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Chapter Forty-Seven
Mia
I held my phone in my hand, flipping the cool metal over and over again.
Chad had proved to be a lot smarter than Jackson and his team had originally thought. They were thrown; I could see that now. Which is why I was in hiding. Terry had been jumped. Sure, he was fine, but I couldn’t take the chance that something else would happen to him. My last update from Jackson wasn’t what I had hoped for.
When they were finally able to move on him, they weren’t going to kill him, though I wished they would. I think I even asked Jackson if he could please do that. But he had just laughed and promised me he would make sure Chad never bothered me again.
I let out a hollow laugh at the thought of being free of him. I flipped my phone again, once and then twice. Sighing, I knew exactly what I had to do. I just hoped that I had the courage to get through it.
I hit the button and was rewarded with a ringing sound in my ear.
“Hello, beautiful. Do you miss me?” the voice on the other end of the line drawled.
“Hi,” I said in return, my voice cracking a bit.
“You okay, darlin’?” Terry asked me. I heard movement on his end of the line. He was adjusting his position. He may have been lying down, and now he was sitting up. I might just have his full attention right now.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just, you know, stuck in this weird little apartment with a stranger waiting for this all to be over.”
“It’ll be over soon. Have some faith in Jackson and his men. They’ll take care of things.” Terry was trying to be reassuring, but he was just irritating me further.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him, completely switching the subject on him.
“I’m fine. My head is feeling much better, and I just have a broken nose, some scratches, and a good bonk on the head. I’m fine, I promise you.”
I couldn’t prolong this any longer.
I dove into what I wanted to say to him. “Terry, do you remember when you wrote me off all those years ago?” I didn’t wait for him to answer, I just kept on going. “At the time, I was angry with you. In fact, I think I even hated you for what you did to me. But I get it now. I understand why you were doing it. You were protecting me. I couldn’t see it then, but I can now. And that’s why I have to do the same thing for you.”
I swallowed the lump that began growing in my throat. Terry started to speak, but I cut him off. “I think it’s for the best that we don’t see each other anymore. I can’t take the chance that something is going to happen to you again. It’s safer for you if we aren’t together anymore.”
“Mia.” Terry’s voice broke through in a plea. “You don’t mean that. Jackson and his guys are going to fix this. They’re going to catch him and make sure he doesn’t hurt you anymore. Iwon’t let him hurt you anymore. Do you understand that? I won’t let him hurt you anymore. It is going to be okay, you just have to have a little faith.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve been through this before. I’ve had people come into my life and promise me the very same things that Jackson has. And look where it got me. Look where it got you. I won’t allow that to happen to you again. I’m sorry, but I’ve made my decision.”
“Are you freaking kidding me right now? We’re finally happy together again.” Terry sighed heavily into the line, and I imagined him running a hand through his hair. “I just got you back, and I’m not prepared to lose you again. I won’t lose you again.”
“I’m afraid it’s not up to you.” I wanted to get off the line with him. I knew that if I stayed on the line any longer, he would convince me. He would wear me down. And I wasn’t prepared to refuse him. I wasn’t strong enough, not after everything I had been through the past few days.
“Mia, come on, don’t do this. Please.”
“Terry, I respected your wishes when you ended things all those years ago. Now I need you to do the same for me. I just can’t do this. I can’t let you get hurt again. I can’t lead you into danger. The cost of being with me is too great.”
“Isn’t that for me to decide?”
“You wouldn’t make the right choice,” I told him, smiling. The first smile that I allowed myself since I started talking to him.
“You don’t have any faith in Jackson and his team, do you? You don’t think they’re going to be able to take care of him the right way.”
“It’s not that I don’t have any faith in them, it’s that I know the kind of man he is. I know what he’s capable of. He’ll leave me alone for a few years, and then he’ll come back and do it all over again. The only way to stop him, the only way to keep him from hurting me or anyone else again, is to kill him. And you said that’s not how these guys operated. So I have no choice but to do this.
“I won’t let him hurt you again, because next time, I don’t think you’d survive it. He would make sure of it.” My voice shook as I pleaded with him to listen to me. “I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist. I can’t live in a world where I can’t look at a magazine and see your beautiful pictures. Or attend a gallery opening and see your photographs hanging there. Even if I don’t get to be the woman on your arm while you celebrate all your success, I can’t be the selfish one that takes it all away from you. I just can’t.”
“I don’t think you realize what you’re taking away from me if you do this.”
“I don’t think you realize what I’m giving you back by doing this.” I was trying to reason with him, but it just wasn’t working. I didn’t have it in me to be cruel. I couldn’t. It was Terry after all, and I was trying to save him. He just couldn’t see it yet, but he would eventually.
