“No, we won’t. You don’t know him.”
These dull concrete walls are closing in on me, and the thought of Grip in here even another day traps my breath in my chest. Panic crushes me from the inside out.
“There isn’t another way.” I lift his hands to my lips, kissing his knuckles, his thumb, turning his hand and leaving a dry sob in the palm of his hand. “He’s made sure of that. If there was a way, Rhyson would have found it by now.”
“I won’t let you do this.”
“You can’t stop me.” I pull my hands clear of his, my resolve weakening the longer I touch him. The thought of anyone else touching me the way these hands did, with love and reverence, turns my stomach. “I told you. I warned you that I’m not like other girls.”
My laugh leaves traces of poison on my lips.
“I don’t have those limits.” One tear at a time scalds my cheeks. “I’d do anything for you. It sounds romantic until it crosses your lines, huh? Until it goes too far.”
I look at him, my smile ironic.
“Are you afraid, that like Parker, you won’t want me either, after I’ve ‘soiled’ myself with him?”
“I’m afraid it would destroy something in you that I can’t ever get back,” he says earnestly.
I haven’t admitted it even to myself, but so am I.
“If that happens,” I say, dropping my eyes to my lap. “Whatever’s left is yours.”
“Don’t, Bris.” He crosses around the table, sits on the corner, and pulls me to stand between his legs, his hands running up my arms. “I’d stay before I’d let you do that.”
“That’s ridiculous. Oh my God. Don’t even . . .”
I drop my head to his shoulder, horrified he’d even entertain sacrificing his career or years of his life for something he didn’t do. That he would do that to spare me this indignity.
“I would never let you do that for me,” I say, my breath hiccupping in my chest.
“I won’t have to, but now you know how I feel.” He bends his brows over the torture in his eyes. “You think you’re the only one who loves without limits?”
“That makes no sense, Grip.”
“Like it made sense for me to wait around for years while you figured out you loved me.” His mouth pulls into a warped smile. “But who did that? This guy.”
A breathy laugh breaks through my tears.
“I love you,” I whisper, stepping back and giving up the warm safety of his arms. “There’s nothing . . . nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
The vestiges of his smile fall away. He runs his thumb over my lips, tugging at the flesh I know to be red and swollen.
“He did this?” There’s brimstone in Grip’s demand, fire in his glare.
“It doesn’t matter.” I pull away from his hand, embarrassed that Grip’s seeing the results of Parker’s rough kiss. It’s a dim reflection of what he’ll do to me later, I’m sure. “I need to go.”
“The thought of him touching you . . .” Grip swallows, his voice falling into a dark abyss. “Of him hurting you, kills me, Bris. That I can’t protect you, it kills me.”
There’s blood thirst in his eyes, and I have no doubt if Parker were in this room he’d be dead. But he isn’t here. He’s out there wreaking havoc on our lives, and I have the means to stop him.
“I need to go.”
He catches my elbow, his touch firm and gentle. In his outstretched palm he holds the gold necklace.
“Don’t forget this.” He proffers it to me.
“Keep it till I get you out of here.” His handsome face wavers as tears fill my eyes but don’t fall. “If you still want me . . . after, I’ll take it back.”