‘Noth—’
‘Whathappened?’ he repeated in a harsh whisper that hit more than a roar ever could.
Phoebe gasped. He really didn’t have the right to storm in there and demand to know things when he’d said he didn’t have emotional support to give. But his devastated expression destroyed any resistance she had.
‘The baby is fine,’ she muttered.
‘I don’t—’ He broke off sharply and bawled out another question. ‘Areyoufine?’
‘Yes. I only twisted my ankle.’
‘The same one?’ His voice rose. ‘We should have got you proper treatment that day.’
‘It’sfine,’ she said sharply. The last thing she wanted to hear was more guilt from him.
His expression flared. He took two steps forward and scooped her into his arms.
‘Edo!’
He hefted her closer, kicked the door shut and stomped through to her lounge.
‘Put me down,’ she ordered thinly. ‘Now.’
He did. Very carefully. She snatched the gaping halves of her robe together and pressed as far back into the sofa as she could while fighting to recover her breath. How was it possible for her heart to thunder so hard and her hope soar so high? It made her dizzy. But it was stupid.Shewas stupid. He’d set her ‘getting over Edo’ progress back in less than a second.
‘Why are you here?’ she demanded tremulously. ‘I don’t want you here.’
She couldn’t bear to be this near to him. Every intention she’d been trying to foster—to be measured and reasonable, to work towards some kind of compromise with him, fled. She could be nothing but emotional, and it was awful. ‘You need to leave.Now.’
* * *
Edo obstinately took the chair beside the sofa and looked around her flat because he couldn’t bear to see the vulnerability and pain in her eyes. He needed a moment to breathe after having her in his arms again, because his brain wouldn’t work, and his body just ached with the fear that that might’ve been the last time he might hold her like that. It took everything in him not to pull her back into his arms. To throw all his words into the air and just kiss her—but that was their problem. They fell into physical abandon when they needed to communicate deeply. Words first. Then actions.
Calm before that.
So he looked around. Her home wasn’t what he’d have once expected. It wasn’t organised and neat and perfect. It was full of colour and comfort—a completely maximalist, cosy nest with cushions and photos and interesting objects everywhere. It was full of heart. Maybe it didn’t look much on the outside, but he should’ve known it would be this brilliantly warm on the inside. She’d not had a home she’d felt secure in as a child, so she’d made one for herself here, and he was a jerk for assuming it wouldn’t be good enough. For forcing her away from it.
What he’d provided wasn’t the same at all. Couldn’t even compare. His estate was horribly empty now without her. Polite and efficient, never flustered Phoebe craved this sort of stimulating and creative and warm kind of home. Kind oflife—actually. Intense and varied and rich. Which was what she’d demanded from him, in bed at least.
‘Edo?’ Her prompt sounded less angry. More uncertain.
Because he was clearly losing it—he’d been sitting here silently for minutes, and she was probably starting to think he was deranged. He pulled the present from his pocket and set it on the low coffee table at right angles to them both. The wrapping was crumpled and it looked somewhat sad.
‘You haven’t opened it?’ she whispered. ‘You came all this way to give it back to me?’
She looked so hurt, his heart broke. She thought he’d behave that awfully? It was a sharp reminder that he needed to do better—to be fully honest with her.
‘I wanted to be with you when I opened it,’ he explained huskily, turning to watch her beautiful face. ‘I was ungrateful and rude when you gave it to me. I overreacted really badly toeverythingthat morning.’
She pressed further back into the sofa, her mouth pinched as she bit the inside of her lip.
‘I overreacted to everything about you. I couldn’t handle my feelings and I pushed you away,’ he said. ‘But I can’t resist you any more.’
‘You don’t have to resist me,’ she answered stiffly, avoiding his gaze. ‘You just need to stay in Italy.’
‘But I don’t want to stay there without you. The last week has taught me that. I don’t want to stayanywherewithout you.’
Her eyes filled with even more vulnerability and twisted his heart. She didn’t believe him.
