Chapter 8

Just as things between us deepened, there was a violent pounding at the door. I opened it, and Xander burst in, grabbing my hand to drag me out. "What are you doing?!" I cried. His eyes were red, his lips trembling. "Dalia, come with me. I’m not getting married, and you shouldn’t be with Rick!" he said. "It was all my fault before. I love you—I just didn’t realize it until now!" "I don’t care if you’ve been with someone else. Please, give me another chance." I was stunned by his audacity. He’d just humiliated me, and now he was begging? "Where were you with all this before? Xander, have you forgotten? We’re over—and you were the one who ended it. What makes you think I’d wait around for you?" He pressed on, unwilling to let go. "Then what were those ten years to you?" I laughed. I’d asked him that once, and he’d brushed it off. Now he was the one asking. "We were together for ten years, Xander... but that wasn’t love." I threw back the words he’d once said to me. Unlike him, t