Chapter12
Ego
The tension in Kane’s office is thick enough to cut with a knife.
She looks emotionally wrecked.And it’s my fucking fault.
Nothing has ever made me feel so goddamn bad in my whole life.
“Don’t just stand there.You wanted a shot?Go ahead.Start talking.All of it.No more secrets.No more ‘you wouldn’t understand’ or ‘I was going to tell you.’Just tell me everything.”
Her words are still echoing inside the office.
“I’m sorry,” I say finally, my voice rough with the weight of what I should’ve said days ago.“I should’ve told you everything from the start.But the second I met you, this stopped being just another job.I wanted to keep you safe, yeah—but I also wanted to keep you.”
Her brows draw together.“What?”
“You’re mine, Angel,” I tell her, stepping forward even as she steps back.“From the second I saw you.But I thought maybe if I told you too much, too fast, you’d run.And I didn’t want to risk losing you before I even had the chance to prove myself.”
She stops mid-pace, arms crossed tightly over her chest, and stares at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind.
“This is crazy.”
“I might be crazy,” I admit, “but only about you, Sabrina.”
She flinches like I struck her.“Please don’t say that.I fell for your lies this morning.And yeah, I was willing.I was stupidly willing.But you don’t have to say sweet things to make me feel better about it.”
“Lies?What lies?”I ask, my voice sharper than I mean it to be.“That I want you?I do.That I’m falling for you faster than I can keep up with?I fucking am.And it's got nothing to do with pity or pretending.And this?I wasn’t trying to lie about it.I was trying to protect you?—”
Her lips tremble for half a second before she steels herself.
“You don’t get to decide what I can handle.”
“I know.”I nod, slowly.“You’re right.”
“You don’t get to make choices for me,” she snaps.
“I know,” I repeat, standing now, my hands at my sides, wide open.“And I was wrong.About a lot of things.But I swear to you, Angel, I will never lie to you again.Never keep you in the dark.Not about your safety.Not about anything.”
Her eyes lock on mine, and for a second, I think I see the wall around her heart start to crack.
“You want me to trust you.”
“I want you to trust me,” I echo.“Fuck, Angel, I need you to.But I’m willing to earn it.Every day.Starting now.”
Her jaw clenches.“Words are easy,Ego.”
Fuck.I want her to call me Theo.Not Ego.But right now, I’ll take what I can get.
“I know,” I say again, softer this time.“So let me show you.Let me be the one who shows up.The one who puts in the effort.You don’t owe me anything.But I’m asking you for a chance, anyway.”
Silence stretches between us.
The air’s tight with everything unsaid.I brace for her to walk out.
For her to tell me to go to hell and find a new detail to protect.
But instead, she lets out a long breath and sinks back into the chair like the fight’s still in her—but maybe not aimed at me anymore.
