“I’m not asking, Liam,” Gabriel snaps as he steps around the front of the car. “I’m not asking you to come back. I’m fucking telling you. You can’t bust into my life, change my whole world, and leave as you please.”
He’s not crying now, no; his face is set hard while he stares down at me. “I own you, Liam. I know every dark deed you’ve committed. If you leave me, I will dedicate my life to putting you in prison where I can see you every fucking day.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that you would do that?”
Gabriel cups my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “It would be better than never seeing you again. I can be greedy too, Liam. I can be stubborn too.Youare not the only one in control ofthis relationship or my life.Iwent out there on that ice. I joined you every step of the way through this case. I was right there beside you when we chose to help Jesse instead of tossing him in jail. Your methods might have been unorthodox, but Whitaker isdeadbecause of you. He is gone and he will never hurt another soul. And you…
“You’re going to push down all of this fear like we normal people have to do all the fucking time, and you’re going to stop this bullshit.”
I swallow the lump in my throat as I reach out to him, but I’m afraid to touch him. “Everything hurts. All of it.”
“Yeah? That’s what happens when you’re anxious, when you’re afraid.”
“I don’t have anxieties or fear,” I counter.
“Well… it looks like you do when it comes to me.”
“You could have died because I pushed Whitaker.”
“He would have responded no matter what we did, and because of it, he’s dead.”
“I put you in danger,” I say.
Gabriel runs his fingers through my hair, and then his grip tightens. “I don’t care. I don’t fucking care. You’re either going to willingly come home or I’m going to drag you inside.”
My hand touches his thigh before I wrap my arms around his legs. “I don’t know how to survive without you.”
He pushes my arms apart and kneels down in front of me so he can pull me into him. “You do, Liam. Youcouldsurvive without me, but why the fuck try when you don’t need to? You’re mine. I will continue to love you, even knowing all about the darkness inside of you. Because I need you more than I’ve ever needed anything.”
“I love you. But I’m not good for you.”
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Now, I’m freezing, so we’re going in the house. This is not a question,” Gabriel says as he grabs my hand and we both get to our feet.
“I’ll give you everything,” I whisper, staring down at where his hand is clasped around mine.
“Dammit, Liam, stop. You don’t have to apologize or make it up to me or whatever you think you need to do. We are both aware this job is dangerous. The only thing you need to apologize for is the fact that you tried to leave me. You’re never fucking leaving me again, do you understand?”
“I’m sorry,” I murmur as he pulls me out of the cold and into the house. “I will never leave you again.”
“Even if something like this happens again?” Gabriel asks, and when I hesitate, he gives me a look. “Liam, do you love me?”
“Do you even have to ask that?”
“Then you are going to listen to me. You’re not leaving me over something so fucking senseless ever again, do you understand? And don’t you dare lie to me.”
I pull him in and kiss the tips of his fingers, brushing my lips over those prints I love so much. I’d vowed to never touch him again. To walk away.
“I’m selfish,” I admit.
“Then so am I.”
“I’m possessive.”
“Then so am I.”
“I could destroy you,” I say.
“And so could I. We’re in this together.”
