke up." The words scorched me.

Grandma cocked an eyebrow. "She dumped you?"

"Why don't you think I ended the relationship?" I mused as she put her hand on my forearm.

"Honestly, I'm surprised it took her so long."

"What?" I stopped to look at her. "I thought you approved of her."

Grandma scoffed at that. "My approval doesn't matter. You're the one who has to live your life with your partner, not me. Honestly, I thought she'd leave you because of Patsy, who was doing everything she could to make that poor girl's life miserable, and you did nothing to stop it."

We stopped at the ballroom's entrance and watched as the first cars started to pull into the driveway.

"Mama was just bein'—"

"A bitch," Grandma cut me off. "Now, since you don't look heartbroken, which just hurts my heart some more for Amara, let's get this show on the road."

THREE