Page 176 of Never Die for a Sinner
It’s holding her while she silently cries at night when she thinks I’m asleep.
It’s brushing her hair when we take a shower because she’s too tired.
It’s fucking coming home to her. Not someone else every night. Her.
It’s doing what I have to do to protect her, even if she may hate me in the end.
The laugh that escapes me sounds bitter even to my ears.
Imagine that. I was worried about her developing feelings, but as it turns out, I’m the one who fucked around and fell in love.
I pull the car to a stop in front of the house. Neither of us moves.
“You really think you’ve got this all figured out, don’t you?”
She narrows her pretty gaze on me, and suddenly, I want her to fight me.
I want her to tell me what a piece of shit I am. Shove me away. Tell me she hates me.
Maybe then, I could let her go.
“Screw you, Levi.”
She reaches for the handle, but I reach across her, pulling it shut, and get right in her face.
“No, screwyou, sweetheart. You think you can just walk away from this? You don’t know a fucking thing.”
“I know you murdered your father.”
A calm falls over the car, so silent, even the snow stops falling for a moment.
“Excuse me?”
“What the fuck did you just say?”
She swallows heavily, and those pretty green eyes finally meet mine.
“I know about that night, Levi,” she breathes, and I feel like the world is crashing down around me. “I watched you murder your father.”
Tears burn in her eyes, and I watch the descent of one as it slides down her cheek.
“I know what you did, and I know you think punishing yourself for it is going to make it better, but it’s not.”
“Stop,” I growl, but she doesn’t.
“—It’s not your fault. You didn’t deserve the way he treated you. He was an evil man—”
“I saidstop!”
She jerks at the violence in my voice. I’ve never yelled at her. Never. Even as it leaves my mouth, I feel guilty because a flash of fear crosses her pretty face.
I should have fucking known she’d seen me that night. I should have made sure. I should havechecked.
Before she can continue, I get out, slamming the door hard enough that it rattles from the impact. I stalk down the path a few feet in front of the car, trying to get my adrenaline to go down.
My hands are shaking when I run them over my face. My mind is going a million miles a minute with all the things that could have happened because Ava decided to listen tofucking Cherryand ran instead of coming to me.
I, who hasn’t gone a single day without her by my side for the last two months.
