Page 88 of Deliah
He paused, glancing over at me. I didn’t move. I didn’t blink.
“You want the full story?” he said gently. “Okay. Here it is.”
He exhaled slowly, like the words were heavier than he expected.
“I met her at a club I used to go to in London. Like I said before, she was the one who introduced me to all this. And yeah, at the beginning, I liked her. She had that power. She knew how to use it. But what I didn’t know—what she never told me—was that she was also seeing someone else.”
His voice darkened, the bitterness creeping in.
“She was seeing Charlie.”
I flinched. Like he’d slapped me with her name.
“I had no fucking clue, Deliah,” he said, shaking his head. “None. She was with me… and all that time, she was also with him. And the moment we both found out, she left. Disappeared. No explanation. Just gone.”
He went quiet for a second. His fingers tangled nervously in his lap.
“But Charlie… he didn’t see it that way. He blamed me. Said I knew all along. Said I manipulated her. Accused me of abusing her. I don’t know what story she fed him—maybe she felt guilty,maybe she was trying to protect herself. Maybe she didn’t say anything, and he just assumed based on the shit we used to do together. But it wasn’t like that. It was consensual, everything. I swear to you.”
I could hear the sincerity in his voice, but my chest still ached. The words from Charlie clung to me like smoke I couldn’t get out of my lungs.
“She used me,” Damion said, voice quieter now. “For what she wanted. For money, for control, I don’t know. She fucked us both over and then vanished.”
He looked over at me again, eyes glassy.
“That was years ago, Deliah. I haven’t thought about her since. I don’t have any feelings for her. I don’t even have memories of her that matter anymore. She was just the person who introduced me to this world—and then left me in the middle of it.”
My throat tightened.
“I didn’t tell you everything because…” He trailed off, then sighed. “Because I didn’t want this to happen. I knew how Charlie felt. I knew he’d stir the pot, say shit that wasn’t true. And I should’ve warned you. I should’ve told you the whole story.”
My fingers curled tightly in my lap. My head dropped slightly, as if I couldn’t hold the weight of my confusion any longer.
“I should never have let you work at that club,” Damion continued. “That’s on me. I fucked up. I thought I could protect you and still give you the freedom you wanted. But I failed.”
His voice broke, and he reached out slowly, as if expecting me to flinch.
“I know you’re angry. I know you have every right to be. I just…” He looked down, then back up at me with eyes that shattered me. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t know how to do this without you, Deliah.”
Tears pricked the back of my eyes again. My breathing was ragged, chest rising and falling with silent sobs I didn’t even know were coming.
He reached out again, this time placing his hand lightly on my knee.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered. “And I know I’m not perfect. I never pretended to be. But I’m trying. I swear to God I’m trying.”
I sat there, silently crumbling. The part of me that loved him wanted to believe every word. The part of me that had been broken before screamed at me to run.
“Why didn’t you just tell me about Charlie?” I said finally, my voice breaking.
“Because I didn’t want his version of the past to shape our future,” he said. “Because it wasn’t the truth. And I didn’t want him to ruin something real.”
I looked at him—really looked at him—and for the first time in a long time, I saw it. Not just the confident, dominant version of him I was used to. I saw the man behind all of it. The one who was scared. Scared to lose me. The one who’d been hurt too.
“I’m so fucking tired, Damion,” I whispered. “Tired of being upset. Tired of not knowing what’s real. I can’t survive another heartbreak.”
His voice cracked. “Then don’t leave. Let’s figure this out. Please, Deliah. Don’t walk away from this. Don’t walk away from me.”
We sat there, side by side on the cold pavement, in a silence that wasn’t empty anymore. It was filled with pain and love and everything in between. And for the first time in hours, I didn’t feel completely alone.
