She stills. Her body frozen in that in-between state she gets when she’s about to crack or explode.
I take a step closer.
“I never stopped thinking about you. Not for a minute. Even when I wanted to, you haunted me.”
She turns. Her expression fractures. “Then why does it feel like you gave me up without a fight?”
Because I did. Because I thought I had to.
“You think this is easy for me?” I ask. “Playing along with something I don’t want? Waking up beside someone who isn’t you? Pretending like I don’t want to crawl out of my skin every day?”
Her jaw tightens, stubbornness spreading across her face. “Then leave her.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
She shakes her head, pain twisting her features. “That’s not good enough.”
“You want the truth?”
“I want everything.”
I breathe deep. “The engagement’s real on paper. That’s it. There’s no love, no future. Because I gave all of that to you a longtime ago, whether I meant to or not.”
She doesn’t move.
“I’m not asking for forgiveness,” I say. “But I’m asking you to remember what we were. What we still could be when the dust settles.”
She drops her arms to her sides. Her face unreadable.
“You were mine, once” I whisper. “And I was yours.”
“And now?” she asks, eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
“Now, I’d walk away from all of it. Money, power, every advantage… if it meant I got to be yours again.”
She stares. “Then do it.”
“I will,” I say. “Just not yet.”
She recoils. “Why? Help me understand.”
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “I need Joe gone.”
She laughs, sharp and cold. “Joe? This is aboutJoe?”
“Everything is about Joe,” I practically yell. “You’ll never be safe with him still out there. He’s involved in so much more than you realize. You’re not the only person he’s hurt. Still hurting.”
She flinches. “I know he was trafficking.”
“He still is,” I say gently. “The man funding him… I’m engaged to his daughter.”
I let her process that.
“I’m going to kill Joe. I’m going to destroy the whole operation. I’m going to make the world safe for you again.”
