“What is this?”
Amaris pushed past him, but Derek grabbed her arm.
“Are you fucking crazy?”
“I’m not crazy.” She yanked her arm away.
“Normal people don’t go around smashing mirrors when they’re upset.”
Flinching, she rallied whatever bravery she had, grabbed her duffel bag and work boots from the hall, and shuffled into the bedroom. She couldn’t do it. She needed a moment to breathe.
“Amaris, I’m talking to you.”
She pretended to ignore him as she fought back the tears. Viv would be there in minutes. She stuffed as much as she could into her duffel.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing,” she mumbled. “I’m staying at Viv’s tonight.”
“The hell you are,” he shot at her, nabbing the strap of her duffel.
“Yes. I. Am,” she seethed, ripping it from his hand.
“You’re not going.” His gray eyes darkened as his jaw clenched.
“You can’t tell me what to do.” She kneeled between the bed and the wall, rummaging through the drawer underneath. She needed to breathe. Viv’s apartment was just down the block, but Derek stood between Amaris and the door with his chest puffed out and his hands gripped into fists. She slid her work boots on. “I can’t do this right now.”
“No, we’re going to talk about this, because I’m tired of this hero complex you’ve built.”
“Hero complex? Do you hear yourself?” she snapped. “What if someone pulled a gun on you at work? Wouldn’t you take that bullet, do what you signed up for?”
“Amaris, it’s different, and you know it.” His teeth ground together as he took a step closer, guarding both the window and door as he pressed her into the corner.
“No, Derek, it’s not! We both could be killed. Why does it only matter when it comes to me?”
“Because I can’t lose you. What would happen if you died?”
“If I died, you’d all move on without me. The world would keep spinning.”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Am I not enough for you? Have I not done enough to show you I love you? I work my ass off to put a roof over our heads. I bake you breakfast. I clean up after you.”
His insults roared through her mind, igniting a fire to spark within her. “You forgot, Derek!” she shouted, her duffel dropping to the floor. “Yesterday marked seventeen years since my parents died. You know I need you then.”
He hesitated, and for a moment, she believed the shadows painting his features would lift, but he was consumed by the scotch. “Yeah, seventeen years. Don’t you think you should be past this by now?”
“I’m spending the night at Viv’s.”
I can’t believe he said that.Her mind and body were numb. She moved to step past him, but he grabbed her by the arm, his fingernails digging into her skin.
“Let me go,” she snapped, trying to grab his wrist, but her right hand was useless.
“You’re not going anywhere. You’re not running out on us. You don’t get to do that.”
“I’m not running out on us,” she shot back.
His grip tightened, and a whimper slipped through. Fear swelled, begging her to bend and cower.
“Looks like you are to me, running to that bitch’s house.”
