Page 90 of Together Is Where We Belong

“I don’t know, Carolina. I don’t know what you want because you never manage to tell me.”

“It’s not that simple,” I screamed at him. Life never was as simple as it seemed.

“It could be that simple. You just refuse to let it be,” he countered as he took a step forward and stopped.

“This isn’t about us. It’s about keeping that sweet little boy safe. I’d do anything to make sure of that. You can’t control this situation. You can’t control the actions of some deranged person no matter how much you’d like to,” I said.

“You’re not runnin’ this time. I won’t allow it. Want to know what’s different this time?” he said as he took the last few remaining steps forward that allowed him to tower over me.

“What?” I choked out.

“I know what’s at stake if you leave me. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth to find you. To find our son. I won’t let you leave without a fight this time,” he told me, and I let out another sob. How could this man even remotely fight for me after what I’d done to him, to us?

“But why, Leo? There’s too much pain from the past to work through. I caused you to completely change who you were. Why would you even bother chasing after me?”

I knew why he’d chase after Luke. He loved our son, that much I knew for a fact.

I gripped the necklace beneath my shirt like a lifeline as I waited for him to answer.

“You don’t see it?” he asked as he moved so close that I could feel the whisper of his breath across my face. His hand reached up to hold the one gripped tightly around the soaked cotton of my shirt.

The rain had soaked us both to the bone including the space between us that used to mean everything.

“See what?” I asked as I moved my hand from his hold too quickly, the necklace pulled out of its hiding place and landed on top of my shirt.

Leo sucked in a tight breath as he picked up what dangled from the sterling silver chain. Our promise rings. The rings I never took off. I carried them with me all these years as a reminder of what I’d left behind.

“You kept them,” he whispered, his voice full of awe as he stared down at the silver bands.

“I had to,” I admitted, as the need to get away from him grew. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t risk us not working out and breaking his heart all over again. No matter how much I’d like Leo to be a part of my future, I had to keep him safe. And that meant he needed to be as far away from me as possible. I wouldn’t be the cause of him changing who he was ever again.

“You’re not leavin’ me again, Carolina. Not when I just got you back,” he said, and the demand in his tone caused me to shiver.

“I can’t do this with you, Leo. You should keep hating me or pretending to hate me. It’d be so much easier if you did,” I countered as I tried to pull away from him.

Leo caught me before I could get one step away from him; his arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against him.

“It’s not goin’ to be easy, firefly. Nothing worth fightin’ for in life ever is. And you, Carolina Sutton, are worth fightin’ for,” his whispered words settled into my heart as they sat between us.

“But I’m not,” I whispered back as I tried to turn away from him. He didn’t let me. He turned me to face him and rested his forehead against mine.

“Why not? Why don’t you believe you’re worth fightin’ for?”

“Because I broke you. I broke us. And for what?” I screamed as I put my hands on his chest and tried to push him away. His hold tightened around me, preventing me from leaving.

“You did what you needed to do at the time. I understand that now. Back then I didn’t, but I get it now,” he said in a softer tone.

“I don’t want you to understand it, Leo. I want you to hate me just like you said you did,” I screamed and pushed against his chest so hard his grip loosened and allowed me to break free. The second the feel of his hands around my waist disappeared, I longed for his touch to return, but I couldn’t act on it. I backed away from him as he walked toward me.

“Why do you have to fight me at every turn? I don’t hate you. I never did,” he bit out, and my steps faltered at his confession.

“What?” I whispered, shocked at his words.

“I don’t hate you,” he repeated, and my brain finally caught up to understand the meaning behind his words.

His hold tightened on my waist. The feeling of his fingertips caressing the side of my face as he tucked the sopping wet strands of hair behind my ear caused me to sigh and shiver.

“But … you should. Don’t you remember?” I asked between sobs as I stared into his eyes. His expression softened as he stared back at me.