“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say, trying to assure her it’s not her fault. It’s fucking mine.
She blows out a deep sigh. “Right, how could I forget you give and I receive? Well, I caused you misery, so what should you give me now?”
“Peace. You should take the offer.” Every step makes it harder for me not to kiss her breathless, love her senseless.
“You know?” she whispers, eyeing me with huge doe eyes that are the entry to the only paradise I will ever know.
I nod and push through the onslaught of feelings. “Away from this life, from me, you’ll be free.”
Tears well in her eyes, decimating me. “Free from you? Oh my Mika, I might have done the stupidest thing possible, but not even death could free me of you.”
It takes every bit of strength to remain firm. “You’re confused. That’s all.”
“And stop telling me how I feel,” she snaps.
“You were pretty determined to end us,” I grit out.
“You know damn well why I did that.”
“No, I don’t fucking know why.”
She stabs a finger into my chest as if wanting to reach my heart. “Because of my brother. To keep you alive because I could never live if you were gone. And not even two days later, I give in,” she sighs.
Stay fucking resolute. We reach her room, and the internal war my heart and mind wage ceases.
“You’re confused,” I say like a broken record player.
I must focus on that. I put her chance to leave at risk once, but I won’t make the same mistake twice.
She clutches the lapels of my jacket and, lifting on her toes, she brings her mouth to mine. “Are you too blind to see, you stupid man, that I love you more than life, freedom, sanity itself?”
Her words cause an earthquake inside me, shaking me to my core. “Go to bed.”
She blinks, incredulity twisting her features. “That’s your answer to my declaration?”
My body strains to the point of coming undone with one touch. “Two days ago, you were determined to break up. What should I believe?”
She slips out of my hold and pushes at my chest. “You’re calling me immature? That I don’t know what I want? Then, fuck you, Mika, because I know who I have loved and wanted since before I could even quantify that.”
She storms into her room, and I follow her inside just to make sure she’s fine.
She thrusts her arm out toward the door. “Leave.”
“I won’t bother you again,” I assure her.
“Should I thank you for that?” she shouts, holding her head between her palms.
“Stop being a brat,” I groan, raking a hand through my hair, not fucking knowing what to do.
She crosses her arms over her chest, jerking her chin at me. “I can be whatever the fuck I want. I don’t answer to you.”
The pose of defiance, coupled with her eyes flashing with rebellion, strikes me, and my palm itches to meet that perky ass of hers.
Instead, I grip the flimsy rope of control not to show her how she owns me.
I walk away, needing to set her free so she can fly away from my gilded cage. Escape my greedy talons that would otherwise sink into her flesh and never let her go.
“You’re leaving me?” she whispers, sounding broken.
