“Therapy,” he threw out. “Is thatwhat you want? Couple’s therapy? Because, Vera, I can do that. You’re making meout to be some kind of monster, but you’re not perfect either. It’s not fair topin this all on me.”
I swallowed back the need to defendmyself. It wasn’t easy. I wanted to scream at this man, thisidiotthat couldn’t see his own faultsand wanted to make this about our relationship problems instead of the realissues.
But I couldn’t get sucked into hismanipulation game. If I engaged his rhetoric, then he got to dictate thedirection of the conversation.
And he was right. I wasn’t perfect.I might be justified. I might be right. I might have had every reason to flee.But I wasn’t perfect.
“Derrek, I don’t want to go tocouple’s therapy. I want you to acknowledge that it’s over between us.”
“So that’s it?” His sneer came back,twisting his features into a terrifying snarl. “You’re just going to give up onus? Walk away after all the time and energy I put into making you happy? You’regoing to turn your back on me aftereverything?”
I nodded, surprised to find tearslurking in the corners of my eyes. “I am.”
“Vera,” he growled, low andmenacing. “This is a big mistake.”
The next words took the most amountof courage I had ever used. It was one thing to run away without facing him. Itwas one thing to have the men in my life chase him away when I couldn’t protectmyself. But it was an entirely other thing to stand up for myself, to speak thethreat that needed to be said. “And I’m filing a restraining order. Today. Itold you in my text that I would if you bothered me again. You chose not tolisten to my warning. So now I have no choice but to follow through.”
He lunged forward, bringing us noseto nose. “Bullshit!” he yelled, snapping whatever restraint had been holdinghim back. “Bullshit, Vera! A restraining order? Are you fucking kidding me?What is wrong with you?”
“Hey!” Vann rushed out of Foodie atthe same time Killian darted across the street, shouting the same thing.
Both men surrounded me, pulling meback from Derrek and stepping in between us. “Back off,” Killian yelled.
“Get out of my way, Quinn,” Derrekbarked. “This isn’t your business.”
“Wrong.” Killian rolled hisshoulders, and even under his chef coat, they were intimidating. “She’sabsolutely my business. What she isn’t is yours. She wants nothing to do withyou, man, so back the fuck off.”
Vann stood at my side, his armwrapped around my shoulders protectively. “Leave, Derrek, before we call thecops.”
Derrek laughed, but it soundedslightly hysterical. “That’s ridiculous! I haven’t done anything wrong. We werejust talking.”
Killian had zero patience for hislies. “Leave,” he ordered. “Or I’m going to make this very public. And thatwould be very bad business.”
Derrek ground his teeth together,the muscles in his jaw popping and flexing. He looked at me, ignoring the menat my sides. “This is really what you want? After all we’ve been through? Thisis how you want to end it?”
I felt sick, irrationally guilty andoverwhelmed at the same time. “Yes.” My voice was stronger than I felt. Despitemy earlier bravado, this washard as hell.“This is what I want, Derrek. It’s over between us. I’m filing the restrainingorder today. I don’t want to see you again.”
“It’s done then,” he spat. “Youdon’t have to file a fucking restraining order. I get the message.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t going to argue thiswith him. He could leave and maybe I really would never see him again. But Iwasn’t going to take the chance.
He glared at me for another longmoment, conveying hate and anger and maybe even something like surprise. Buteventually, he turned around and walked back to his car. He didn’t look at meagain. His tires ground against the pavement as he peeled away from thesidewalk, plunging into traffic like a bat out of hell.
His silver Lexus disappeared in thecrush of Saturday evening traffic, and then he was gone. Hopefully forever.
My entire body slumped with relief.Vann caught me against him, squeezing my arm tight with encouragement.
Killian turned around andpractically snatched me from Vann’s arms. He crushed me against his chest,holding me tightly to him as if I’d just been through some traumatic life ordeath accident.
The truth was, Derrek hadn’t evengotten physical. This last exchange of ours was mild compared to others. Andyet it felt like a kick in the gut.
Adrenaline slipped from my blood,leaving me weakened and shaky. I couldn’t get over the feeling that I’d justfought some major battle and won. From the outside, it might have seemedanticlimactic, but to me, to my heart, to my fragile spirit that had fought sohard to get away from Derrek, that confrontation had been years in the making.
I’d gone through hell to get here.My soul had been razed and rebuilt. My dreams had been lost and then foundagain. I’d given myself up to someone who didn’t deserve me, and then I’d foughttooth and nail to have a life I did deserve—the happiness and relationship andman I deserved.
Killian’s strong arms were like abrace around me, holding me up and reminding me that he was here for me, thathe wasn’t going anywhere.
When my mind finally stoppedspinning and my body evened out, I pulled back and looked at him, traced thelines of his face and the depths of his eyes. I saw the answer to the coin tossthere. I felt the disappointment fresh and fierce as I remembered the coinshowing Bianca on the floor.
