Page 97 of Cruel Proposal
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The door swingsopen after what feels like an eternity of sitting there and staring. There's only so many times I can count the cracks in the stone before I'm going to go insane.
I don't think it's been more than a day or two since I was shot, but I don't know. Aiden didn't tell me when he came to see me earlier, and there aren't any windows.
For a moment, I barely register who's standing there looking at me. I don't recognize her. Not in the tight black dress she's wearing and the way her hair is pulled back from her face in a tight bun.
It's not like her at all.
Gone are the leggings and the tight top showing off her curves.
Instead, she looks like she's getting ready to go to a funeral. She probably is. After all, those people died on the pier. Dozens of them, I'm guessing. She and her family would show up there and present a united front.
How fucking touching.
Summer stands to the side, the door opening wider. "I'm letting you go. I'm going to get you out, and then after this, you're never going to bother me again. You can't, because I can't handle sitting back and watching you try to kill yourself. Not anymore."
"Summer—"
She holds up a hand, tears springing into her eyes. "No. Just...just don't. I can't with you. Not anymore. Not when I know that this bloodthirsty need for revenge is always going to be what takes priority in your mind."
I stalk past her, stopping when I'm in the hall. "Well, maybe we should talk about all the places where you've fucked me over. You shot me and left me for dead."
"I knew Aiden wasn't going to kill you. That's not the way he wants to end this. Not even a little bit." Summer's voice is tight, a haunted look in her eyes. "I wasn't leaving you for dead. I was making sure you'd be alive. I was leaving you so I could come back and save you. I'm giving you a chance."
I spin to face her, crowding her against the wall, hands planted on either side of her face. "And why the fuck would you do that when you've proven that you don't give a fuck about me?"
Summer glares up at me, looking like she's seconds away from trying to kick my ass. "After everything I've done for you, after the way I stayed with you even when I could've left, you're still going to say I don't give a fuck about you?"
"You don't."
"Fine. Believe whatever the fuck you want. I'm done with this, and I'm done trying to keep you alive." Summer wriggles her way out from under my arm, stalking down the hall, her heels clicking against the floor.
I follow her because I have no other option. I can't lock myself back in that cell and wait for the moment Aiden comes to kill me.
The pain in my leg is nearly blinding as I limp after her down the hall, eyeing the cameras. "You're going to get in shit for this."
"He won't do anything to me. Not after the way you've held me captive for so long. He's only just got me back in the family. He'll give me hell for it one of these days, but at least you're goingto be alive." She doesn't so much as spare me a glance over her shoulder.
I stare at her back, still trying to figure her out. Maybe she really wasn't shooting me and leaving me for dead, but there's no denying that she knew she was going to betray me. Here she is, standing here and telling me that I'm going to be alive.
She still doesn't understand.
It's not worth it without her, and it doesn't sound like she's going to choose me.
She's just like all the others.
Summer says nothing else to me, and I can't bring myself to say anything to her either. After all that's happened, what is there to say?
We're done. This is the nail in the coffin, the one last chance for her to turn and say that she's going to come with me. That despite everything, she wants to be with me.
But she doesn't.
Summer walks me to the garage and hands me a set of keys, barely looking at me as I get into a sleek black sedan. As the garage door rolls up, revealing the sun shining above, I want to say something to her.
Maybe ask her to come with me.
I'm not a man who begs.
