AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Damian’s black eyes twinkled. “Give him hell.”
I got out of the car, straightened up, and made a beeline to where Zander was sitting. He was over a hundred feet away, and once I got closer, I could see his left leg bouncing constantly. The weight of the gun behind my back was a reminder of what might happen; having a shootout with Zander in a public park wouldn’t be smart, but you never knew. Had to be careful.
The wind blew past me as I rounded the bench and sat beside him. I stared straight ahead, at the small pond and the few ducks swimming in the center, while my black hair tousled with the breeze. I didn’t look at Zander, but I knew his head had turned toward me the moment I sat down.
“Who…” Zander stumbled over his words somewhat. “Giselle, is that you?”
I measuredly took off my sunglasses, slow to turn my face to Zander to let him see it was indeed me. I saw how his green eyes studied my face. I noted the long stubble on his jaw and the dark bags under his eyes, which meant he hadn’t been taking care of himself.
He looked like shit.
When it finally dawned on him that it was me, he threw his arms around me and pulled me in for a hug, suffocating in his embrace. “Holy fuck,” he whispered against my hair, “I can’t believe it’s you. I… I thought you were… what the fuck, Giselle?” His arms tightened around my shoulders, and he practically pulled me onto his lap.
Just for a moment, just for the quickest, most fleeting of moments, I allowed myself an ounce of respite in his arms. I let my eyes close and I breathed him in. For a split second, we weren’t on a bench in a park. We were alone somewhere, reuniting after so long apart, and words couldn’t begin to describe just how badly I’d missed him.
But that moment ended all too soon, and when Zander released me from the embrace, I slid my sunglasses back on and steeled myself for a difficult conversation.
“Who did you come here with? Are you here alone? Where the fuck have you been? Goddamn it, Giselle, I—” Zander spoke so fast it was hard to listen to him. “I’ve been so worried about you. I…” He finally stopped talking when he saw how serious I was.
“Were you really worried about me?” I asked, cocking my head at him.
His eyebrows twitched as an expression of hurt crossed his face. “Of course I was worried. I thought you were dead. Miguel didn’t tell me—”
“You know, I’m finding it really hard to trust anything you say. Were you worried about me? Do you even care? Was anything you ever told me true?” The more I spoke, the more confused Zander looked. It was quite comical, really. “Now’s the moment of truth, Zander. Tell me where you were the night I got shot.”
The moment he realized what I was getting at was the moment his jaw tensed, the muscles beneath his stubble pushing against his skin as his teeth ground. Silence stretched between us, an unwelcome thirty party. That silence said more than words ever could, told me the truth that he apparently could not.
Damian wasn’t wrong. That small glimmer of hope that had remained inside me, desperately trying to believe the best in Zander died—because there was no way someone who claimed to care for me, who said they loved me, could ever hurt me like that. My hope vanished completely, replaced by the unhappiness that only came with the harsh truth of reality.
Zander shot me. He shot me and kept it from me, probably hoping I’d never find out. To hurt me was one thing, but to lie about it? To lie about it while also professing his true feelings for me? Please.
“I see,” I whispered.
That got Zander to finally break his silence. “No, you don’t. You can’t see, because you weren’t there. You didn’t get the order from your father. He wanted you dead, and if I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger, someone else would’ve—someone who didn’t give a shit about saving you—”
“Saving me?” I repeated. “You shot me, Zander. You hurt me, and you lied to me about it.”
“I did the only thing I could,” he pleaded. “Do you think I enjoyed it? Do you think I liked aiming a gun at you and pulling the trigger? Fuck, Giselle, it tore me to pieces.”
“Oh, you’re right. It must’ve been really hard for you.”
Zander reached for me, but I pulled away, scooting to the opposite end of the bench. To say he appeared crestfallen after that would be a terrible understatement. The look he gave me made my heart break.
Good. He should feel like shit.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Just tell me the truth now, Zander. Was any of it real? Anything you said to me? What we did… did it mean anything to you?” Zander knew my past, he knew Miguel had given me away for a night three years ago, so he should know that I did not take giving myself to him lightly. He wasn’t some stranger at a sex club. He was Zander.
And that made it worse.
Zander’s lips tugged into a thin line. “It was real. All of it was. I never lied to you, not about any of that. I just—I did what I thought was right. If I wouldn’t have done it, someone else would’ve, and they would’ve killed you with no hesitation. I did my best to save you, Giselle, but in doing so I had to hurt you and I will never forgive myself for that.”
I didn’t say anything. I simply stared straight ahead, my emotions at war. A part of me, even now, wanted to accept Zander’s apology, to believe every single word he said, but that part of me wasn’t winning. No, the opposite part was. The part that distrusted him, the part that could feel her heart cracking as she sat there.
“I’m not even with your father anymore,” Zander was busy saying. “Jett helped me find a new place—”
That was an interesting bit of information, though I resisted my urge to look at him when I heard. Shay didn’t mention helping Zander out, and by the shock on Zander’s face when he’d first realized it was me, I’d say she didn’t tell him about meeting with me, either.
