Chapter 239 - 0239

Kaelen POV

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice dropping an octave.

Callista froze, her hand still awkwardly resting on the back of the chair. "Um... my feet hurt, and I just thought I could sit for a minute."

"You came here to deliver an invitation," I cut her off coldly. "You’ve done that. Now get out before I completely lose my patience."

Her face immediately went pale. Her gaze darted toward Darius, almost like she expected him to step in and defend her again like he had a few minutes ago.

But Darius didn’t say a word.

Instead, he quietly looked away, suddenly acting like the far wall of the bar was the most interesting thing in the world.

When Callista realized no one was going to save her this time, she let out a small, embarrassed breath. She lowered her head, gave us a quick bow, and hurried out of the private lounge as quickly as her pregnant body allowed.

The second she disappeared through the door, my gaze snapped back to Darius.

He was still staring in the direction she had gone, even though she was long out of sight.

His strange behavior made the irritation I had been holding back flare all over again. I slammed my palm against the table, making the glasses rattle.

"What the fuck was that about?" I demanded.

Darius finally looked at me, but there was still something distant in his expression, like part of him was somewhere else entirely.

"What?" he asked, blinking a few times as though I had just pulled him out of a fucking dream.

I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "Don’t tell me you’re actually attracted to her just because she has green eyes and blonde hair like Lorelei. Are you seriously mistaking her for the woman who saved you too?"

Usually, Darius finding himself a new obsession would have been the last thing I cared about. But not this time.

Not with that woman.

Not Callista.

"She’s off-limits," I said coldly, making it clear there was absolutely no room for an argument.

Darius remained silent for a moment, still looking strangely dazed. Then he shook his head hard, as if he were finally trying to snap himself out of whatever the hell had gotten into him.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he muttered, his voice rough. "I... I..."

He actually stuttered, something Darius almost never did.

Then he stopped, his brows pulling together as he seemed to struggle with whatever was going through his head. When he finally spoke again, his voice was quieter, much more uncertain.

"Isn’t her scent too similar to Lorelei’s?"

That question immediately killed whatever frustrated response I had been about to give him.

Because the truth was, yes. Her scent was disturbingly similar to Lorelei’s.

"That’s because they’re identical twins," I said flatly. "But even identical twins don’t smell exactly the same. If you’d been paying attention, you would’ve picked up the difference. The only way you could completely miss it is if you were shit-faced drunk."

It would be a lie to say I hadn’t almost mistaken her for Lorelei when I first caught her scent. For one brief second, I had thought it was her.

But then the rank, sour scent underneath it hit me, and that was all my nose could focus on. It had been so unpleasant that I had to actively fight the urge to throw up.

Unlike me, Darius still looked deeply skeptical, and there was something about that expression that I really didn’t like.

"Just like you’re always telling me, you better get your shit together," I said coldly, leaning forward until my eyes locked directly onto his. "Even if she somehow turns out to be the woman who saved you when you were a kid, she’s still the enemy. And if you cross that line, I won’t hesitate to treat you like one too."

I held his gaze for another second before lowering my voice.

"Plus, she’s already pregnant with that bastard’s child. So whatever the fuck is going on in your head right now, shut it down. Immediately."

It was that simple.

And Darius knew better than to cross me once I had made myself clear.

For a long moment, he just stared at me, his expression impossible to read. But I didn’t miss the way his fists slowly clenched and unclenched against his knees.

Eventually, he nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered, dragging a heavy hand through his hair. "Yeah, you’re right."

But the way he said it told me everything I needed to know.

He didn’t sound convinced.

Not even a little.

Reluctantly, I reached for my glass, but before my fingers could touch the crystal, my gaze landed on the pink invitation still sitting on the table.

I picked it up and broke the gold wax seal. I didn’t care about the party details or Callista’s pathetic attempt to make herself sound like some innocent saint. The only thing that caught my attention was the date written in neat cursive.

The 22nd of this month.

My chest tightened.

Lorelei’s birthday was less than two weeks away.

I had almost fucking missed it.

With everything that had been happening, I hadn’t even thought to check. Now that I knew, though, I still had enough time to plan something proper for her. Something that would make up for the fact that I had been so caught up in my own mess that I had nearly forgotten the most important day on her calendar.

That thought settled something inside me, even if only slightly.

I crumpled the invitation in my fist and tossed the pink ball of paper across the room, watching it disappear into the shadows before reaching for my glass and emptying the rest of the liquor down my throat in one gulp.

Right then, my phone buzzed against the table.

I glanced down and saw a message from Lorelei.

"Are you still busy with work? When are you coming home?"

My heart clenched.

While I had been sitting here for hours, drowning my guilt in expensive alcohol, she had been back at the estate missing me enough to text.

I quickly typed a reply.

"I’m on my way."

I didn’t want her sitting there wondering where I was or worrying about me.

I shoved my phone into my pocket and stood. "Let’s head back."

Darius immediately got to his feet beside me without saying a word, and neither of us wasted any more time.

But the moment I stepped into the estate’s dining hall, my steps suddenly faltered.

It wasn’t because of the long dining table, which had been neatly decorated with soft candlelight, or the quiet elegance of the room. None of that was what made me stop.

It was because of the woman standing beside it.

Lorelei stood there in a simple, soft cream-colored dress that fell loosely around her body, the thin fabric brushing just below her knees. Her hair was left down around her shoulders, making her look so effortlessly beautiful that my chest tightened before I could even stop it. The second she saw me, a warm, genuine smile spread across her face.

My heart immediately started racing against my ribs, wild and completely out of control, making me feel like some reckless teenager nursing a massive crush all over again. Or maybe that was just the heavy alcohol still humming through my bloodstream, making everything hit harder than it should.

"I made dinner," she said softly as I closed the distance between us. "It’s nothing too extravagant, just..."

Her words cut off completely when I stepped closer, cupped her face in both hands, and pressed my lips against hers.

I deepened the kiss almost instantly, tasting her as I pulled her against me, holding her like I needed her body against mine just to breathe properly. The alcohol, the fear of losing her, the terrifying curse that had been hanging over me for years, all of it seemed to disappear for those few perfect seconds.

There was only her.

"I love you," I whispered against her lips before pulling back just enough to bury my face into the warm crook of her neck. I inhaled deeply, letting her familiar scent settle through me and ground me in a way nothing else could.

My hands tightened around her waist as the fear I had been trying so hard to keep buried finally slipped through.

"Promise me," I whispered, my voice rough and painfully vulnerable. "Promise you’ll never leave me."