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But he wouldn’t have had to if he hadn’t killed my father, a thing for which I’ll hate him until the day I die.
How does a person live this way? Can such intense love and unadulterated hate reside in the same heart? Will they war inside me until I go mad from it? Or will one eventually win over the other? Which is stronger, love or hate?
I tear at my hair and move away from the dining room window I’ve been staring out of for over an hour.
“Hey,” Carina says from the doorway. “You okay?”
Shrugging, I say on a sob, “No.”
“If you want to talk, I’m here.”
“I think it’s time for us to go.” I sigh. “We need to start fresh. Somewhere quiet, where we can reset.”
She folds her arms over her chest and leans against the doorjamb. “Where would you go?”
“Vermont. My father set up a place for us there.”
She nods. “You can take one of the cars if you’d like.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Secretly, I’d hoped she’d offer it. It will certainly save me the hassle of a rental.
There’s a knock at the front door, and from the sound of it, Luca answers. A few moments later, he appears at the dining room entrance.
“Someone’s here to see you, Skye.”
Arran steps in and I almost gasp at the sight of him in sweatpants and a T-shirt, his hair disheveled and at least two days of growth on his cheeks. His blue irises contrast harshly against the redness of his eyes and the dark circles beneath.
“We’ll leave you two alone,” Carina says, taking Luca by the hand and dragging him away.
“You look nice,” Arran says, his gaze trailing over me. Although he seems to have seen better days, the heat is still there. It still touches me intimately.
I cross my arms, not willing to show my body’s automatic response to him. “Thanks, so do you.”
He laughs. “That’s a lie.”
“It is,” I admit. “Are you getting sleep?”
“No.” He takes a step closer to me. “I can’t sleep without you.”
I don’t tell him I’m struggling too. That the bed feels like an abyss, cold and dark without him pressed against me. Instead, I say, “It’s time for Maisie and me to go.”
“I’d like you to stay longer.”
“We can’t.”
“Please. I’ve been working hard to take care of the men who are after you, but it’s a lot to figure out exactly who your father had dealings with. It will take weeks to sort out. I’m not asking you to come home with me, but at least stay here.”
“I don’t have that collar anymore, remember? I don’t belong to you. You don’t need to protect me,” I snap.
He winces. “But I want to.”
“No. Maisie and I will leave first thing in the morning for Vermont. We have a house there.”
His lips thin when he realizes my mind is made up. “Do you have your cell phone on you?”
“Why?” I ask before I realize that, like a good girl, I’m already handing it to him. Fuck me.
He takes it and enters something. “I want you to have my number. Just in case.”
