Page 20 of Only You
‘I should have known the news would travel to you before I could tell you myself.’ ‘You decided without me.’
He shrugged. ‘I didn’t have an offer until this morning. There was nothing to decide.’
‘Yes, there was,’ she snapped. ‘I have never met this man, much less looked him in the eyes to see his intentions. Yet, you have agreed to make me his wife!’
He looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
‘Quiet as it is kept, he is nobility, Sabine,’ he said. ‘With the type of power they have, there is nothing to decide. Who would dismiss such an offer?’
The words stung more than she expected, mostly because she thought she would never hear them. Did her thoughts not matter at all?
‘I am not doing it,’ Sabine told him, shaking her head slowly. ‘You will have to drag me down that aisle. You have no right to cast me away like this.’ Foolishly, she thought she would spark his temper, but he just looked tired.
‘Sabine, I have all the power in the world to make the marriage happen. Don’t you understand? You are not a sacrifice. I’m guaranteeing power for our family that will never be questioned.’
‘How?’ she shouted, her voice thick with tears she didn’t want to shed. ‘I’m already in this strange country with even stranger people to secure a future for us. But for you to decide without any kind of warning is cruel! How could you…’ She took a shuddering breath as she tried to ignore the pure devastation coursing through her, but her father’s sunken eyes did nothing to stop it from drowning out her anger.
‘You told me that I was the most precious thing in this world to you. I should have known better,’ she said, standing quickly. She turned to leave, but her father grabbed her and pulled her into his chest. ‘Let go of me!’
‘Don’t ask me to do that yet,’ he said, his voice, too, thick with tears. ‘Do you not see how this breaks my heart?’
Sabine stopped struggling and hid her tears in his chest, fingers twisting into his shirt. He let her cry for a few moments, before lifting her face and wiping the tears trailing down her cheeks.
‘You were the only reason I had left to live after I lost your mother. Everything I do is to protect this family, to protect you. I cannot ignore your need to marry and when you spoke of changes at breakfast a few months ago, I saw it as a sign that you were ready.’
Sabine’s heart broke further, and she turned away from him. If only he knew…
‘I met with his father and he is exactly what you need. They are happy and have the power that guarantees you will be cared for,mon trésor. I didn’t do this to punish you.’
‘I thought… I’m not ready to lose myself to marriage or a child. I’m not ready to lose my home forever,’ she whispered, the truth slipping out of her mouth unexpectedly. She knew that staying in France was the goal, but when faced with the reality, she couldn’t picture a future in Paris. If she married someone of importance, every day she would be stifled and trapped in a gilded house for the sake of her father’s business. Would she ever see her home again?
‘You won’t lose anything,’ he reassured her, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. He turned around and kissed her forehead. ‘You will never lose me. Just like you won’t lose yourself. Marriage can enhance your life in ways you do not yet understand. You must remember that. Do you promise me you will do so?’
‘I have no choice,’ she answered, resigned.
Her father’s eyes steeled, his shoulders straightening up. It was as if he was looking straight through her, reminding her to remember whoshewas.
‘You always have a choice. It’s up to you to choose the right one. The one best for youandour legacy. That is your role. I have never guided you wrong and, more than ever, I need you to trust me. Will you, Sabine?’
She bowed her head, unable to look at her father. So much of this moment felt wrong, but she couldn’t dispute the logic nor push away the offer without a better explanation. For all she knew, this might be the best choice for her when it came to marriage.
But Damien… Sabine closed her eyes. No matter how she looked at the situation, she couldn’t find it within herself to be the daughter he wanted. Not now, when he was unknowingly breaking her heart again.
‘You ask me this when we both know there’s only one correct answer,’ she whispered, the anger in her voice reigniting. ‘We both know what would happen if I were to make a different choice.’
Her father tensed. She glared at him, opening her mouth to yell, words that had been buried in her for years ready to fly. Suddenly, he clamped her mouth shut. She gasped under his hand, but he put a finger to his lips, nodding to the exit. Shuffling near the door could be heard, a shadow just visible beneath. He towered over her, his eyes warning her as he moved his hand back to his side.
‘What is your choice, my daughter?’ her father pressed, switching back to French.
Sabine looked, swallowing her resentment. ‘I… accept,’ she said reluctantly. He smiled and she could hear excited chatter behind the door.
‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down,’ he whispered in Fante, wrapping his arms around her so tightly it was as if he never wanted to let go.
Damien watched from the garden as Sabine moved around her room in a daze while preparing for bed, constantly rubbing her eyes. He could guess the outcome of Sabine’s conversation with her father, and a hollow feeling sat heavy in his chest. He was no fool; he had known that his relationship with Sabine would be a passing affair, but it didn’t make it that much easier for him to accept. He wanted more time, more conversation. So much more than he could orshouldask for.
Still, he tossed pebbles at her window to get her attention. There was one person more devastated than him right now and he had to be there for her.
Sabine froze when she saw him and wiped her face before opening the window. He climbed up quietly as she returned to her vanity, her eyes vacant. She brushed her hair, staring at her reflection as if she were searching for something, eyes red-rimmed. Whatever it was, she didn’t seem to find it, the grip on her brush as tight as the one she usually had on her foil. He kissed the top of her head, his hand on her shoulder. She put her hand over his and intertwined their fingers.
