Page 90 of Scars of Fate

“I did.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“You loved me. But you didn’t choose me. There’s a difference.”

Lucas opened his eyes.

“Then let me choose you now.”

The world went silent.

I searched his face.

He meant it.

In that moment—bleeding, exhausted, and surrounded by the wreckage of an ambush—Lucas meant every word.

But fear still lived inside me.

The same fear that had destroyed us before.

“You’re saying that because you almost lost me.”

“I’m saying it because I did lose you.”

His hand slid around the back of my neck.

“And I’ve regretted it every day since.”

A medic rushed from the transport.

“Dr. Turner needs another pair of hands!”

The moment broke.

Reality crashed back around us.

Samir.

The civilians.

Meridian.

The file.

I stepped away from Lucas.

“I have to go.”

His hand fell to his side.

For one terrible second, I saw six years ago reflected in his eyes.

Me leaving.

Him letting me.