HEAT in New Orleans || Marcel Gerard

Chapter 19: World Turned Upside Down

Chapter Nineteen

I open the front door and immediately scowled at Marcel's presence. "I have a care package for Davina," he explained quickly, holding up a small drawstring bag.

"We're having breakfast," I stated. "Come in."

"Is she eating?"

I nodded, "Yeah, like a starved woman."

He sighed in relief, "I'll wait for her to finish. And maybe... We could talk?"

"We have nothing to talk about," I scoffed, my brows raised in shock. He was leaving town with his on again, off again girlfriend. There wasn't anything left to say. "We broke up. Set a record for shortest relationship. Enough said."

"I want to explain. Things got out of hand yesterday. Everything was moving too fast," he told me. I stared on, expressionless, waiting for him to get to the point. "The last thing I wanted was for us to break up, Gemma. You gotta believe that."

"But I don't," I replied. "Between leaving with your ex, turning around with some elaborate plan, killing witches, breaking Davina out of the mausoleum all to leave the city without giving me so much as a text goodbye. Nope. Not seeing it. What part of that says I want to be with Gemma?"

He frowned, "I'm sorry for how things played out. But I did want to be with you—Hell, I still want to be with you, baby. If I wasn't leaving town... I'd prove it."

I was confused now. My heart was fluttering as my frustration and hurt had some resolve at his words. However, my brain had me on the defense. It was screaming at me not to believe a word coming out of his mouth. He was just trying to sweet talk me... But for what? Like he said, he was leaving town. We really didn't have anything to discuss. So why was he pushing to do so?

"Yesterday you'd have ridden off into the sunset with Rebekah. You weren't sure if you would ever reach out to me. I wasn't even guaranteed a goodbye, Marcel. Like I'm scum. Not worth your breath... So why would I believe you now?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

I couldn't believe he was trying to backtrack after the way things went yesterday. He had no regard for me. Hell, or even Davina. All he cared about was himself and keeping Rebekah safe and happy. And the saddest part was... the two of them didn't even realize they were clearly not meant to be. Because if they were, things would not have ended so badly between them the handful of times before. He chose being a vampire over being with her... He faked his death to break up with her... He didn't want her. He didn't value her... Maybe he didn't value women. And he's been alone for over a century. How could he not see that maybe he's the problem? He didn't even know how to make himself happy. Because the man I was infatuated with... was lonely. And I wanted to take that away. Remind him there was more to life than meaningless sex and running an empire. Yet here he was. Ready to ruin the life built for himself once again. For her. Who was I to stop him?

"I think the world of you. That hasn't changed, Gem. When I said I wasn't sure if I would have called you... it was the pure truth. All I was prepared to do was drive for as long as possible to put distance away from Klaus. I didn't know when I'd stop. When I'd be able to call. Where I'd end up. And the idea that you knew I left... Well, let's just say I didn't think you'd want to hear from me ever again," he said, his brown eyes were glossing over as he was pleading with me to understand.

But I didn't. He was ignoring the elephant in the room. Rebekah. If it was just him. And he was afraid of my reaction on the phone or he didn't want to hurt me... I'd possibly believe that. Yet that's not what happened. And that's not the part bothering me the most.

"It wasn't just you in the car," I pointed out, trying to stay as calm as possible as I broke it down for him. "You chose her over me. And you are tiptoeing around that fact. Leaving together for convenience would be one thing. However, like you just said, you were planning to stick with her indefinitely. Which for survival, Marcel, is the stupidest thing you could do for yourself. Klaus wants her more than he wants you. Tying yourself to her puts you at more risk and god forbid Klaus catches up. He'll get a two for one deal. And the only reason you would do something so idiotic, is because you want her. You want to be with her. You want all those old feelings to hit you both so you can give it one last try... So forgive me, if I don't buy the bullshit you're selling. I'm still wrapping my mind around the fact that you basically lied and used me for months."