Love & Conditions (New York Billionaires Book 2)

36| Mine

My eyes snapped up to his, my heart stopping for a minute. 

"We're going out to the ocean, they could get lost. I'll put them in the safe." He set the bag down and held out a hand. Releasing a quiet breath, I slipped the ring off and placed it in his palm. It took a bit more effort for him to pull the ring off and when he did, there was a perfect tan line sitting right under the thick gold band, the only place on his hand that never tanned in the summer. Once he came back from locking our rings away safely, I couldn't suppress the question any longer. 

"Have you never taken that off?" I asked, glancing pointedly at the tan line on his finger. 

His eyes dropped to it as he traced the empty spot with his thumb, feeling the skin. "No," he answered, shaking his head, "I haven't taken that off since I put it on. It feels strange." 

"Empty?" I guessed. 

He hummed with a single nod. "Very empty. I hate it." 

I swallowed. "You'll get used to it," I mumbled, "let's go." 

"Was it strange when you took it off?" he questioned as we walked into the elevator and headed downstairs. 

"Yeah. I kind of... regretted giving it back to you, but oh well. It was for the better." 

"If you say so," he murmured. "Why did you return it though? You could have just kept it." 

"It was our last straw, Christian, the only tether left holding us together. It kept reminding me of you when I was trying to put myself first. I had to give it back." 

"I hate seeing you without that ring on." 

I glanced at him as we stood in the elevator. "I've never forgiven myself for the moments I took it off." Feeling his gaze upon me, I was almost compelled to continue. "It was the right thing to do for myself but it never felt right. I wasn't just hurting you but I had to put myself first. We had reached our limit." 

"I don't blame you for what you did, I hope you know that," he replied after a short pause. 

"I know now," I said, facing him as we reached the lobby. 

After that, we were immediately leaving the hotel once we met everyone in the lobby. Alex and Naomi had made sure to rent out cars from a car service and we had more than five cars lined up outside, some of them coming with drivers and some without. 

"You and me, Milaya, come on," Christian said, taking my hand in his and heading towards the white convertible that had no driver, only a hotel valet holding onto our keys. 

"Cars and Marvel are the two things you will never grow out of," I said, watching him in amusement as his face lit up while he unlocked the door and traced the hood of the car. 

"Of course," he said. 

"Do you still have all the comics and figures you grew up with?" I chuckled. 

"Absolutely," he replied before opening the door for me. "M'lady," he mused. 

I watched him warily before slipping into my seat. Placing the beach bag in the back seat, he rounded the car and got into the driver's seat, starting up immediately. "The drive is barely five minutes. Why did we need to rent out all these cars? We could have walked too," I muttered, watching as everyone hopped on a different ride and we all left, following the car at the very front that belonged to Alex and Naomi.