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He bowed his head in shame, inhaling a deep breath as he slid his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
I shuddered seeing him this way.
It was the first time he was permitting it.
“You still don’t get it, do you? Well let me make it easy for you, I would have given up everything for you, Adrian.” I paused again, needing a second before I shared the truth out loud for the first time. “Even Cade.”
He jerked back, barely standing.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to admit that?” I yelled, grateful we were far away from the gala. “Do you even care about what you’re putting me through? What you’ve put me through in the past? When is it enough for you? Huh?” I shoved him. “What do I need to say for you to stay away from me? I hate you, Adrian. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I fucking hate you! Do you understand me now? Are you listening? Are you finally paying attention? I want nothing to do with you other than working for you. That’s it. It’s the only reason I’m still here. I’m done playing these games with you. I’m no good at them, I never was. You have years of experience in using people. And I’m not like you, thank God.”
The memories of the man I fell in love with were breaking me one by one as he stood before me, yet he was also the same man who fucking destroyed me in the end.
“No amount of gifts or excuses is going to change how I feel about you.”
In a stern voice, he stressed, “That’s where you’re wrong, Paige. You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me. I know you still love me. I feel it, I see it; you’re mine. You’ve always been mine and don’t you ever forget it.”
He reached over to wipe away my tears, to hold me in his arms, but I stepped back. Though this time, there was no way in hell I could keep him away from me.
In one swift movement, he gripped onto the back of my neck and before I realized what was happening, he was holding my fragile frame in his strong and steady arms. Kissing away the tears from my face. I stirred beneath his lips while my body quivered under his touch.
“Adrian, please…” My mouth quivered. “I can’t do this with you anymore. If you ever cared for me, please…you have to let me go,” I breathed out against his lips.
“Can’t you see what’s obviously in front of you. I’m here. I’m finally fucking here! And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than wiping away the pain I caused you for what feels like an eternity.”
Our mouths were parted as if we were trying to breathe for one another, sucking in air that wasn’t available for the taking. I peered up at him through my wet lashes, searching his eyes for some truth beneath the hurt he inflicted on me.
“Adrian, please…” I begged for I don’t know what. My mind conflicted, battling my broken heart.
“I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving to you how fucking sorry I am. Give me a chance to make things right with you, Cherry. Please!” He begged.
I shut my eyes, turning my face from him.
“You mean everything to me. Then, now, always.”
Breaking our connection, I could no longer bear to see the man staring back at me, so I spewed with hatred, “I don’t love you anymore.”
Gripping my chin to look at him, he growled, “Say it to my fucking face then.”
I opened my eyes, once again staring deep into his.
I repeated, “I don’t love you anymore. And I haven’t for a really long time. We’re done, Adrian. We’re. Fucking Done. I’m Fucking. Done. Do you understand the words I’m saying?”
He didn’t stop me when I sidestepped him and left.
He couldn’t.
There was nothing left to say.
Not when it just blatantly bled out of us this way.
Adrian
By the time we walked back into the penthouse suite it was past midnight. Paige went straight to her room. For the first time in the last month, I didn’t follow her there, demanding she sleep in my bed.
Instead, I was about to walk toward the couch, deciding to sleep there, not wanting to be alone in the bed that was supposed to be ours. Except an envelope caught my attention under the door. I picked it up off the ground and opened it right there in the foyer.
My heart sank.
