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He was hesitant, but he matched my posture, too, mirroring me into an aggressive, confrontational position, hands out. “Not your girlfriend as much as a girl who took you on a desperate fling looking for some meaning in her life.”
I shifted my posture again, hands in my pockets, giving him a dry, sarcastic look. “Sounds like you adore her. I can see why you’re so desperate to have her back, with the way you talk about her.”
He matched my fucking posture again. Made me want to punch him in the face. “Love looks like a lot more things than just fucking someone random a couple times and calling her your girlfriend. Sometimes it looks like making sure someone gets off a self-destructive path. But you’d know that better if you hadn’t been on destructive paths your whole life.”
I pursed my lips. Should have brought Ruth after all. She’d begged to come with me, but I’d told her I had to do this myself… really I think it was just that I didn’t want anyone to see me if it didn’t work. “Looked me up a bit, huh?”
“What can I say? I’m a diligent guy.” He pursed his lips too—I hadn’t even done it watching to see if he was mirroring me, he was just mimicking every little thing. It felt like itchy clothes all over me, an overwhelming presence I wanted to rip off. “Have you ever known what it’s actually like to commit to something? Or do you just cruise on with things that are about to break and then hop onto the next?”
“What, you think I—”
“I’m sure it’s easy for you to talk serious love, commitment, when you’ve never seen anything through. You’ve walked away from everything,” he said. “Just the kind of spineless worm who’s there while things are nice, while things are easy, and then you drift away. But you know that, don’t you?”
I tasted bile, but I swallowed it back down. “Bold words from the one who pushed Cameron away, said she was too successful for your fragile ego, and now you’re begging for her back.”
“You take her word for all of it without reservations—”
“And I’m supposed to take yours?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Is there a single thing you’ve done for Cameron’s life? Her business? One thing, other than trying to siphon off as much money as you can with your bloodsucking company, trying to manipulate her into thinking she needs to spend as much as she can to feel complete—”
“You don’t fucking know what she’s—”
“Have you ever helped her do one thing she’s proud of? Or are you just dragging her into the same rhythm you’re in—drift to something until it’s hard, run away, care about the next thing?”
“I’ll thank you to mind your own—”
“Oh, this is my business,” he said, stepping forward. “This is my wife you’re talking about, despite everything. Just because we separated doesn’t mean I don’t care. Love is a lot more complicated than that, and you’d know if you ever committed—”
“I don’t think you know the first thing about loving someone when you don’t—”
“And I was happy to see her chase the things she cared about, but when you entered the picture—when your damn company came into the equation, luring her into self-destructive tendencies—that’s when I had to do something.”
“Do something being destroying her brand—”
“That brand that’s dragged her deeper and deeper into this bullshit. You know her well enough to know the way it eats at her.” He paused, glinting a smile at me. “Or maybe you don’t.”
I swallowed, a heavy feeling over me, but I mustered up enough to shoot him a glare. “And I’m supposed to believe this very deep, intricate read of her when you don’t even have any read on yourself.”
He laughed, taking another step in, backing me up—I didn’t even mean to, just his presence coming closer compelled me back up to where my back hit the wall. “I think,” he said, his voice deep, just a low murmur, “I sense projection.”
Dammit—the way he got under my skin, it drove me insane. The way he made everything itch, the way he made me feel… small. The way he made Cameron feel miles away. I didn’t realize until too late that I was shrinking away from him, and then when I did, it was too late—I was small under him, wincing, my posture weak, his strong.
He folded his arms. “I hear you’re going to leave Miami,” he said. “Been quite a run you’ve had here, from the sounds of things. Good luck in the next place.”
God, this guy made me sick. Even now, gloating, he did it like he was controlling somebody else’s body.
Maybe there was a reason that coin said tails.
Or maybe it was just a stupid piece of metal.
I folded my arms, matching him, but not with the same energy—folding my arms like his but faltering, shoulders hunched forward. “What the hell would you know?” I said, my voice muddled, trying to project something I wasn’t.
“I know a whole hell of a lot. A lot more than you do. And I’ll thank you to stay out of things. Now, can I show you the door? You can help yourself out of this damn city the way you helped yourself inside the damn house.”
I dropped my arms, letting my hands fall awkwardly by my sides, and I looked away, dropping my gaze to his collar. “I just… want Cameron to be happy.”
“You’ve done a piss-poor job of it so far.”
