He stared at her, but she refused to squirm under his scrutiny. She did what she needed to do for her family, just like she did back then. But now it was time to get some portion of her life back. Fifteen years was long enough to hide.
“I wish you would’ve told me,” he said, brow furrowed. “You could’ve reached out to me, asked for my help, told me you were alive.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “And say what, exactly? ‘Hi, Robert, remember me? The girl who broke your heart when I vanishedone night? Hey, I’ve been hiding for the past decade and a half. Want to grab some coffee and catch up?’”
He stepped closer, his fists unclenched, arms still at his sides. “You still should’ve told me. We made promises to each other. You should’ve kept yours.”
“I couldn’t.” She held her ground, even though her voice shook. “I still can’t. This is as close to the truth as we can get, Robert. I won’t risk my parents being discovered.”
“I get that, but you don’t get to decide what I can handle.” His voice was low but intense, sending a shiver down her back. “You don’t get to protect me from this now that I know what’s going on.”
“I wasn’t protecting you,” she snapped. “I was protecting me. I’m protecting them. If I let you in—if I let myself want that again—I could never survive losing you twice.”
That shut him up, and he simply stared at her, mouth ajar.
She turned back to the window, arms tight again as she did her best to slow her breathing, as well as the hammering of her heart.
“You don’t think I remember those promises?” she whispered. “You were the only real thing I ever had. And when they ripped me away from you, when I lost you, it felt like I lost myself too. I never wanted to break those promises to you, but my mother needed this. I couldn’t not give it to her.”
The room stretched in silence, with only the hum of the air conditioning vent filling the space. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
“I still wear it,” she heard him say.
She turned, confusion pinching her brow. “Wear what?”
He reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out the thin chain around his neck.
She felt her eyes go wide for a second when she saw it. Her ring. The promise ring they’d exchanged one night whenthey were kids dreaming of forever and planning their wedding for after she graduated, when there was still a future to plan together.
She placed a hand to her mouth as a choked sob slipped past her fingers. There was no way to stop the tears now.
“I never stopped,” he whispered, taking another step toward her. “Never stopped wondering. Never stopped hoping. I thought maybe you were sick. Or maybe you hated me for something I didn’t even know I did. But I never imagined… this.”
She stepped back, her heart pounding so hard she swore her chest would explode. “You can’t?—”
“I can.” He moved closer, too close. “You think this is about the past, but it’s not. It’s about right now. About you standing here, in front of me, trying to push me away when we both know you’re still mine.”
“I’m not yours.”
“You will always be mine.”
She made a slow swing of her head, staring into his eyes. “I can’t.”
He stopped, staring at her. “Then tell me to go and mean it.”
She opened her mouth, ready to tell him, needing to tell him. Then closed it again.
“You don’t understand,” she whispered. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Sweetie, I eat dangerous for breakfast.”
She laughed through her tears. “You think that’s funny?”
“No,” he said. “I think it’s fate. I think life prepared me for this very moment.”
She wiped at her face, frustrated as her past slammed into her present, threatening to upend her future. “I can’t do this, Bobby.” She reached out, placing a hand on his chest. “There’s too much at stake.”
“You’re doing this.” His voice softened. “Look at me, Jules.”
