“Then what was it like? You know what? Don’t bother, I can’t do this right now. I can’t even bring myself look at you.” I slam my suitcase closed and zip it up. “I need to get out of here.”
“Butterfly, please.”
“Don’tcall me that.” The term of endearment that once set my heart racing now feels like a dagger being driven through it.
I drag my case off the bed and it hits the floor with a clunk. I head for the bedroom door, only Killian’s there, blocking my path. “Get out of my way, Killian.”
He doesn’t budge. “Not until you hear me out.”
“I said move!” I shove at his chest, but his hands circle my wrists and I’m spun around until my back collides with the wall. He towers over me. Struggling against him is useless. My hands are pinned either side of my head as he cages me in.
“Look at me.” It’s not a demand, it’s not a question. It’s a plea.
After a long moment, I force my eyes up to his.
I hate the look of sadness in them, the unmistakable tears that well in them.
How dare he be upset.
“I never intended it to come to this. I was never supposed to—”
“Never what? Never intended for me to learn the truth? Never intended to take those photos of me to use against my father?”
“To fall in love,” he continues, his grip on my wrists easing.
“Don’t.” My voice cracks. So does my heart.
I’ve hoped of hearing those words for so long, but hearing them now only adds to the anger raging inside me, only heightens the pain in my chest. It’s as if he’s ripped open my chest cavity, took my still-beating heart in his fist and is squeezing the life out of it.
“I never intended to fall in love with you, Kaia.”
“I saiddon’t!” I shout, doing my best to cover the tremor in my voice. “Why are you doing this? Isn’t it enough you’ve been using me this whole time, you have to toy with my heart too?”
One hand moves to cup my face while the other takes one of mine and lays it flat against his chest directly over his heart. It beats erratically beneath my touch. “This,us. It’s real. Everything I ever said to you, everything we shared was real.”
Ohmygod. Heactuallybelieves the lies that come out of his mouth.
“Why should I believe anything you say?” I shove against his chest and this time he lets me go, his hands dropping to his sides in defeat as he takes a reluctant step back, allowing me past.
I grab hold of my suitcase and leave the room, forcing back the tears I’ve been fighting as I descend the stairs, my case trailing behind me, clunking with every step I take.
“Kaia, wait,” he calls after me just as I reach the bottom of the stairs.
My hand settles on the front door handle. “You can’t stop me leaving.”
“I won’t force you to stay, I’d never force you to do anything,” he says, reaching for a set of keys from the hook on the wall beside my head. “Take my truck. It’s freezing out there and I need to know you’re safe.”
“I don’t needanythingfrom you,” I snap.
“You either take it or I drive you wherever you’re going myself. It’s your choice.Please.”
As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. It’s bitterly cold outside and I don’t have a coat thick enough to keep me warm. I snatch the keys from his hand and tug open the front doorbut I stop when my eyes fall on the bracelet around my wrist.
I pull it off and turn, grabbing Killian’s hand and placing it in his open palm. “You can have this back. Clearly it didn’t mean what I thought it meant.” And without another word, I walk out, leaving him watching from the doorstep.
I throw my suitcase onto the flatbed of his truck before climbing in behind the wheel.
My chin trembles but I lock my jaw, willing myself not to cry, especially in front of him. I don’t want him to see what he’s reduced me to.
