48: I will fall in love with you
**Tristan**
Our meeting with Mr Hugo ended rather awkwardly, especially considering the fact that he and Lucien now refused to hide the fact that they clearly hated each other. Nonetheless, we’d managed to secure the deal with him, all thanks to Damon’s excellent conflict management skills. And by conflict management skills, I meant harshly intimidating Mr Hugo into signing that deal. The concept of forcing someone to sign something under duress clearly did not seem to bother Damon one bit.
“Well, that went horribly. I never want you to take me along with you to any meetings with that bastard, or so help me Goddess, I will rip his face off.”
“Green isn’t your colour brother, try wearing a different one.” Damon teased.
“Oh, go fuck yourself.” Lucien uttered, annoyed. But all of his annoyance seemed to disappear when his eyes landed on me.
“You’ll still let me steal her for the day, right?”
“I’m sorry, who is stealing who here?” I asked. I was familiar with Lucien’s trickery and did not have a good feeling about the way he was looking at me.
“Yes. But I did not say that you were allowed to *steal* her.” Damon then turned towards me and paused outside of his car door. “I have to meet Jasmine for some of the wedding preparations. So, you get the rest of the day off to do as you please, Tristan. However, I fear my brother may feel the need to occupy your time.”
That’s all the pain-in-my-ass ever did. Occupy my time. But we did need to talk, and this would be a perfect opportunity. Besides, I would have been lying if I didn’t admit to myself that I’d missed him very much.
“Fine.” I uttered as coolly as I could. Damon smiled which, once again caught me off-guard, and then proceeded to enter the car. Lucien and I followed.
When we arrived back in the parking lot at work, Damon gave a chuckle before unlocking the door and saying, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“I think I’ll pass. You don’t *do* fun.” Lucien said before sticking his tongue out at his brother and exiting the car.
I scoffed and shook my head. “Could the two of you be anymore childish?”
“Oh, if you think that’s bad, you should see us when London joins in on the fun. Then you’ve got yourself a whole children’s party.” He laughed.
“I don’t doubt that,” I said light-heartedly. Damon had a strange way of making me feel as though I actually were… *family*. As though I belonged, and as though he cared for me the way he’d care for a sister. It still unnerved me, but slowly I was beginning to get used to it.
“Are you coming, Love?” Lucien yelled from the other side of the door.
I rolled my eyes and said goodbye to Damon before getting out of the car and joining Lucien on the other side.
“So where are you kidnapping me to? What hell are you going to put me through this time?” I asked as we made our way to his car.
“You know you really like to pretend not to like hanging out with me,” he then ran his fingers through my hair, making me gasp softly, “but we both know the truth.”
I gulped and pretended to ignore his statement as I pulled at the handle of the door and got into the car wordlessly. I could hear him chuckle as he went around the car to his own door.
“To answer your question, Love,” he said as he got in and closed the door behind him, “I’m taking you somewhere… personal. Somewhere far away from my brother and your sister. And while we’re driving, we can have that conversation we’ve been needing to have.”
Somewhere personal and far away from our siblings? It had to be a really special place to him then. And although my curiosity was piqued, I couldn’t help but begin to feel uneasy about the conversation which was about to unfold.
“So…” he began as we exited the underground parking, “I know we’ve been joking about it for most of the day, but why did you ignore me for the past few days? I really thought we were getting along. Are you sure it wasn’t because of what I did to your sister? You can be honest with me. Besides, you have every right to be mad at me for what I did to her.”
Not once did he look at me. Instead, his serious eyes stared straight ahead on the road before us. I could tell that he was just as uncomfortable having this conversation, as I was.
I was still bothered that he thought I’d ignored him because of what he’d done to my sister, and so I began to reassure him. “It’s not because of what you did to Jasmine. It would be hypocritical of me to be mad at you. I’ve made some pretty horrible mistakes myself… and so I know the heavy burden it is to have someone hold your mistakes against you.”
“Then why? I thought we were in a good space. I thought you and I liked each other a lot.”
It took a moment for me to think of a good half-truth, and once I did, I let out a little sigh before saying, “I was afraid.”
“Afraid?” He asked in astonishment.
“Yes. I was afraid of getting any closer to you because…” I don’t know why, but suddenly, it began to get harder for me to actually say what I wanted to. It was almost as though what I’d begun to say was more truth than half-truth and a sore lump began to form in my throat, preventing me from saying it.
“You were afraid because of my feelings for your sister.” Lucien said, startling me immediately.
“H-how did you know?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
My brows furrowed and I gazed at him intensely for a moment. It was unlike me to show what I was feeling on my face, and so I found it strange that he could grasp at exactly what I was thinking from my neutral facial expression.
“So, was I right?” His voice was more whispered and serious now, and it almost gave me chills.
I gulped before nodding. There was no use in lying to him regarding this aspect of why I avoided him. That, and it would keep him away from the other reason I’d distanced myself from him.
Lucien’s left hand moved from the steering wheel to my knee. It was a soft and gentle touch, and his fingers radiated a reassuring heat against my skin.
“Look at me. I need you to look me in the eye when I tell you this.”
Slowly my eyes gazed up into his intense ones, and I found myself frozen in place by the sheer sincerity in his golden eyes.
“I promised you that I’d never hurt you, didn’t I?”
I nodded.
“Then believe me. Believe that I won’t leave your side. Believe that you are the most important person in my life right now. And believe that I care deeply for you.” Then he shook his head. “But that’s not good enough… is it?”
I was about to tell him that it was more than enough, because honestly, for now, it was. I didn’t love him right now, and I didn’t expect him to love me either. All that mattered was that we cared about each other. It was all I needed to choose his side, and to turn away from Ambrose.
But clearly, he thought differently, and what he said next sparked something in me that I hadn’t felt before.
“I promise that someday, I *will* fall in love with you, Tristan. And I don’t break my promises.”
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