Cillian got there first and blocked her path. She stopped, her eyes narrowed. Without another word, she spun on her heels. He knew without having to ask that she was headingtoward the back door. He took two long strides to catch up with her and grasped her wrist, tugging her to face him.
Gasping, she tried to wrench her wrist out of Cillian’s grasp. He held fast, his expression resolute. She looked up at him, and he hated seeing that fear in her eyes.
“Give me your car keys,” he said.
“No.” She tried to tug her hand away again.
Sighing, hating himself more than a little, he pulled the keys out of her hand, where she was still clutching them, and tucked them in his pocket.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking in her horrified expression. He might as well have slapped her, and he knew she was never going to forgive him for what he was doing. He’d live with that if it meant keeping her safe.
“Cillian, let me leave,” she said.
“I’m not going to let you do that,” he said, his voice firm, resolute.
“Cillian—”
“This is just fear,” he said. He tried to keep his voice even, soothing, hoping that would help. “It’s not you. You’re stronger than this, Amber. You don’t need to run from him. That asshole has controlled your life for too long.”
“I don’t care what you think I do or don’t need to do,” Amber said, her voice cracking. “I want to leave.”
“I know you do,” he said. “But you can’t. Not now. You’re panicking.”
“Of course I’m panicking!” she exclaimed. “You just told me that the asshole who abused me for years and then sold meoff when he found me a second time was coming here. I thought this place would be safe. Now I have to run again.”
“Amber, please.”
“Come with me, then,” she said. “If you’re so worried about keeping me safe, then come with me.”
“If I didn’t need to stay here and defend the pack, I would,” he said. “But I can’t just walk away, especially since this is my fault in the first place.”
“Then give me the keys and let me leave.”
“No, Amber.”
She yanked her hand out of his grasp. “God, you are so fucking controlling,” she spat. “You know, I thought you were different than Eric, but you’re just as bad.”
Cillian took a step back, his frustration temporarily mitigated by the shock at the vitriol in her words.
“I’m not as bad as Eric,” he said. The words sounded flimsy to his ears, a feeble argument that wasn’t going to go anywhere.
“You forced me to marry you,” she hissed. “You forced me to move into your home. It doesn’t matter if you built some shelves for me. You didn’t ask my opinion on any of it. You just decided that it was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not. You literally just stole my car keys. That was the first thing he did last time he found me.”
It felt like a slap. Amber continued to glower at him, her fingers curled into fists, her chin jutting out in defiance. He stared at her, unsure what to say as her words washed over him, burrowing deep.
“I’m not Eric,” Cillian said. It was all he could think to say. “I’m doing this to help you.”
She let out a harsh, angry laugh. “Aren’t you the one who warned me you had a dark side?” she asked. “The two of you could start a club. At least Eric embraces it instead of hiding behind a lie and trying to convince people that he’s a decent guy. But the two of you are cut from the same cloth. Just my luck. I would have one piece-of-shit asshole drag me away from a different one.”
At first, he couldn’t move, too stunned. The words swam in his head. Was he really as bad as Eric? That wasn’t possible, was it?
Apparently satisfied at the fact that she had rendered him temporarily mute, she scoffed, almost triumphantly, and moved back to march to the front door. This time, before she could spin around, Cillian grasped her shoulder and twisted her back so she was looking at him.
“You’re not leaving,” Cillian snarled.
Something must have sparked in his eyes because Amber’s own widened, and she took a hesitant step back. He hated seeing that surprise and borderline fear on her face and knowing that he was the one who put it there.
“Yes, I am,” she replied with gritted teeth. She shrugged out of his grip and took several steps back.
