Page 53 of Entwined With You

She still wanted him; that much was for sure.

But after the way she betrayed him? Well, she may still want him, but he didn’t want her at all.

That, at least, was what he told himself.

He stayed on the sofa, dozing as he waited for her to come out of the bedroom. To toss bullshit explanations his way. But she didn’t come, and soon enough the room started to fade, and it was only when the sun streamed in through the kitchen that he blinked his way back to consciousness.

The door to the bedroom was cracked, and he crossed to it and peeked in, expecting to find her gone.

But there she was, sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes swollen.

“Will it even matter if I say I’m sorry?”

“No.”

She licked her lips, nodding slowly. “I don’t blame you. But I’m going to say it anyway. I’m sorry. So very, very sorry.”

“And you think that makes up for it?” He heard the steel in his voice and wished that anger could cause physical pain. God knew he suffered enough believing she was dead.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Tell me what you planned. Why you faked your death. And why you ran from me after spending years telling me you loved me.”

“I did.” She licked her lips. “I still do.”

“Don’t. Don’t say that.”

She hung her head, nodding almost imperceptibly. “I had a warning,” she said. “I told you about it, remember? That I had a bad feeling. That I wanted to just leave—to run away with you. But you said I just had jitters. Then you got out of the car to go to the relay point.”

She waited for him to say something, and when he didn’t, she drew a breath and continued. “I didn’t want to believe the threat was real, but they told me there was a bomb in the van. They told me you were working with Darrin. That the two of you wanted to thin the team so you could have a bigger share. And—and that I was expendable.”

“You believed that?” His voice felt like ice.

“I didn’t know what to believe, but no. I didn’t. Not at first.” She licked her lips. “But then you didn’t come back right away. You just stayed there, away from the van. And I started to get nervous. And then there was Jorge, racing toward my door. And he yanked it open and pulled me out.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “And that’s when the car exploded.

“Jorge saved me,” she continued. “And there really was a bomb. And you really stayed away. You ignored my worries and you stayed away. So what the hell was I supposed to think?”

“That I loved you, dammit.”

Tears spilled from her eyes. “They showed me photos. You by the van. You looking up into the tire well. They said you were checking the bomb.”

“I never—fuck, Brina. They faked them. And you believed them over me.”

She nodded, looking miserable. “I didn’t want to, but what else made sense? Especially since you were gone. Just poof.”

“I was supposed to hang around like some damn Judas Goat?”

“If you were innocent, yes.” Her voice rose in pitch. “Maybe not for them, but you could have gotten word to me.”

“You were dead,” he snapped. “I was a broken fucking hull of a man and I thought you were dead. How the fuck was I supposed to get you a message?”

She didn’t answer. Just drew in a long breath, then released it. “For about a year, I hated you. I didn’t understand how you could do that to me. And to do it for money, when we’d turned down so many jobs that would have paid great because they were too risky and we knew one or both of us might get hurt. But then there was this. It was baffling, and I was so, so angry.”

She sat up straighter. “But then they gave me a job, and I threw myself into it.”

“Who?”

“A government organization. That’s all I can tell you. Jorge got me an interview with the director. And once I was in, I had access to a lot of resources. I started poking around, trying to find you. I told myself it was for revenge, but that wasn’t true. Not really. I wanted answers. I wanted to hear it straight from you why you would do that to me.”

“I didn’t,” he growled.