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“That’s exactly why.”
“So why not increase my security? Why not keep me in the house? Or—here’s a novel idea—why didn’t youcome with me?”
Her voice breaks, and I whip my attention to her.
I’m flying down the dark road, the engine roaring under us, but my eyes are stuck on hers. On the shimmer of pain just beneath her anger.
“Yeah.” She nods with a grim sense of satisfaction. “Didn’t even cross your mind, did it? Because, no matter what you claim, you weren’t just trying to keep me safe. You were trying to push me away.”
Every argument I’ve been amassing in my defense these last few weeks disintegrates.
Because she’s right.
I didn’t just send her away to protect her—I did it to protect myself. I open my mouth to tell her that, but my throat is dry, my tongue parched. Nothing gets past my lips.
“You’re here now,roza,” I rasp at last. “I’m not sending you away anymore.”
“Until the next threat comes,” she mutters. “Or until you get sick of me. Whichever is first.”
The threat is already here.
Her own father wanted her dead.
As we drive through the gates of my compound, I’m trying to decide whether telling her about Charles right now is the right move.
But before I can make up my mind, she rips her seatbelt off. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter to me anymore. Keep me here, send me away—I don’t care. Either way, I want space.”
She gets out of the car and practically runs into the house.
“Blyat’,” I hiss to the empty car before I finally kill the engine and make my way inside.
I should leave her alone tonight. It’s been a long one, and she’s clearly not in the mood for more conversation. But my own restlessness has me trailing her perfume through the house until I’m standing on her doorstep.
I knock gently once. Twice. A third time.
“Open the door, Laila. I have something I need to tell you.”
Silence.
Then, a second later, my phone pings with an incoming message.
LAILA:I’m all bickered out.
Biting back my frustration, I try again. I refuse to resort to my phone when I know she’s standing a foot away on the other side of this door.
“I’m not here to fight. I just want to talk. To explain. I’m prepared to tell you everything.”
LAILA:Somehow, I highly doubt that.
“This is important, Laila.”
LAILA:It’s always important whenYOUwant to talk.
“This is childish. Just open the door.”
LAILA:I’m going to bed.
“I could break down the door.”
