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She turned and fled the balcony, her dress floating around her ankles Alea winced Oliver cursed under his breath Yas had always been on the dra Of course she wanted her cousin to be happy…but it was hard to feel joy about anything when she felt stuck in a rut defined by nue

Oliver dragged a hand over his face "Forgive her She’s ed the day you wentShe was quite manic for a while I orried ould have to sedate her those first few days I think the wedding was the only thing that held her together And now the baby is co"

He said the last in a sort of resolved tone that led Alea to wonder if Oliver wasn’t the one as unhappy about the baby "Are you two in trouble?"

Truthfully, Alea was surprised the couple had made it this far She’d had a bet with Kade that Oliver would bow out of the wedding Yasht fit for the level-headed, stiff-upper-lip Brit

"It isn’t the first ti low "I’ll be honest, Lea I actually had plans to call off the wedding, but then you wentI felt I had to honor the commitment In some ways, I felt I had to honor it in order to honor you"

"Me?"

"Alea, you know I’ve always had a thing for you, but you went off to New York…and I kind of fell in with Yas We do all right, the two of us We e shortly after our honeyain ever since Please take a little tiet away from all this pomp and circumstance I’ve heard a runant If it’s true, the spotlights will only shine brighter on the palace"

Piper She wasn’t showing yet, either, but she wouldn’t be able to keep her condition fro There didn’t seem to be a minute of the day that one of Piper’s husbands didn’t have a hand on her belly as though they could already feel the child growing there

Alea wouldn’t have children She would grow old right here and be the pathetic old maid No one could possibly want a woman as broken as she was No one knew just how shattered she was on the inside What et close to hi to make the announcement in a feeeks, when Piper is past the first trimester"

"It will be a land don’t really give a da out with Wills It’s Callum they’re interested in, and I proh I’ll warn you, he’ll make you crazy about it, and when you relent, I’ll likely be a bit jealous Coland"

"I’ll think about it"

But there was no way she belonged there If she went, Yas and Oliver would , as well as ties to both celebrities and royals, Alea knew she’d find no peace She was starting to think, however, that they were right about getting out of Bezakistan Maybe a change of scenery would be good Maybe she needed to be alone for a while, get her head together, weigh what she wanted in life against how brave she felt in pursuing it

A long, painful o and check on Yasmin"

"Probably so"

With a nod, Oliver turned and walked out Finally, Alea could breathe again

"Did you love him?"

She turned, startled Lan stood, his stern face expressionless He could be so quiet, she’d alotten he was there And he rarely asked questions In fact, Landon could follow her for hours and never say a word

"No God, no I was so young I didn’t love anyone except Robert Pattinson," she answered without thinking

Oliver had been a pleasant coone on a few dates, but she hadn’t even kissed him She’d been happy when she’d discovered that he and Yas influence on her headstrong cousin

"I’lad Because he’s an asshole" Oneto the wall, and the next he was in her space, a mountain of lean muscle

"He is not! What ave her an incredulous stare, as if wondering how she couldpicture "He put theHe’s never once tried"

"Persuading you to co he’d be jealous if you dated the soccer player…yeah, his approach ison you Even if he would never do anything about it, he’s married, and thatto help…in his way His relationship with Yasotten , and she wasn’t sure Yas was really ready to be a mom "She’s his wife He should never talk to another woman that way If I was married, I wouldn’t" He stared down at her, his expression soft and searching She’d never seen hi what you need to heal They’re trying to use you to buffer their drama You don’t need that, darlin’"

He hovered so close that she felt the heat radiating off his body All it would take to press her lips to his was one siainst his and knohat it felt like to kiss a ain She hadn’t kissed anyone in years it seeainst another’s No arms that wound protectively around her Just pain and terror Me in her hair, forcing her head back until her neck felt like it would break

"You just hite Are you all right?" Landon reached out for her, but she wouldn’t be able to endure his touch, not when she felt so dirty