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“You know I’d protect you the same way if you ever got yourself into a situation like this.”
Staring deep into his eyes, I study the man I came from. The man I could’ve learned so much from, if only he used the intelligence he has for good, rather than contributing to the already asinine population of worthless men.
Squaring my shoulders, I stand taller, knowing that I, no matter how much the voices in my head try to tell me, am nothing like this man. Looking down on him just briefly, I whisper, careful not to make a scene.
Wouldn’t want to bring attention to his perfect little image any more than I already have.
“Fuck you, Dad.”
I stumble my way to the car. Partially because everything in my body is disconnected—I’m just going through the motions. In addition, I had one too many impulsive scotches to calm my nerves.
Fiddling with the handle of my car, my heavy body slouches into the seat. My hands grip my flushed cheeks, stroking whatever I can from beneath them.
“I can drive.” A small whisper comes from my passenger seat. When I turn to her, the paleness of her skin warrants a tremor in my limbs. I’d almost forgotten I sent her to the car.
I’m such a fuckup. I couldn’t get a hold of my emotions for five seconds without drowning my sorrows in booze.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
Her soft, delicate hand reaches over the middle console to touch my bicep, and in an instant, my storm within calms.
“Don’t,” she insists, those tender emerald eyes searching my face.
“Switch seats with me. We can talk about all this later, okay?”
Nodding, I stumble out of the driver’s seat, round the front of the car, and sink into the warm leather that smells of maple and cashmere.
Before pulling off into the dusk, Fia looks at me and says, “I’m sorry for ruining your lunch.”
Even in my impaired despair, my thoughts that involve her are clear.
“The only thing you’ve ruined is the idea of ever being with anyone else.”
CHAPTER 59
FIA
There are no words to describe what’s happening between us right now. I didn’t think it was possible to feel connected and disconnected all at once. Jett has been wringing his hands in his lap since I pulled away from the hotel. Nothing but nervous energy and hurt floating around in the silence.
Pulling up right outside of the underground garage of Jett’s penthouse, I flick on his hazards, slowly turning to the tortured man beside me.
“What did you do to him?” I feel my heart beating out of my chest as I look at how tortured Jett is beside me.
“I just broke his nose.”
I gasp, and that’s when he looks at me.
“I wanted to kill him, Fia,” he says so matter-of-factly.
My head shakes as my stomach clenches. “Don’t kill someone for me.”
“I’d die myself for you, baby. I’d have no problem taking life away from someone who hurt you.”
Going with Jett today was meant to heal him, all for it to be finalized by the ghost of my past.
Unsure of where we should go from here, I hesitate. “I guess we should go pack our stuff.”
Our evening wasn’t meant to be spent like this; it wasn’t supposed to end going backwards.
