Page 143 of Be With Me
“People can change,” I said softly. “You don’t want to hurt me? Then, don’t. It’s that simple. And forgive yourself for what happened to Alana. You were a victim in that situation.”
His entire body went rigid. A bitter, disbelieving laugh tore from his throat. “Victim?” The word was a harsh whisper. “You think I was the fucking victim?”
Stupid. Stupid!
I swallowed hard. That was the wrong word. The absolute wrong word to use with someone like him. Someone used to being powerful and in control. “I just meant?—”
“I know exactly what you meant.” He sneered. “You really are fucking naïve.”
My stomach clenched. “Rom?—”
“I’ve never been a victim.” He yanked on his jacket, fists tight. “And if you think I have been, you’re even more wrong about me than I thought.”
I felt like an idiot. Why did I say that? He wasn’t ready to hear it. Maybe he never would be. “Rom, I’m sorry.”
He gave his head a hard shake. “I survived. I did what I had to do. I made my choices.” His eyes burned into mine. “I don’t need your pity. In fact, I don’t need anything from you.”
Romolo turned and without looking back, walked out of the room.
The door slammed behind him, leaving only the remnants of his anger and indignation lingering in the air.
I sank onto the windowsill, a sob wrenching from my throat.
What had I done? Why did I say that?
Romolo had handed me a piece of his soul, and I’d mishandled it. I’d tried to wrap it in words he didn’t want, didn’t need. Tried to fix something that wasn’t mine to fix.
I just wanted to help him see it wasn’t his fault. That his mother and Alana had broken him long before he ever broke anyone else.
But I said too much. Or maybe not the right thing at all.
The shadows seemed to press in, heavy and close. I buried my face in my hands and cried.
We were like two magnets reversed—drawn to each other with a force neither of us understood, only to be repelled every time we got too close.
And still, we kept trying.
Like some part of us believed we could overcome the laws of physics. Make the impossible, possible.
Or maybe just me. At what point did optimism cross into delusion? Whatever that point was, I had a feeling I was close.
I wiped the backs of my hands under my eyes and stumbled to the bathroom.
I needed to clean myself up and go home, where I planned to drown myself in a bottle of wine.
But as the faucet ran, something caught my eye.
Lying on the counter, out of place, was an old tube of my lip gloss.
CHAPTER43
ROM
My fist slammed into the bag, and a sting of pain shot up my forearm. I didn’t catch a goddamn wink of sleep after I left Mia last night, and I’d been in the home gym for two hours.
There was too much pent-up energy in me, too much tension, and it had to go somewhere.
Mia knew everything now. Everything. I’d cut myself open and let her sift through my insides.
