She could see the anger.
Yeah, this was no shock.
Only, for one of the Marines she called hers, she’d take the wrath if it meant one day, Michael would have peace. It was the least she could do.
He might not see it yet, but at some point, he’d fall back into love with Graham, and they’d work it out. The universe put them back on each other’s path, and that was significant.
He wasn’t done.
“I won’t forgive you for this. Ever! I quit. I’m done. Thanks for the fun, Elizabeth, but I’m never working for you or coming near you again. You betrayed me, and that’s the worst part of this. I loved you. I called you Mom because I felt safe, and now, I’m not!”
With that, he ended the call, and sat there in the aftermath.
Now, his whole chest hurt.
His whole being ached.
This sucker-punch was so brutal it took him to his knees, and he wouldn’t be okay from this.
Never.
AGAIN.
Graham was here, and he couldn’t be. There was no way they could be in the same place and not have it go bad. He told him if he left, to never come back, and that was the plan.
Michael wouldNEVERface him again.
Honestly, he couldn’t believe any of this. How many hours of the day did he wonder and think about Graham Lainey?
How many dreams did he have of them still together when his life had been damn perfect?
How many dreams had been filled with them laughing, at peace, and with a family of their own?
And now this?
This cut deep, and he’d never recover from it. The man looked the same, and it was as if fate picked him up, and dropped him right in front of him again.
Now, he came face-to-face with him, and that hurt was back.
And it scared him.
Michael wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there, but when his phone rang, he knew it would be reckoning for what he’d just done.
And he didn’t care.
Someone had to protect him, and that someone was himself. Like long ago, right after he’d been shoved out of Graham’s world, he was back to being alone.
He was his own advocate.
Pulling the ringing phone out, he sent the call to voicemail when he saw it was Ivan.
No.
Freaking.
Way.
He couldn’t deal with this right now. To him, Elizabeth deserved the dressing down. She’d broken him when he needed tenderness.
