Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

Damon's POV

The guests were already arriving, but there was still no sign of Clarissa. I kept looking at the door, hoping to see her, but disappointment kept hitting me when I saw everyone except her.

I knew I hadn’t left things on good terms between us. I couldn’t sleep last night. She was all I could think about. Getting engaged to Anya hadn’t even crossed my mind once.

Clarissa had taken over my thoughts, and I knew it would be that way for a long, long time. Nothing could erase her from my mind, not even myself.

I couldn’t get her words out of my head. She thought that I had no feelings for her. She thought that I wanted to be with Anya and not her. She doesn’t realize how wrong she is.

I wanted to correct her. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I knew that if I did, she wouldn’t stop trying to change things between us. I had to let her believe it if I wanted her to forget about us being a possibility.

It still bothered me that I had to hurt her to keep her safe. Clarissa hasn’t been thrown into our world the way my family has in the past. She doesn’t understand how hostile the world was when they got an opportunity to bring an influential family like ours to the ground. I didn’t want her to take the fall for the rest of us.

“You should be happy,” Atticus says as he joins my side. “But you look anything but that. It’s your engagement party to Anya. At one point in your life, you wanted this more than anything else. There was a point where both Dante and I wished that we were in your position today. Of course, that’s before I realized my true feelings for Autumn.”

I sigh, “you always know how to read me like an open book. I don’t even know how to feel right now. I’m confused by my feelings.”

He chuckles, “Are you sure this is what you want, Damon? I know we’ve had our differences, but I would hate to see you go down the wrong path.”

I inhale sharply at his question. This wasn’t about me or what I wanted. This was about protecting Clarissa from what she thought she wanted. I didn’t care what I had to do as long as I knew she would be safe from any harm, whether it be physical or emotional.

“I know this is what I must do,” I answer him truthfully. “I have to do this.”

He raises one brow at me, “Ah,” he whispers, “this is what you must do. Tell me again, why do you think this is what you have to do?”

I knew he would read between the lines. I knew that he would understand that this wedding wasn’t happening because I wanted it to happen but for a completely different reason.

That was one answer that I couldn’t give him. I couldn’t explain it without telling him everything that had happened between Clarissa and me in the past couple of days.

I couldn’t explain to him what I meant without telling him that I had feelings for someone that he considered his sister, something that I was also supposed to do.

Anya walks into the room then, and there are gasps throughout it as everyone sees her dress. Judging by the thrilled look on her face, she was overjoyed by their reactions.

Anya always loved being the center of attention. She loved to be the best dressed and have the nicest jewels amongst those around her.

The opposite of Clarissa.

While Anya loved attention, Clarissa would feel uncomfortable under all the stares. What was I doing? Why the hell was I even comparing the two of them? They were two completely different women. Both were amazing in their own ways.

“Have you seen Clarissa?” I ask him.

I needed an answer before Anya came any closer to us. If she heard me asking about Clarissa, she would become angry, and I didn’t want to ruin her night due to my own problems. I’d already done plenty to hurt her feelings, and I promised her to try not to do anything to betray her again.