Page 49 of Merciless Promise
“Civilized? That’s rich coming from you,” she retorted.
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“I know what you’re doing here.”
“And what is it that you think you know?”
“You fool no one, least of all me. Just shut up and drive. I can’t wait to get out of this car and away from you.”
Knowing the truth in her words, it was like a knife to the chest. As we often did in this dysfunctional relationship of ours, everything always led to a fight. Sometimes, I wondered if thiswasn’t all intentional. As I stole a glance at her, she was now staring at me and scowling. The Ekaterina I both loathed and loved was coming back.
“It’s nice to see the real you returning,” I quipped.
“I’ve always been me. It’s the only person I know how to be.”
“Lately, you’ve been acting like a sad puppy dog. And you’re not one of them. You’re a hellcat. A puisín.”
“And you’re an asshole. I just miscarried. How in the hell was I supposed to act?”
“Shall I remind you that, as you were supposed to be getting pregnant, you were actively taking birth control until the day you got caught red-handed. You never wanted to get pregnant, so I thought you would’ve been relieved.”
“Fuck you, Kingston!” she said, then added. “I’ll walk. Let me out right now.”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that.” As she tried to open the door, I locked it once more, then nearly sighed in relief when I spied the parking garage. I kept my finger on the lock button until I parked the car in my designated space.
Seconds later, I stopped her from exiting the vehicle by wrapping my hand around her throat, then forcing her head toward me. The daggers she shot at me would’ve once wounded me, but they were nowhere near as sharp as the ones in my chest, and the ones that constantly twisted as they dug deeper.
“I’m sorry you lost the baby,” I said to her sincerely. “But your attitude is due to a hell of a lot more than that. What else is wrong with you?”
“You’re so fucking dense. How could you not know?”
“Not know what?” I asked.
She laughed hysterically for a couple of seconds before she sobered up immediately. As she tried to remove my hand from her neck, I tightened my grip. “I’m more pissed at myself than I am at you.”
“Why?” She was talking in riddles.
“Because over the last couple of months, I’d honestly thought you were beginning to like me. Genuinely. And that you wanted something more with me.”
“Want you?” I asked.
How in the hell could you think that I didn’t?
“The joke’s on me after all. I’ve never been anything to you.”
“You are something to me, puisín. You’re a?—”
“I know. I’m a fucking whore. What you should know is that I’ve seen the truth. It’s in your eyes when you’re deep inside of me...It’s on your face when you come...And, it’s in the way that you protect me even when you would rather let someone hurt me.”
“Ekaterina—”
“No! I just want you to know that despite you thinking of me as nothing more than some whore you’re stuck with, I know that you want me even more because of it, regardless of whatever you've told yourself to the contrary.”
“You killed my brother. You accused him of rape. What?—”
“Because hedidtry to rape me. I thoughtyouunderstood that. I thoughtyoubelieved me. I was wrong about that, but I'm not wrong about you.”
Actually, you have everything all wrong. Maybe not then, but you do now.
