Page 146 of Maddening Fixation

Instinctively, my hand drifted to my abdomen.

“I still carry the scar. My stomach has never been the same.”

He remained perfectly still.

Not a flicker. Not a blink. Not a single crack in that merciless composure.

Tears blurred my vision.

“I never told anyone because... because no one would have believed me anyway.”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips, sounding far more like a sob than amusement.

“When you woke up, Yarina was the first person you saw.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“She stood beside your hospital bed... and she let you believe she was the one who had saved you.”

“She let everyone believe it.”

I lowered my gaze.

Another painful silence settled between us.

“And when you were shot three days ago... I was the one who drove you to that warehouse.”

My voice quivered.

“You were bleeding so heavily...”

I could still see the blood soaking through his clothes.

“I did everything I could to stop the bleeding.”

My fingers curled into trembling fists at the memory.

“If I hadn’t...”

The words lodged painfully in my throat.

“You would’ve died before your men arrived.”

The confession lingered between us, heavy and inescapable.

“I know none of this will make you hate me any less.”

I lowered my head and gave a faint, defeated shake of it.

“I’m not asking for your affection.” Another tear slipped silently down my cheek.“I just wanted you to know the truth.”

I forced myself to meet those unreadable eyes.

“Because it hurts.”

“It hurts when the man you’ve pulled back from death... twice... speaks of your own death as though it means nothing.”

Romeo shifted his weight almost imperceptibly.