Don't Need You - Lilian Monroe Page 0,70

fades and he looks at me with those big, unforgettable eyes, I know I can’t keep him here. I can’t drag him away from everything he loves just to be with me. It wouldn’t be fair to him, and it would sour our relationship before it even starts. Resentment is the death kiss of a relationship. It’s a poison, and I won’t be the one to inject him. What Kit and I have…I want it to stay sacred.

Sighing, I chew the inside of my lip. I shouldn’t have leaned on him so heavily when I heard about Nonna’s stroke. I should have resisted calling him every day. I should have been strong on my own.

Now, Kit thinks he wants to be with me. He thinks he’s ready to give up everything he has in Woodvale—which is so much more than he realizes—to come here just for me. It’s not enough to be worth the sacrifice. I’m not enough.

This has to end. No matter how hard it is, how much it hurts, how much I don’t want it to be the case—I have to break things off with Kit.

It’s the kindest thing to do.

“What do you want to talk about?” His voice is husky. Low.

I gulp. “I’ve been thinking,” I start.

“That’s not good. Do less of that. Thinking is bad for you.”

I can’t help myself from chuckling. Flicking my eyes up to his, I almost hate how good-looking he is. I hate how big his heart is, and most of all, I hate how much his love for me permeates everything he does.

Breaking up with Angelo made me feel better. I knew in my heart that it was the right thing for me to do. I knew it would be worth it in the end.

This? This just feels terrible all around.

I think the Band-Aid approach is appropriate in this situation. Rip it off, it’ll hurt less. Right?

Sucking in a breath, I meet Kit’s eye. “We can’t be together.”

Shock flits across Kit’s face, chased by confusion. Horror then settles into his features, dropping his lips open and furrowing his brow. His eyes widen as he shakes his head from side to side. “No.”

“No?”

“I don’t agree.”

“Kit.” I sigh. “Please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“I told you I loved you yesterday, and I think you’re lying to yourself if you think you don’t love me back.”

My heart squeezes so hard, all the blood feels like it’s been drained from it. A chill wraps around the dying organ, freezing me from the inside out.

He’s right. Of course he’s right. I love Kit more than I thought possible. I love him down to my core, with every cell in my body. Every part of me loves every part of him, and has from the day we met. From the moment he wrapped his arms around me in that old kitchen of mine, I knew he was different.

Kit has shown me what it feels like to live again, just by being himself.

And that’s exactly why I need to have this conversation. Kit thinks he loves me enough to leave everything behind, but he doesn’t realize what he’s sacrificing. He doesn’t realize how precious his friendships are in Woodvale. How rare it is to have someone beg you to come back to your dream business when you walked out on it six months prior. He doesn’t know how much he’s giving up, and I don’t want to be there when he realizes it.

It’s precisely because I love him so much that I need to let him go.

“Kit, I have to stay here to be with my family. I need to help my mother with the sale of my grandma’s house. I need to make sure Nonna is safe and secure and has everything she needs. I’m the only one who can do it.”

“I’ll stay,” Kit says. “I told you this yesterday, Serena. I want to move here. A change will be good. I can be based in New Haven and get a new route. I can talk to my boss about a transfer—it happens all the time.”

I shake my head, holding my hands up to silence him. “I don’t want that.”

My words are like daggers to his heart. I can see them piercing his flesh and embedding themselves into his body, all the way to the hilt. Kit’s brows draw together as his breath grows shallower.

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s for the best, Kit.”

“You don’t know that.”

I smile sadly. “I do, though. I know how special