Pink Is The Color Of Infatuation

Chapter 15

Xael sniffled as she drank down the tea in the cup before her. She had long since stopped crying and was now just replaying it all in her mind. He was cruel...there was nothing else to call him.

"Are you okay now, love?" Lafayette asked her as she sat across from her, a soft smile on her face. Xael smiled back, nodded softly. Lafayette had virtually been her savior for the day and she was grateful for her.

"Thank you, really."

Lafayette waved it off, taking a sip of her tea before placing it back on the little wooden table. "Oh, nonsense. You're family now. Trust me I know what it's like to want to get away. The men in this family can be...well...too much, I suppose."

Xael giggled softly. "Too much?"

"I can't think of any other way to explain them, so that about sums them up, don't you agree?"

"I suppose." Xael echoed.

Lafayette tilted her head, curiosity written across her face. "You're not really alright, are you?"

The question didn't surprise Xael in the least. She may have said one thing but she was sure that looked entirely haggard.

"No, I guess I'm not."

"What has he done? You tell me and I'll tell everyone else and we'll bloody beat him."

Xael's eyes widened at the mental picture and she shook her head no. "It's nothing serious. I promise."

Lafayette tsked. "You're an awful liar. Come now, tell me what ails you. I won't tell a soul if that's what you wish but you seem like you need to get a few things off your chest."

Xael stared down at her tea for a moment before sighing, deciding that she was right, she needed to share her feelings with someone or else she would explode.

"I hate him, you know." Xael mumbled bitterly as she sat her cup down.

"Alexander?" Lafayette asked for confirmation.

Xael nodded, her face twisted with mixed emotion. "He's been awful to me...It's my fault, I couldn't be angry with him for his hurtful ways in the beginning. I trapped him, I knew what I was doing...I had a reason, I thought I could save my family this way, it was the only opinion left in our favor. It was wrong and so when he ventured for his vengeance I knew he had a right to be angry...and vindictive. But now he's crossed the line, he hurt me so much more than I could ever hurt him."

Lafayette listened with intense interest, her heart aching for the girl. She knew some of the things that Alexander had done, the main thing swimming around London this very second was the fact that she was his mistress. The girl's name was ruined. Sleeping with a man before marriage in this day and age? The news of something so scandalous could automatically brand you a whore.

It was awful that men could be as frivolous as they wanted but women couldn't. Lafayette never thought it was fair but society didn't care what she thought.

"Today he told me he loved me."

Lafayette blinked with surprise. That was unexpected. "Oh, well, isn't that a good thing?"

Xael tsked, "No! He's making fun of me. He's poking fun at my desires for love and happiness. He's evil and cruel."

Lafayette frowned, she'd love to smack her cousin around for a while. But their marriage was something between them and besides, she was sure that beneath all they're anger and frustration and confusing circumstances that love actually lurked around somewhere. Her mind wandered to the countless romance novels that littered her personal library. She had read hundreds of stories about heroines with love filled with trials and tribulations. Though their story was one that seemed much more complicated than anything she had ever read, she was sure that she could help with an approach filled with imaginative glamour.

She bit her lower lip before gasping dramatically. "You don't believe he loves you?"

Xael frowned, "Of course not."

Lafayette smirked mischievously. "Well think of this as your opportunity to get some vengeance as well. If he truly is in love with you, he'll be remorseful. Don't you have some anger in you? Use it to your benefit, stop being so sweet. Get him back, make him suffer a little."

Xael stiffened up before shaking her head. She didn't have that in her. She wasn't that type of person. "I don't think I could ever-," Lafayette waved off her denials.

"Oh, poppy cock. Everyone has a little evil in them. Even you. Just look him in the eyes and demand some revenge for his torment. Simple really. Think of all that he's done and let it out."

Xael thought about her words, letting them fester in her mind. Her time with Alexander flashed through her mind and suddenly all the pent up emotion she had been harboring burst forward. She clenched her hands into fist, "Thank you for the small escape. I truly appreciate it."

As she stood and headed for the door, Lafayette watched her go, sighing exasperatedly. In her mind their story played out rather well, love bloomed and prevailed but she knew that reality was much harder to speak for.

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Alexander paced restlessly, worry etched across his face. This was entirely his fault. He had bombarded her with is feelings without thinking. But it was just in his nature to be straight forward. It was a trait that his family excelled in.

He couldn't stop thinking about the look in her eyes, the pain painted across her face. He had done that. He had put that look there. And he couldn't change it. That much he knew.

She hated him. The woman hated him and she had every right to. He had gotten his revenge but something in him had decided that one task wasn't enough. Humiliating her had not originally been part of the plan but the petty, vindictive part of him just wouldn't let it go.

He was sure that it would not be easy for him to fix this but he hadn't expected it to be. His pacing stopped when the sound of the front door opening caught his attention. He ran from the bedroom and out onto the hall, his eyes landing on her at the bottom of the steps. She looked up at him and he released the breath that he hadn't even realized he had been holding.

She gripped her skirt in her hands before moving toward the stairs and heading straight for him. He licked his lips, anticipation sitting inside him. If she hit him again, he wouldn't stop her. She could beat him and he wouldn't dare stop her. He was sure he deserved it.

But to his surprise she merely walked past him and straight to the bedroom doors. She turned toward him before stepping inside, "We will no longer be sleeping together. I refuse to continue to share a bed with an insensitive bastard like you."

He was sure that shock engulfed his face as she slammed the door in his face.

He leaned against the railing, his heart pounding. He ran a hand through his hair, now that, he hadn't been expecting.