Page 57 of Broken Pieces
The wind lashes the rooftop as I rise. The ladder stands there, rusty metal fading into the night.
“Zane.” Her voice cuts through the quiet. “Where are you going?”
I don’t turn.
My jaw locks, teeth grinding hard enough to send pain up the side of my skull. The ladder waits in front of me, steel fading into the dark, and I fix on it like it’s the only thing keeping me steady.
When I finally speak, I make my voice sharp enough to cut.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, it fucking matters.” She pushes to her feet, tin rattling under her steps as she comes at me.
She plants herself in front of the ladder, forcing me to see her.
Moonlight cuts across her face, eyes blazing even through the streak of tears in her eyes.
“You don’t get to walk away and treat me like I’m nothing.”
She’s beautiful with that fire in her eyes and spit still on her lips. I’ve never wanted anything more than I want her at this moment.
But wanting and keeping aren’t the same. I’ve never kept a damn thing in my life.
“Skylar…” My voice cracks. I swallow it down, force it flat, make it sound mean. If I don’t kill this now, I never will. “You think this meant something? You think sucking my cock made you special?”
She flinches, but I keep going.
“You were on your knees. That’s all it was. A good mouth and a tight throat.” I step back, cold spreading through me, even as my cock still throbs from the way she took me. “Don’t confuse sucking my cock with something real.”
I watch the hit land.
“You were just a mouth, Skylar. A good one. But still just a mouth.”
Her lips part. Hurt flashes in her eyes.
Good.
I need her to hate me.
“Next time, don’t act so fucking needy.”
I watch her breathe it in. No tears. Just silence.
Her face hardens. “Fuck you,” she spits. Her voice shakes, but her eyes burn straight through me.
“You wish, sweetheart.” The words drip off my tongue, cruel and easy, even though something in my chest tears wide open.
I shove the pieces back together, forcing myself into the only armor I’ve ever had.
I move past her, step onto the ladder, and climb down into the dark, leaving her standing on the roof.
My boots slam the ground, the impact rattling up through me, and whatever was still human in me stays behind on that roof with her. I bury it before it has the chance to breathe.
The darkness surrounds me, but the fire under my skin refuses to die. Walking away isn’t mercy. Skylar deserves a world that doesn’t cage her, a life where she can breathe, fight, and actuallywin. She deserves more than a mess of a man dragging her down into his shadows. If I stay, that future vanishes. I won’t be the reason she never escapes.
Every step on the cracked pavement tastes bitter. My hands bury deeper in my pockets. I force my eyes forward, clinging to the dark ahead so I don’t have to think about her on that roof, tears drying on her cheeks, staring after me.
The thought alone tears me open.
