Page 147 of With Us

He nodded.

“You took away my apartment and my only source of income.” I lost my hold on my emotions. Anger, frustration, and hurt ripped through me, reaching a hollow part of my heart I’d thought I’d lost as a child. Hot tears leaked down my cheeks. “You manipulated my life and trapped me here! You trapped me here, and then youleft.”

“Gattina—”

“You gave me everything, Theo. Not the clothes. Not the house. Not the phone, cars, or any of that meaningless shit! You gave me a family. A sense of belonging. Of want. You gave meyou, and then you took it all away.”

“It’s still here—”

“On lies. It’s all built on lies. Were you ever going to tell me the truth?”

“Dahlia—”

“Were you?”

“It doesn’t—”

“Just answer me!” I shouted.

“Yes! Dammit! Yes, I was going to tell you.”

I was about to share my disbelief, but the look in his eyes froze the words in my throat.

He looked wild.

Desperate.

Unrestrained.

“Once you had my name and babies,” he practically growled. “Tied to me. I wanted you wrapped up and in so deep, you wouldn’t leave once you knew. I’d planned to tell you once I had you even half as addicted to me as I am to you. Like my next breath doesn’t matter if I don’t have you. Like nothing fucking matters without you.”

He was ripping me apart.

His words pulled me together, only to rip me apart again.

My connection to him was already that strong. I’d worried before whether I’d be able to sever the bond we had, and I still wasn’t sure. I needed to figure it out, though, because I felt as if I were being torn in two. Just like in the dream, pain tore down my middle. And though it was emotional pain, I felt it physically. It stole my breath, consumed my thoughts, and left my soul feeling so ripped apart, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to put it back together fully.

“I have to go,” I said, pushing to the side. When his arm stayed in place, my eyes shot to his. “I need space to think.”

“You can’t.”

“I—”

“The man who tried to take you at the hospital yesterday was working for someone, and we don’t know who yet. It wasn’t the first attempt.” At my raised eyebrows, he added, “You were sleeping during the fake nurse one.”

That explains the weird superhero dream.

“Why?” I asked.

Through the entire discussion, the only time Theo had looked guilty was when talking about hurting me. Physically hurting, or even killing, other people didn’t seem to cause him a hint of shame.

As he looked down at me, though, guilt seemed to weigh on him. His eyes were sad, almost haunted. “Because of me.”

“Then why don’t you just let me go?”

As soon as the words were out, I wanted to shove them back in. Regret clawed at me to take them back. The feeling multiplied by when I saw the agony on his face.

“Never,” he swore, the tone of his voice almost painful to hear. “I should. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you at all, dragging you into my world. But I did, and I’mneverletting you go. I’d give up everything else before I let that happen, Dahlia.”

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