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“Then don’t let it happen.” It was as simple as that. She didn’t have to do any of this. She could tell Tad to take a hike. In fact, he’d help kick the vermin out of the city, and all it would take was her asking him to.
“It’s not that easy.”
“Yes, it is,” he insisted. “You have your agency. You don’t have to do anything he says. And don’t tell me this has anything to do with your father. If he cares that much about a mistake you made ten years ago, then so be it. If he disowns you, you can move in with my family. They love you.” The desperation in his voice was enough to make his stomach roil, but she needed to know. “I love you, Brielle. I’d do anything for you.”
Still, she didn’t look up at him. Her long lashes brushed against her cheek and she shook her head. “Don’t say that,please. You’re making this harder than it has to be.”
“But that’s just it. This doesn’t have to be hard…” He hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her face so he could get a better look at her.
She squeezed her eyes tight. “Wade,” she rasped, “just… don’t. I’ve made my decision. I only asked you to come so I could tell you face to face.”
“Then look at me,” he demanded quietly. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me.”
When she didn’t open her eyes, his voice hardened. “Brielle.”
She opened her eyes, and two more tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Tell me you don’t love me, and I’ll walk away right now,” he pleaded. “That’s all you have to do.”
“I… can’t.”
The muscles in his face tightened. Warning bells rang in his head. “Did he do something to you?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t believe you.” Wade instinctively grasped her upper arms, worried she’d try to walk away from the conversation. “What did he say?”
“He didn’t…” Brielle glanced away, then pressed her lips together tightly when she focused on him again. Her eyes hardened, and that shield between them went up again. “I choose Tad, and if you can’t accept that, then maybe this was a mistake.”
“Bri—”
“No. This is for the best. I don’t want to live my life always wondering if you might lose your temper with me… or our children.”
His head reared back. The blood drained from his face, and he released her as if she burned him. “I’dnever—”
“But you don’t know, do you? There is no telling what you might or might not do. You deal with those demons every day of your life.”
Her words cut deep—deeper than he thought possible. Was shescaredof him?
Brielle took a step back, pushed the hair out of her face and looked away. “I just wanted you to hear it from me. Technically I’m married anyway. You… you deserve to find someone who can accept you for who you are.” Her last words came out in a rasp, but they hit just as hard and swiftly as the ones before.
Wade couldn’t move. All energy and strength had fled from his body, and he stood there like a limp puppet on a stand. This wasn’t happening.
It couldn’t be happening.
Something was wrong.
“No,” he murmured.
“Wade—”
“No,” he said louder. “This doesn’t make sense. You love me—”
“I don’t love you, Wade.”
His head whipped up to stare at her.
“I don’t love you,” she repeated in a whisper before she spun around, darting toward the stairs before taking them two at a time and disappearing inside the house.
