Monster A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,88
asked Evie. “And tell him I was here. That they made me leave.”
“I will.”
They hugged.
Then I dragged her to Rafael, Christian’s best friend. The stocky young man blinked when I shoved her into his arms.
“Get her out of here. Make sure she’s all right, and take her wherever she wants.”
His mouth thinned as he coaxed a weeping Jennesy into leaving.
Christian was hanging onto life.
I couldn’t take it in.
I walled off the agony.
His sacrifice wouldn’t be for nothing.
I’d forgotten my purpose during the last six months, but it reemerged in clear outlines. I had one goal—to disrupt human trafficking. I’d accomplished jack shit because I’d been distracted by a glimmer of what-could-have-been.
The bodies around me kept piling up, and if I didn’t do something, Evie would be next.
I strode to my wife’s side and forbade my will to tremble. I stroked her hair. Her beautiful face tipped toward me, tears streaking her cheeks.
Don’t waste it.
My throat tightened. “Let’s walk.”
I motioned to the private security recommended by Cainan, two former Marines with torsos bigger than redwoods. They followed as we left the sanitized stench of hospital rooms and strolled outside.
“I did this to him,” she whispered, crumbling. “It’s my fault. You didn’t even want to go. I dragged us there, and now he’s in a coma.”
“Evie, honey…you’re not the one who pulled the trigger. If anything it’s my fault. I knew it wasn’t safe but I took you anyway. I want you to have everything, and it’s fucking with my judgment.”
“I suggested it. I’m—I’m a monster.”
“I never want to hear you call yourself a monster again. I’m the bastard. On our first date, I shoved you to the floor and fucked your mouth. I saved you from traffickers only to fuck you while you wore a collar they gave you. You don’t know that I use a large amount of energy trying not to murder every biker I come across. You don’t know how many people I’ve blackmailed and ruined to get what I want. I have to stop myself from doing terrible things to men who so much as look at you. Evie, you have no idea.”
“You didn’t do this.”
“Yes, I did. They’re after me and they won’t give up until I’m dead. That’s why we have to...we can’t be together anymore.”
Hurt lay naked in her eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m sending you away,” I croaked, my chest caving in. “You’ll be free of this, just like you always wanted. I’m setting you up at a place where you’ll be taken care of and safe.”
“I’m not leaving!”
“Evie, how do you think I’d feel if it were you in that hospital bed?”
“I don’t care,” she burst, her moods shifting so quickly I couldn’t keep track. “I’m not going anywhere unless you’re coming, too.”
“I want to run away with you. I wish—God, Evie—I am not a man who wishes for things, but when I’m around you…I wish I could have a normal life. I’d leave all this to have that with you, but they’ll find me wherever I go.” I had to see this through, no matter how badly it hurt. “You’ll start over without me.”
My heart shrank as despair glazed her voice. “You made me fall in love with you. Now you’re throwing me out?”
“Evie, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I hate this. Letting you go will kill me but I’m being hunted by everyone in this city. And I have issues…stemming from my captivity that I’ve never resolved. I can’t have you around me when I lose control.”
She still looked at me like I hung the moon in the sky. She stroked my head, thumb grazing my eyebrow, and I took a deep breath. She felt so good, and the joy sparked a vain hope.
No.
I doused it with ice and backed away from her intoxicating influence.
“Evie, it’s done.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Well, I’m not giving you a choice.”
Tears glistened on her pale cheeks as she began to cry. I couldn’t handle the sound of her lungs, desperate to catch air. A vivid memory of Christian gasping tightened my throat.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You won’t understand unless you’ve lived through it. And I don’t want you to.” I cupped her tear-streaked face and kissed her cheek. “I love you. I love you so much you would be scared to hear my thoughts.”
I nodded at the men hanging in the peripherals.
“Go with them,” I ordered her, my voice hitching. “You’ll be all right.”