Jehan noted a cooler shift in Seraphina’s posture as her sister mentioned the handfast. “How can you be sure you’re not making a terrible mistake, Leila? You don’t know anything about him. No offense, Marcel. You do seem like a good, decent male.”
Unlike his brother? Jehan wondered.
Leila stared up at Marcel, warmth beaming from her eyes. “He makes me feel alive, Sera. He makes me laugh. He makes me feel special and beautiful, like I’m the only woman he sees.”
Marcel cupped her face in a tender caress. “Because you are.”
They kissed, leaving Jehan in awkward silence next to Seraphina. He glanced at her, but she stared rigidly ahead, refusing to meet his gaze.
“Congratulations,” she murmured as the jubilant couple finally stopped devouring each other’s faces. “I’m happy for you both. I’m sure our families will be happy to hear this news too.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Marcel said. “The handfast—”
Leila nodded. “Now that Marcel and I are blood-bonded, there’s no need to continue with the handfast. It’s over as of right now.”
Marcel must have read Jehan’s grim expression. He cleared his throat. “That is, unless you want to continue...?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Seraphina replied quickly. “Neither one of us wants that. We’re both very eager to be done with this obligation and get back to our real lives. Isn’t that right, Jehan?”
He scowled, uncertain how to answer. It seemed obvious that continuing the handfast with him wasn’t what she wanted. He was impatient to get on with his life outside the villa too, but only if she would be part of it.
She stared at him as he struggled with the urge to tell her how he felt and risk her rejection in front of both their oblivious, elated siblings.
“Sera,” he murmured.
But she was already pivoting away from him. “Now that this farce is over, I’ll go collect my things.”
When she sailed off in a hurry, both Marcel and Leila gaped at him.
“What the hell did you do to her, brother?”
Jehan shook his head. “I don’t know.” And then, the truth settled over him. Something about what she said. Something about how she said it...
She’d heard him today.
His conversation with Lazaro Archer back in Rome.
He cursed under his breath. Then he started to chuckle.
Marcel frowned at him. “She’s pissed as hell at you about something and you’re laughing?”
“Yeah, I am.” Because now he understood her cold-shoulder today. He understood her anger at him now. And he’d never felt more elated about anything in his life.
Rounding up his brother and Leila, Jehan pushed both of them out the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Sending you on your way,” he replied. “Don’t come back for four more nights. This handfast isn’t over until I say it is.”
He closed the door on their confused faces, then turned to go after his Breedmate.
CHAPTER 17
Sera folded the red silk gown and placed it on the bed, trying not to let her heart crumble into pieces.
Outside the massive bedroom suite, the villa had gone quiet. As much as she wanted to celebrate Leila and Marcel’s newfound love and bond, part of her was aching for everything she thought she might have had with Jehan.
Now that the handfast was over, she didn’t even have those few remaining nights left with him.
Which was probably for the best.
Being around him now was its own kind of torture.
He was already making plans without her. Plans he didn’t intend to discuss with or allow her any say in.
So why should she mourn the fact that their week together had just been cut short?
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She froze at the sound of his voice but forced herself not to turn around. If she did, she was afraid she’d be tempted to run to him. With her heart so heavy in her breast, she was afraid she’d be unable to keep herself from whirling on him with pounding fists and streaming tears. Demanding that he explain how he could look at her so tenderly and make love to her so possessively if he only meant to leave her behind in a few more nights.
Although she didn’t hear him move, she felt the heat of his large body at her spine. “I asked where you think you’re going, Seraphina.”
“Home,” she said. “As soon as possible, I hope.”
She walked back into the wardrobe to retrieve another of the pretty, feminine dresses that Leila had packed for her. Jehan was waiting when she came out. He had placed her bag on the floor, and now he sat on the edge of the bed, his sky blue eyes holding her in an unwavering stare.
Why did he have to look so intense and imposing, so impossible to ignore?
The sight of him waiting there, his handsome face grim with purpose, made her limping heart start to gallop.
She forced herself to move, walking over to pick up her bag and place it on a nearby chair so she could continue filling it. “Shouldn’t you be packing your things too? If we’re lucky, we might be able to get out of here in the next hour or so.”
“I’m not leaving, Seraphina.”
She glanced up at that. She couldn’t help herself.
He stood up and walked over to her. “I’m not going anywhere tonight. Neither are you.”
“What are you talking about?”
Her breath caught as he closed the space between them. As always, his presence seemed to suck all of the air out of the room. Right now, it was leeching away some of the resolve she wanted to hold on to so desperately.