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A bag was tosseddown the stairs joining a pile of others. I didn’t have to go through them to know they were full of Tex’s clothes.

I took the stairs two at a time, racing against time. I stopped short of my bedroom to see Tex on his knees, trying to get Penelope to go in the cage.

“Come on, Pen. We have to hurry up.”

“What are you doing?” The words came out of my mouth, but I felt detached from my own body as I stared down at Tex.

He went still, Pen trotting away from him and over to me. I was unable to bend down and pet him, afraid one wrong move, and everything would shatter before me.

“Enzo.” Tex licked his lips as he faced me. His gaze dropped to the bags in my hands before they moved back to my face. There was a visible battle storming in his blue eyes.

Tex blinked, and the knot forming in my stomach tightened.

“Enzo, you knew this wasn’t going to last.”

“I didn’t.” My chest felt as if a knife was steadily piercing it.

“Come on. I’m a cop. I—”

“You are mine!”

Tex’s mouth snapped shut as he stared at me. How could this happen? This morning we’d been wrapped in each other’s arms, and now he was what? Planning on leaving me?

My heart rate picked up. I itched as if I was covered in ants. I knew it wasn’t true, but it didn’t stop me from involuntarily twitching as I fought the urge to scratch.

“Enzo, I can’t be yours,” Tex whispered as if he was afraid to admit it.

I snapped. In the next second, I charged at Tex. He saw me coming and slid on the floor around me. He was up, and I turned on my heels, chasing after him. Our feet thudded against the tile floor. Tex jumped down the stairs, and I was right behind him. I ignored the ache in my body; it was nothing compared to the need to get Tex.

He nearly made it to the door. His fingers brushed along the handle when I tackled him down.

“Fucking bastard.” Tex drew his arm back, and his fist cut through the air before landing on my face.

My head whipped to the side, but I held onto him tighter. The taste of blood fueled me as I grabbed his wrists and slammed them to the floor.

“Enzo, get off!”

No, if I do, you will leave.

“Tex, you need to think about what you’re doing.”

His eyes widened. “You have got to be shitting me right now.” He jerked in my hold. “You’re the one holding me down.”

“Because you were going to leave.”

“I have to!” Tex’s blue eyes pleaded with me, but I ignored them.

I couldn’t let him go. Not even if my brother asked me to. Tex had become something far more important.

“What happened?” I could fix it. “This morning was great. We had plans for dinner, only for me to come home to find you packing.”

Tex looked away. For a short second, he stopped fighting against my hold. “I came to my senses. Can’t live in fantasyland forever.”

Is it so hard to be with me?Tex turned his head slowly back toward me, and our eyes met once more. I’m not sure what facial expression I wore. I felt too out of control to even think about it, but whatever Tex saw had him reaching out to me. I hadn’t even realized I’d released his wrists.

I closed my eyes for a brief second and pressed my face against the palm of his hand. It was so grounding, and he wanted to take it all away.

“Enzo, this can’t work.”