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She didn’t know what to say.
Before she could find words, he’d walked out. Closed the door.
And left her alone.
***
He’d just screwed that to hell and back. Midas stood in the hallway, his hands clenching and releasing, clenching and releasing. Part of him—a very, very big part—wished that she’d wrench open the bedroom door again. That she’d come out for him, just as she had before.
And tell him that it didn’t matter.
Sometimes, Midas worried he was as delusional as his dear old dick of a dad.
I shouldn’t have told her. Not now. Not when she’d been coming off her own nightmare. But, no, he’d opened his big mouth and just sent her spiraling from one nightmare straight into another one.
I had to tell her. If I hadn’t done it, she would have found the truth online. Not like it was overly hard to discover. His dad was an infamous serial killer. And if she hadn’t looked online, the cops would have told her. They’d almost spilled the truth at the hospital.
He’d thought it would be better to tell her himself.
He…he hadn’t wanted to lie to her.
Let’s agree that you won’t lie to me ever again. You don’t lie to me. I don’t lie to you. Her soft voice whispered through his mind. He’d like to only give her the truth. He hated lies. His father was a master when it came to manipulation and lies, and Midas’s entire life had been nothing but one horrific lie after the other.
And the worst lie of all? My mother didn’t walk out on us. That bastard, he—
The door opened.
Midas whipped back in surprise.
“Your father did that to you?” Alina asked him softly.
“Yes.” Jeez. Could his voice sound more like sandpaper?
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
His own arms hovered awkwardly in the air. He wanted to hug her tightly, but if he did, Midas wasn’t too sure he’d be able to let her go. I told her the truth. I warned her.
And she’d opened the door for him again.
“I’m sorry,” Alina told him. “I can’t imagine the pain you must have felt.” Her head tilted back, but she didn’t let him go. “You aren’t your father.”
She didn’t know him. They’d just met.
So why does it seem like I’ve known Alina forever?
“You saved me. You fought for me. You were hit by a car, and you didn’t stop.” Her eyes widened and she hurriedly stepped back. “Your bruised ribs! I’m sorry! I forgot about them.”
“You didn’t hurt me.” He hadn’t noticed any pain. It had just felt good to have her body against his. “You’re supposed to be pissed at me.”
“I am.”
The immediate reply caught him by surprise. “Then why are you out here trying to comfort me?” He should comfort her. Instead, he’d just dropped the big bombshell of his backstory on her.
“Because you need me to be here.”
His mouth dropped open. “You…” He shut his mouth and struggled to figure out what to say. Finally, Midas settled on, “You were the one taken today. You were the one hurt.”
Her hand carefully trailed down his body to press softly over his ribs. Then that same hand rose to his face. She feathered her fingers over the bruises and scrapes on his cheeks and forehead. “If I was the one hurt, then why are you the one with all the injuries?”
