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Arlo turns and leaves without another word.
He doesn’t get to have the last word. Not like that. He doesn’t get to tell me that I’m safe when he’s still lurking in the next room. I won’t be safe until I’m back in Heath’s arms.
He doesn’t get to leave.
I run after him. Not allowing him to just leave.
21
Arlo
I hear her running after me. She’s not quiet on a normal day, and her injuries have made her that much louder, making it impossible for her to sneak up on me.
I could easily outrun her. Especially when she’s so weak. But I don’t. For no other reason than I want to be close to her.
I stop abruptly and turn just in time to catch her from falling again.
“You have to stop doing that,” she says as she pushes herself off my chest but not before I get a whiff of her shampoo and the feel of her body against mine again.
“Stop doing what? Stop saving you?”
She frowns, and her cheeks flush bright red with anger. “You have never saved me. Stop pretending that you actually care. You don’t give a shit about me!”
I wait for a second for her to get her anger out. She takes several deep breaths, and when I think she has calmed down, I say, “Are you finished lecturing me? I have some places I need to be.”
“No, I’m not finished. Not even close. You don’t get to tell me I’m safe. I’m not safe! I won’t ever be safe again, not until I’m home in my own bed. Stop trying to save me one second and then fuck me the next. You don’t get to pretend you care. The only person who cares about me is Matteo.”
I laugh. “You think Matteo cares about you more than I do? He’s just as fucked up as I am. He’s messing with your head. Can’t you see that? He wants to fuck you and control you, just like every other man in this house. He’s just like me. He just plays the game differently.”
“What fucking game? You think getting your jollies by messing with me like a play toy is a game? I’m not a game. This is my life you are messing with!”
“And it was our lives you messed with when you took that drink, knowing full well that I would save you. I warned you. I told you not to. You did it anyway. And, now, you have to pay the consequences.”
I start walking away, but she half-runs and half-stumbles after me.
“Stop!”
I run my hand through my hair, hating obeying anyone’s commands, even hers.
“What do you want from me? You think I have the power to rescue you. You think I have a heart that will make me let you go. That’s what you wan
t, right? For me to save you?”
She freezes with her eyes wide.
“You’re fucking wrong if you think I have that kind of power. Or that, even if I did, I would want to save you. You’re nothing to me. Just another slave I have to deal with until you finally leave. You’re just another distraction from getting my work done.”
“You’re a monster. I already knew that.”
I nod. “My father’s a monster. Same with my sister. Even my brother won’t save you.”
“He’s not a monster,” she whispers, but I can hear it in her voice that she doesn’t even believe herself. She just wishes it were true.
I smirk. “Matteo didn’t save you from my father. I did.”
Her eyes widen again. “You didn’t save me. You raped me! Matteo was the one who took care of me. He healed me. He dressed my wounds. He gave me pain medicine. He fed me. He stayed with me through sleepless nights and took away my nightmares. He saved me.”
I laugh. “Matteo took advantage of the situation. He took care of you because that is what he does. He plays games with your head. He makes women let their guards down, and then he pounces when they least suspect. He’s playing you.”
