My eyelids are hot and heavy, but I hold the tears off. I have to be strong. I repeat that like a mantra in my head until I am certain I won’t break down.

I sniff.  “How did you even know I was here in London?”

“I knew the minute you instructed the staff at the Indian office to buy a ticket for you to London. I know you arrived here a week back.”  He lets out a harsh breath. “The only reason you got within touching distance of him was because I had already emailed your picture to his bodyguard. He recognized you at the coffee shop and called me. I told him to let you be until I reached.”

“So, you deliberately played me today? You knew he was meeting Celia and yet you told me that he was meeting you. That was plain cruel, Gabe.”

“No! That is the reality, Aaliya.” He sighs. “Damien thinks he’s single, unmarried. Celia’s just one of the several women waiting to sink their claws into him. Overnight, he has become the most eligible bachelor in England.”

My eyes widen. “Are you saying that he’s...that he’s...” I gulp unable to complete the sentence. “Is he seeing other women?”

“Not that I know of. But it’s entirely possible and that’s why I didn’t want you to come here until he showed some signs of remembering his past. I didn’t want you to get hurt in anyway.”

“How much longer should I have waited, Gabe? Until he falls in love with someone else, huh? Until he begins to accept that this is his reality? I am his wife; we have a son and he needs to know it.”

Gabe’s silence and reluctance in supporting me is becoming more and more suspicious. I don’t know what to do. I shove my hair away from my face and turn to Damien who is watching Celia’s car drive away.

The tall, huge, pale-skinned man is standing by his side, mutely surveying their surroundings and my mind latches on to a pertinent detail. Bodyguard!

“What is going on?” I ask Gabe. “Why does Damien need security? Is he in danger?” I’m yelling now, my voice gaining a decibel with each word coming out of my mouth.

“Aaliya, calm down. Your husband’s a powerful man now. His safety needs to be assured at all times.”

I want to scream and hit something, anything. I had this all planned in my mind. I was going to confront Damien outright, but Gabe hasn’t allowed me to do that. I need him to help me; I will beg if I have to. Just as I raise my head to ask him that, I hear a voice behind me.

“Gabe,” Damien says. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”