“And what?” I press softly. I can feel the tremulous vibration in the air, threatening to shatter my glass heart.
“I just can’t trust you like I once did. I can’t walk away from the life I’ve built for you. I just… can’t.” The pain that flashes across her face is palpable, and I know it’s hurting her to tell me no.
But the agony it unleashes inside me is near crippling.
And what’s worse is that the more I fight it, the longer I stay, the more pain I cause her.
It’s the last thing I want to do.
It goes against all my instincts, and every fiber of my being screams for me to stop as soon as I nod.
“Okay,” I say, my heart breaking.
I take one step closer to her, and when Stephanie doesn’t move away again, I gently reach up to trap her chin between my thumb and finger. It quivers, and her lips press into a line as she swallows hard.
“If you ever need me—for anything—I’ll be there,” I promise.
I lean in, stealing one last lingering kiss, and her lips are so excruciatingly soft and inviting, it takes every ounce of my self-control to pull away again.
Then I release her, taking a deep breath as I step back. And with a final nod, I turn.
I’m halfway to the door when Stephanie calls my name, stopping me in my tracks.
For one heart-stopping moment, I think she might tell me she’s changed her mind—that we’ll figure things out.
But when I turn, I can see the grim set of her jaw, and I know.
She’s not going to change her mind.
“That guy who was in my shop earlier?” she says, a tremor in her voice.
My heart thuds against my ribs at the mere mention of Kenji, and I know—as agonizing as it is—that Stephanie’s right to keep her distance from me. “Yeah?”
“He said he was buying those flowers for a funeral,” she says, her expression grave and pale. “So, if they were intended for you…”
I give one curt nod. “Thanks for the heads up.”
28
STEPHANIE
Watching Gio walk out that door might just be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I stand there, hands gripping the counter so tightly my knuckles ache, as his broad shoulders disappear into the fading afternoon light.
The sound of the bell above the shop door is so small, so deceptively harmless for the way it shreds something inside me.
I keep telling myself this is the right thing to do. I repeat it in my head like a prayer I can’t quite believe in.
Jackson’s safety comes first.
Always.
That’s what I told Gio, and that’s what I’ve been telling myself since the moment I found out I was pregnant with my son.
No matter what I feel, no matter how good or right or safe Gio somehow makes me feel in the moment, his world is dangerous. And anything dangerous has no place near my son.
But knowing it’s right doesn’t make it hurt any less.
