“I want you to talk to me. Grant me a conversation.”
“I have nothing to say.”
“I have plenty.”
His nostrils flare. “Then let’s hear it.”
“No,” I say softly. “I don’t think so. Not this way. Not with ears on the other side of that door.”
“This was a mistake,” he barks out and runs a hand through his hair, ruining the composed look of it. “The deal was—”
“We’re still in negotiations,” I snap, striding toward him in anger. “You plotted and schemed using me as a ragdoll, and you’re the one who’s aggravated? I’m not going to deny you this, but how dare you stand there and have the audacity to act indignant about it?”
“Again. You were never supposed to be involved in any part of this. From day one, I told you to stay the fuck away. But you didn’t listen.”
“And you stayed away?”
He levels me with his response. “It meant far more to you than it did to me.” Inside I’m dying, his words hitting as hard as he intended. I glance back out the window to keep him from seeing the sting. Tension thickens as he speaks from behind me. “Everything has moved on without you.”
“Good to know.”
“Just sign the papers and go home. You’ll be a rich woman.”
That comment has my focus back on him, my glare full of the offense I feel. “Money means absolutely fucking nothing to me. And I’m a successful woman already without this deal.”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you?” I cross my arms. “Is that part of moving on?”
“We’re not going back there.” His voice is steel, the edges of the blade slashing across my chest. Why can’t I let go of this man that so clearly despises me? I had suspected as much, but now it’s blisteringly evident. In a way, I cost him his brother, as my father did his parents. Maybe he has every right to hate me and vice versa, so why can’t I hate him back?
Electricity sparks the longer we share space, and I can feel the increase in the thrum between us, while he tries to feign indifference. But it’s still there. And how I wish it weren’t. How I wish that fate or karma or whatever it is that decided to tether us together would disappear and release me, release us both. But it’s there, and it’s so loud, it might as well be the pound of a drum.
This, this is why he didn’t want to be in the room with me. Our connection is in our chemical makeup, an unexplainable bond. It was our undoing years ago, and it ate us alive. It’s every bit as strong now. It’s so easy to put my finger on the why of us when every part of me is buzzing in awareness.
“You want to keep this civil? Fine, indulge me. How is Sean?”
“Married. Happily. He runs the garage now. He’s got two kids.”
I swallow. “T-that’s, that’s wonderful.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Are you still close?”
“No.”
“Why?”
His eyes ignite, and this time, it’s take no prisoners. “I’m done here,” he snaps, picking up the pen and holding it toward me. “Sign. And go home.”
“No. I think I’ll hang around for a bit. I’ve got old friends to see. How is Tyler?”
He takes an aggressive step forward. It’s almost as if he’s in pain staring back at me. Greedy, I eat the feel of it up because being within feet of this man has heightened my senses to a point I didn’t think I was capable of anymore.
He reads me easily.
“Times have changed. This is the last thing that ties us.”
I tilt my head. “Is that so?”
“Just fucking sign,” he orders in warning. “I want to be done with you.” I flinch, and for the first time since he entered the room, his eyes soften, but I’m already hemorrhaging.
Hate him. Please hate him.
“Sign,” he utters, his voice low. It’s as close to begging as he’ll get.
The air stills the longer we square off, and I know he’s with me. We’re both fighting the draw, fighting the shift between love and hate. The longer we’re in the room, the more it blurs, and the angrier I get. But I’m not going back on the promise I made myself.
“I want the truth.”
“Prepare to be disappointed.”
“Meaning?”
“Don’t push me, Cecelia.”
“Don’t push you? Oh, you silly bastard, it’s about to be a shoving match,” I grit out, lifting my chin. “I deserve answers.”
The door opens, and Ryan steps in. Tobias’s glare lands on him, but Ryan’s