“Alright,” I mocked, finding this whole ordeal ridiculous.
“Explain it to me, then?” he dared. “How does this work? From where I’m standing, you’re clinging to a version where someone loses and has to walk away from her. How is that any better than what I’m suggesting?”
“Maybe it’s what needs to happen.”
The second the words left my mouth, I knew I didn’t mean them, and he was aware of it too.
Kraven’s gaze met mine. His stare was steady. “You wouldn’t survive that.”
My jaw clenched.
“And neither would I,” he added.
Silence stretched between us again.
“You really think she’d agree to that? Tous?”
I was shocked when he rebutted, “I think she already is.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You didn’t see it?” he insisted. “The way she looked at both of us in there?”
“I don’t know what you saw, but all I saw was a woman who was overwhelmed.”
“Yeah? Well, I saw a woman who didn’t want either of us to leave.”
“That doesn’t mean she wants this.”
“No,” he agreed. “But it does mean she doesn’t want to lose either of us.”
“Yeah, and that’s not the same thing.”
“But it’s close enough to start.”
I stared at him, mostly at the certainty in his expression. At the fact that he wasn’t backing down, he wasn’t second-guessing himself, he wasn’t even hesitating the way he usually did when it came to her or me.
He wasn’t being impulsive. It was calculating.
“How long have you been thinking about this?”
He didn’t respond.
“Since when?” I repeated, harsher that time.
He arched an eyebrow. “Since I realized I wasn’t willing to walk away from her, even if she chose you.”
“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath.
“Yeah,” he coaxed. “That’s about right.”
I exhaled a deep breath, my mind still fighting with the concept, rejecting it.
“You don’t know anything about what you’re implying.”
“I know you’re trying to throw everything away.”
“I’m not throwing anything away. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell is left.”
