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“You didn’t wait for me…” he says softly, accusingly.
I frown, some of the spell he’s put me under breaking. “I waited all afternoon for you.”
I pined at his sister’s window like the lovesick puppy she accused me of being.
He stiffens then tips his head down, bringing our eyes closer. “Truly?”
With nowhere else to look, the intensity of his gaze sucks me back in, pulling me further into the well of his personal gravity.
“Yes,” I say, sounding breathless. “Where were you?”
He looks away abruptly, breaking the connection, but not before I catch a flash of guilt.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Adam look guilty before. Even when he’s done something blatantly wrong or terrible. He always has a logical reason ready to explain his behavior.
Disturbed, I take a step back and look him over.
All kinds of awful possibilities run through my mind. Has he finally grown tired of me being younger than him? Was he with another girl? Someone older and more mature?
Would I even be able to tell?
Freed from the alluring power of his gaze, I take note of all the little details I previously ignored.
The flushed color of his neck.
The lack of tie and loosened collar of his white shirt.
The smear of red near one of his buttons…
Oh god, is that lipstick?
I make a choking sound as my heart cracks in half and his eyes jerk back to me.
“Abigail, I can explain…” he says as I take a step back, his eyes full of panic.
I’m sure he has a perfectly good excuse but there’s no way I can bear hearing it. Shaking my head back and forth, I spin on my heel, ready to run.
But he grabs me from behind and slaps his hand over my mouth.
Arms tightening around me, he lifts me off my feet and half drags, half carries me away from the drawing room.
I kick at his shins and jab my elbow into his ribs, but all he does is grunt and force me down a dark hallway.
When I slam the tip of my heel down into the toe of his shoe, he finally stops dragging me and pushes me into a little alcove.
“I had to, Abigail. I had to,” he pants against my ear. “There was no other choice.”
Tears flood my eyes and I scream and rage at his palm before I start to bite at him.
I don’t want his excuses or his logical reasons for doing what he did.
He’s hurt me in a way that can never be forgiven.
Ignoring my teeth scraping against his calloused skin, he takes a deep breath, pushing his chest into my back, then firmly declares, “You know what I am. You’ve always known. This changes nothing.”
“It changes everything!” I try to scream back but it comes out a muffled mess.
My body begins to shake from the force of my sobs. I’m crying so hard I can’t get enough air through my nose.
