“I did this to you.”
“Teo,” I protest.
“Butshedid this to you, too.”
I shake my head.
“Look at me.”
I do. And he’s there, hovering over me, mere inches from my face. We’re practically breathing the same air, and I savor the taste. The overwhelming buzz of his nearness fills my ears as if there is nothing else in the world.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you again,” he promises, serious as death itself.
I take a steadying breath. “And that includes my mother, does it?”
“You could have died.”
“She didn’t force me to drink it,” I argue back. “This is not the point.”
“Then what is the point, Isabella? Because I’m so damn tired of running these circles with you.”
It’s my turn to laugh. It’s an awful, bitter sound. “Then maybe you should have just let me die! It would have saved you the trouble of killing me.”
I watch as his jaw muscles jump beneath his skin. Those precious inches between us get shorter and shorter, and then his nose is on my cheek, almost nuzzling me.
“I can’t do it,” he whispers his dangerous secret into the non-existent space between us.
And my heart simply breaks.
And I curse myself for ever thinking this would be the best-case scenario. That I could somehow usethisto my advantage, to manipulate him into leaving my family alone.
Because how could I have ever possibly believed that these feelings would only flow one way? All this time, I was so concerned about whether he would be able to commit to killing me.
I never once thought about the cost of killinghim.
And the tragic truth is that I can’t do it either.
Which means we’re both just stuck. We both need something from the other, but neither of us can see it through to the bitter end.
So where does that even leave us?
“Would you do it? Would you give her up?” I whisper back as his nose skims over my cheek.
“Who?”
“Would you give up your mother?”
He stops breathing.
Then, he throws himself backward as if I’ve somehow shocked him. There is a deathly darkness in his eyes that I’ve never seen before.
“Don’t you dare talk about her.” His voice is low and threatening. It’s enough to make my toes curl and my heart pound in my chest.
But I don’t back down. “You wouldn’t do it, would you?”
“I said, ENOUGH!” he roars.
“Or what, Teo?” I almost laugh at him. “We both know we’re royally fucked over this. We can’t kill each other. We can’t get what we want. What isleftfor us?”
