Page 190 of Cross the Line
Leaning down, he kisses the top of my head. “It’s the right thing to do, Jayden, and it’s the right time.”
My plea is on the tip of my tongue. I want to beg him not to do it. To tell him that I was wrong, Fin doesn’t need to know what happened. He was right; she shouldn’t have to live with that knowledge corroding and diminishing every great thing she is and represents.
“I can take her across the hall and?—”
“No.”
This is our home.
This is where we’ve made the good memories—the ones we’ll always go back to when shit gets hard. Fin needs to be surrounded by that when her world comes crashing down.
“Fine. I’ll take Bee out for a walk around the block. Give you both time to talk…” When I push to my feet, I grasp Finley’s clammy hand in mine.
It’s frozen cold as I step into her and lace our fingers together while I embrace her with my other arm.
“Listen to me,” I murmur into her ear. “Nothing will ever change who we are, Lucky. Nothing will break what we have. You hear me?”
She nods, but it’s weak.
“You are and always will be the best goddamn thing that has ever happened to us. No matter what. We love you, Baby. We will always love you.”
With an audible swallow, she takes a firm step away from me. She’s already on the verge of tears. Of breaking. And I am already desperate to haul her back together. But it’s impossible to fix something that’s not broken.
“Come on, Bee,” is all I say with a pat to my thigh as I head for the door with a pleading look at Eli for him to change his mind. To let me stay.
Instead, he gives me a wispy smile. One that makes it clear this is between them. It doesn’t matter that I already know, because the same way he gave me all of him back in Carolina, he’s going to give her everything now.
I can only hope we’re strong enough to withstand the gravity of the devastation that’s about to crash down on us.
CHAPTER 51
FINLEY
I can’t… I can’t breathe.
Eli’s last words are still hanging in the air when he exhales and looks at me. All I can do is stare back. I’m waiting for the nightmare to end.
You know? For that moment where his foot will brush mine, and maybe the scratch of his toenail will jolt me awake.
Because this can’t be real.
This can’t have happened.
Not to Eli.
My Eli.
“Fin…”
“No,” is all I squeak out, shaking my head hard enough to rattle something loose. “No. No… no…”
My vision blurs, then blacks, and vomit surges up my throat.
“Finley…” Eli calls as I stumble through the apartment, crashing off corners and doorframes until I hit our bedroom and slam through to the en suite.
Everything is a blur. It’s all an endless void, punctuated by my sluggish pulse.
Horror and fear—feelings I thought I’d learned to keep at bay—come back in a soul-crushing avalanche, and my heart keens. I’m back in the water, the pool cover closing above me, weight pushing me under.
