The Game He Played With My Heart

On my five-hundred-and-twentieth flight into Chicago, my boyfriend finally came to the airport for me.

He held a bouquet of air-flown Blue Moon roses, and the diamond ring inside the velvet box caught the terminal lights.

The moment he dropped to one knee, I heard the shocked gasps around us.

“Eliana Lowe,” he said, his gray-blue eyes lifted to mine. “Marry me.”

My fingers tightened around the handle of my suitcase. I held out my hand, my voice already shaking. "Luca, we--"

The ring had barely slid over my finger when Luca laughed. He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking over my shoulder at the row of black SUVs idling by the curb.

"Told you she'd say yes. Hand over the key to Warehouse Three."

Laughter burst from the SUVs. Luca's circle spilled into view: casino managers, dock supervisors, rich kids who lived off the Moretti name, and Vivian Gray at the front in pale fur, laughing hard enough to wipe at the corner of her eye.

“No wonder she stayed at your heels for ten years. If I had a pet this obedient, I wouldn’t have the heart to throw it out either.”

Luca smiled and patted my head soothingly.“Eliana, it was just a joke. Don't be angry. I’ll make it up to you later.”

I looked at the ring on my finger, then at the people laughing behind him.

For ten years, I had played along with his games.

This time, I didn’t want to anymore.

Nico, one of the loudest guys in Luca’s circle, lifted his phone and shoved the camera almost into my face. "Get this. Our almost Mrs. Moretti is crying from happiness."

"Mrs. Moretti? Please," someone snorted. "Luca only put her up for one month of North Dock Warehouse Three."

Their laughter rolled through the terminal. I looked at Luca, waiting for him to shut it down, but he only stood and brushed his coat as if the man who had just proposed to me had been someone else. When he caught my expression, he frowned.

"Eliana, don't be like this. It was a bet."

Just a bet. He said it so easily that ten years of waiting suddenly felt like something cheap left on a casino table.

He explained without a hint of shame. A shipment was coming through North Dock, Warehouse Three had the best access, and Vivian had refused to give it up unless he won it from her. If I accepted his proposal, he got the warehouse for a month.

Vivian spread her hands. "I didn't think you'd make it that easy."

The ring was too big. I had to bend my finger to keep it from slipping off, the same way I had bent myself for years to stay beside a man who never quite made room for me.

I let go. The diamond hit the polished floor with a sharp ping and rolled to Luca's shoe. "Next time you need Warehouse Three, ask me. I wrote