Free Fated - A Mermaid's Curse 2 by Daniele Lanzarotta Page B

situation.”
    “ Okay,” I look down and fight back the tears.
    Blake nears me and kisses my forehead.
    “ I wish you knew how sorry I am.”
    “ I know,” I whisper.
    Blake walks me to the car. Mike and Carol both look surprised. We tell them what we agreed on and they don’t seem too happy about it. “Are you sure that is a good idea, sweetie?” asks Carol.
    I nod. “I can’t just sit around and wait.”
    She nods in understanding. “I wouldn’t be able to either.” She smiles sadly at Mike as he drives away.
    Blake sends Brooke a text message along the way and I sit there, staring at the window and wondering how we got here… how we got to this point where we have no choice, and we really don’t because I can’t even think about leaving Blake and I can’t ask him to leave his family, well, part of his family, for me.
     

 
    CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    When we get to the restaurant, Blake opens the door for me, and extends his hand to help me out of the car. As I stand in front of him, he asks, “Are you sure?”
    I shrug.
    “ We’ll get out of here as soon as possible and take a cab back to the house,” he promises.
    “ Okay.”
    We look over and see Brooke talking to a tall blonde man who doesn’t seem much older than Blake. I remember seeing him at the hotel the other day. Brooke looks over and waves us over, then her gaze falls on me and she smiles.
    Blake reaches over, putting his hand on my lower back, but pulls away as he realizes what he is doing. Once we get to Brooke, she moves toward Blake, putting herself in between us. She reaches over, placing her arm around his waist. She then looks over at me and smirks.
    I must look uncomfortable because Mikaelis looks at me and clears his throat.
    “ Oh,” says Mr. Jones. “I’m sorry. This is Arianna, Arianna, this is Jonathan Mikaelis.”
    He reaches for my hand and brings it to his lips. “It’s a pleasure,” he says as he looks up at me. I find myself staring at his green eyes and remembering a place that I didn’t want to remember. His eyes are the same color as most of my kind and it makes me feel even more awkward.
    “ Nice to meet you,” I say.
    “ Arianna is a friend of Blake’s family,” says Brooke. “I believe at some point she even dated Owen, didn’t you?” she says referring to the rumors that were going around during her and Blake’s engagement party.
    “ No,” I say defensively. “That wasn’t true.”
    Jonathan laughs. “Well, I’m glad. Owen shouldn’t even be allowed to talk to someone like you. I swear I’ve never met a bigger player. No offense, Blake.”
    Blake watches the interaction and I see that he is as uncomfortable as I am. “Well, we should go inside,” says Blake.
    We walk in and the lights are dimmed. We follow the waitress toward the back where we have a private room. Somehow, Blake and Brooke ended up in front of me, and at some point, she reached for his hand and he took it. Carol ends up stepping next to me and laces her arm through mine, giving me a sympathetic smile.
    At the booth, Blake, Brooke and Jonathan sit on one side and I sit right across Jonathan, with Carol next to me and then Mr. Jones.
    Brooke is clingier than I remember her ever being, but I know she’s doing this to provoke me. And Blake, well, his eyes never leave me and I have to look away so that Jonathan, who watches me attentively, doesn’t notice that there is something going on.
    “ So, let’s get this done,” says Mr. Jones, “and then we can relax and drink.”
    “ Nonsense,” says Jonathan. “Let’s eat first. I’m starving!”
    “ Yeah, me too,” says Brooke as if she senses that Mr. Jones was trying to get us out of here.
    Just then, the waitress comes over and asks what we’d like to drink.
    I ask for a glass of water. Everyone orders their drinks, and when she gets to Blake and he asks for a coke, Brooke laughs. “Honey, please. You don’t have to impress me by doing this.” She looks over at the