Page 223 of Maddening Fixation

My chest heaved as every ounce of pain I had buried came rushing out.

“I am not a possession. I am not some animal you can lock away when you’re angry. I am a human being. I have a life. I have dreams. I have a choice!”

I stepped closer, my voice trembling with rage.

“How dare you?”

His expression remained controlled, but that only made me angrier.

“You know what’s the worst part?” I laughed bitterly. “I spent months wondering what I did to deserve this. I kept thinking maybe there was some explanation. Maybe somewhere inside that cold, arrogant heart of yours, you regretted it.”

I shook my head.

“But you don’t.”

My voice dropped, becoming sharper.

“I regret saving you.”

His eyes flickered, but I pushed through the pain.

“All three times.” My voice cracked. “I should have watched you drown in that pool. I should have left you to bleed out after my father’s men shot you. And when Zachary’s son pulled that trigger, I should have done nothing. I should have let the bullet find you instead of saving you.”

I laughed bitterly through my tears.

“Three times, Romeo. Three times I chose to save a man who has spent every day since making me regret it.”

My fingers curled into fists.

“If I had known saving you would become my own personal hell, I would have watched you die without lifting a finger. Maybe then I wouldn’t hate myself for being foolish enough to keep choosing your life over mine.”

The words tasted poisonous, but I needed him to hurt the way I had hurt.

His jaw tightened.

The next second, his hand closed around my arm.

Not gently.

He pulled me against him, my body colliding with his chest as his grip tightened around my wrist.

“Yes, I hate you. That hasn’t changed.” His voice remained disturbingly calm. “But I never intended for you to remain locked away for four months. That wasn’t deliberate.”

He said it without remorse, as though four months of my life were nothing worth regretting.

My anger burned hotter.

I shoved against him, but he barely moved.

In one quick movement, I hooked my leg around his and twisted, using his own balance against him.

For the first time since I had known him, surprise crossed Romeo’s face.

He hadn’t expected me to fight back.

We stumbled.

Then we crashed into the soft dirt of the farm.