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“What we have is special, Remy. And . . . I love you,” she confessed. She’d meant to tell him tonight, when they were alone, as part of his birthday gift, but he clearly needed to hear it now. “I know we didn’t start this relationship heading in that direction, but how could I not fall in love with a man who is so innately good, despite how bad the two previous women in your life made you feel? You are worth loving, Remy.”
He released a harsh laugh, his eyes dark and tortured. “What does a tramp like me have to offer a lady like you?”
“A lady like me?” she repeated carefully. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Someone bold and confident and who already has it all,” he said, waving a hand between the two of them in the car. “A woman who doesn’t need a man in her life for anything.”
The fearful tears she’d managed to swallow back rushed forward again, this time in frustration. “No, I don’t need a man in my life,” she said, so mad at Remy for punishing himself and wanting more than anything to knock some sense into him. “But I want a man in my life. Big difference. I want a man to stand by my side and be my equal. To share the good and bad times with me and who’ll support me and all my endeavors. I want a man to build a life with and have a family with. I want that with you, Remy.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “I am not that man, and this isn’t one of your fairy tales, Tempest.”
She flinched at his words, at the sting they left behind that only served to ramp up her anger. “Yes, it is. It’s my fairy tale. Not anyone else’s. Mine. And I get to choose how it ends and with whom. I want that happily ever after with you, Remy.”
His expression remained resolute. “And that’s not something I can give you.”
She didn’t understand how he could be so obtuse. How could he just throw away what they had without a fair chance? Despite trying to hold them back, the hot tears filling her eyes spilled over and she quickly swiped them away, but now that the dam had broken, she couldn’t stop the flow.
Still, she lifted her chin, trying to retain some pride. “Are you really going to let your mother and Rachel and what they did to you have that kind of control over your life and your future with me?” she asked, though she didn’t expect an answer. “Are you going to let them keep you paralyzed with fear and insecurities to the point that you spend the rest of your life alone?”
She balled her hands into fists to keep from pounding on his chest. “Goddammit, Remy, your mother might have crushed your hopes and dreams and happiness when you were a child, but do not give her the power to steal it as an adult.”
His lips remained pursed, his eyes conflicted. With nothing else to say, she dashed away more tears, then opened the car door, stepped out, and closed it behind her, feeling even more gutted when he didn’t call her name to stay. To talk this through. To work it out. To believe that she would never cause him the kind of pain his mother and Rachel had.
She’d left everything on the table, including her heart. If that wasn’t enough to convince him that she was in this for the long haul, then she didn’t know what would.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Remy slammed his hand down on the steering wheel and released a stream of expletives that did nothing to make him feel better. What the hell was wrong with him that he’d just let Tempest walk away after she’d poured her heart out to him? But he knew the answer to that question . . . he was honest-to-God afraid that loving Tempest, and losing her, would destroy him.
And that’s exactly how he felt right now. Like a man who one minute had it all and the next moment had nothing but shambles at his feet. Tempest had offered him everything a man could ever want, and he’d let old fucking insecurities that had been dredged up by his mother’s unexpected appearance at the restaurant mess with his head and his emotions.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against his seat, silently berating himself. Two in
credible months with Tempest, and he’d just thrown away everything they’d shared—the intimacy and bond they’d created between them, the trust and mutual respect they’d forged together—all because years of self-doubts had sabotaged his ability to believe someone like Tempest could love someone like him.
But she had, and did . . . and he groaned at his stupidity when he recalled her heartfelt and shocking declaration. She’d fallen in love with him, baggage and all, and was he now really going to throw away the chance at something so precious and rare?
No, you’re not, you idiot, his conscience informed him, and along with that came a sense of clarity. Remy couldn’t change his past, but he no longer wanted to be a victim of his own memories, fears, and insecurities. What he did want, more than anything, was a future of hope and possibilities, with Tempest—not the existence of regret and fear and loneliness he’d been living before she’d stormed into his life.
He needed her. He wanted her. He loved her. And he needed to tell her and hoped she forgave him for letting her walk away.
The opening of the passenger-side door startled Remy out of his thoughts, and he opened his eyes, so grateful that Tempest had returned so they could talk.
“Tempest—”
“Nope,” a deep male voice cut him off, and Remy watched as Maddux folded his big frame into the car.
Jesus Christ. Remy stared in confusion at the other man, and even though the two of them were friends, he didn’t much care for the intimidating glare on Maddux’s face. “Uh, what are you doing?”
Maddux cracked his knuckles, then pointed out the windshield to all the security cameras in the underground parking structure. “See all those?” he asked but clearly didn’t expect a reply. “Lots of cameras watching the area, and you want to know what I saw on one of my monitors in my apartment office just a short while ago? Tempest, crying, as she left your car and rode the elevator up to her place.” He returned his hard stare back to Remy. “Didn’t we have a conversation about you hurting my sister?”
“That’s what I was trying not to do,” Remy said, then realized how bad that sounded. “I was ending things because I had a momentary lapse of judgment.” Yeah, that didn’t sound much better.
Maddux arched a dark brow. “Momentary?”
“Yes.” God, he couldn’t believe he was explaining this personal situation to Tempest’s brother, but clearly Maddux was concerned for his sister and Remy had to respect that. “Look, I had some issues in my past that came to a head tonight, and I handled everything the wrong way. Hurting your sister is the last thing I ever want to do.”
Maddux considered that for a moment, before the dangerous look in his eyes dissipated. “I get it. A lot of us have shitty things that have happened in our past, but if I can fall in love with a woman who is the daughter of the man who murdered our parents, then you should be able to put aside whatever issues you’re dealing with, because you will not find a more loyal, dependable, devoted woman than Tempest in your lifetime.”
“I know,” Remy said, meaning it.
