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She rolls her lips but says nothing.
“But I knew you weren’t safe until he was found. Jasmin had a police protection unit placed on her. And she had Alistair. But I knew it was you Julian would tell him to go after. All those photographs...”
He was watching her. He had his disgusting eyes on my girl the whole time.
“He knew in order to get to me, to reallyhurtme, he needed you. I would have signed the estate over to him without question to make sure he never touched you. I would have fuckingkilledhim with my bare hands if I could have, Rose. You are everything to me. Please tell me you know that?” I plead. “Every moment with you has been a gift.Youwere my gift. I’ve been stuck for years. Then you came along, and you freed me. You are the reason I wake up every morning. You are the reason I want to see another sunrise.Please,Rose. You are everything to me. And more.”
“You lied to me, Dax.” Her voice is small, quiet, but the strength in it is undeniable. She’s a fighter. And right now, she’s still fighting against me.
I’ve ruined everything.
I broke the best thing I had in my life.
“Remember how I told you that I hate people making decisions about what they think is best for me?” She doesn’t wait for me to answer. “You know I hate it. And yet you did the exact same thing to me. You should have told me Julian was watching me. You should have told me what you were doing when you pushed me away that day. Because all I’ve felt all these months is betrayal. I’m not helpless. You don’t get to dictate my life. You don’t get to make decisions for me.”
“That’s not what I was trying to do. I never want to do that. I was doing what I thought I had to. Everything I did, every mistake I made… I did it all to protect you. The passport… the money… I wanted you to have a get-out if you needed it. I had to know you’d have that if anything happened to me.” I press a finger and thumb into my eye sockets until my head throbs. “If anything happens to you… I…Nothingcan ever happen to you. It would ruin me. In fact,I’m already fucking ruined. I have been since you left.”
“And you think I’m not? You think I’ve been living this amazing, happy life without you? I gave you everything, Dax. Because I believed in you. In us. Now I don’t know what to believe.”
“Please. I swear to you. You know everything we had was real. You know how I feel about you. You know that.” I drag a hand down my face, fear pricking at me like a thousand scalding needles.
What if she doesn’t believe me? What if she never forgives me? How does the earth exist without its sun?
“I just had to keep you safe. You were never safe with me.”
She takes a slow, deliberate breath in, looking over my face, her eyes softening, and hope blooms in my chest. Then she parts her lips and whispers her next words so softly that I have to focus to hear them.
“You’re right. I was never safe with you. But it wasn’t because of Julian. Or a rat inside the police. It was all because of you. Lying to me. Pushing me away. The people closest to us have the power to hurt us the most.And you’re mine, Dax Silver. You’re my weakness and my biggest threat. Because with you, I am never safe.”
“God.” I drag in a splintered breath, my eyes wet. “Please don’t. Let me prove it to you. Just give me one more sunrise before you close that door on us.Please.”
She shakes her head sadly and the fight leaves her in a final, dry-eyed sob. “Go to hell,” she whispers.
I blink through the tears pooling in my eyes. “I’m already there without you.”
Her gaze passes between my eyes and then down to my lips before she looks to the front door where her mom is watching us.
“Don’t invite him in, Mom. He’s leaving now.” Rose’s voice regains its strength as she rushes past her mom and into the house without looking back.
Her mom gives me a sympathetic smile. The same smile she gave me when I arrived hours ago.
Then she follows Rose inside the house and closes the door.
Chapter 41
Rose
Irunupthestairs and into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. Ninety silver threads grab at me, wrapping themselves around my arms and my neck. Entangling me like a web of lies.
He came.
It’s what I wanted. Him to come and say it to my face. But seeing him again has ripped the floor from beneath my feet. I knew it wouldn’t be easy and that seeing him again would send emotions raging through me like a storm.
But what I didn’t expect was how much I wanted to throw myself into his arms. To tell him I forgive him and that it’s okay. That it’s all okay,because he came. Because he came for me, and all that matters is that we are together, where we belong.
And even though I’m shaking from how mad I am, I’m beginning to understand. Everything he’s saying is starting to make sense.
He wanted to protect me. He wanted to keep me safe and from harm. It’s like what Harley and Reed went through before they got engaged. So much shit was thrown at them. But they came out of it stronger than ever.
