I couldn’t control my temper, so I walked off. “Fine, be an asshole.”
Damien walked after me. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m just as shocked as you are. Why would I lie?”
I snapped back around. “Because you’re a coward. Because you’re worthless.”
The confusion slowly drained from his face, and then a red tint started to flush into his cheeks. His anger heated up the air surrounding him. “You know what? Believe me. Don’t believe me. Your opinion means nothing to me, so I don’t give a shit.” He shoved me hard in the chest before he turned around and left.
I almost pulled out my gun and shot him in the back, but that would be a cowardly thing to do, and I wouldn’t sink to that level.
After everything was said and done, I scrubbed my hands until they were nearly raw so I could get every piece of Maddox off me. I’d burned his body, and I didn’t want a trace of his corpse to stay with me.
I returned home and walked into my bedroom on the top floor.
Sofia was there.
After all the commotion of the afternoon, I’d forgotten about her. All I cared about was disposing of Maddox’s body and getting that office cleaned as if a murder hadn’t just taken place. It was the first time since I’d met her that she wasn’t the biggest priority in my life.
She wasn’t on the list at all.
I’d hoped to come home to have a drink in solitude. I wasn’t in the mood for conversation. I wasn’t even in the mood to listen to her talk. I stopped and stared at her, seeing her in just a dark blue dress, now that her black leather jacket was gone. “Where’s Andrew?”
“I left him with Ash.” Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her guard was up a bit.
“Ash?”
“He’s great with him.” She offered an explanation to a question I never asked. “I thought he would be the best protector if something happened to me and you. My mother would be a good nurturer, but I needed someone stronger than that.”
I couldn’t believe my brother was the caretaker of my son. He wasn’t a fan of children or responsibility. But I knew he would take care of Andrew until Sofia could return home. “What you did was stupid and reckless.”
“Doesn’t matter if it was. He’s gone.”
My eyes narrowed. “It does matter. You have no idea what you risked.”
“I risked my own life, which I was willing to do to save you. I couldn’t let you live like that any longer. I couldn’t sleep…I couldn’t eat. I had to do something.”
All I did was stare because I didn’t know what else to do. I was angry with her for not doing something sooner, and I was also grateful she’d gotten me out of the situation. It had only been a matter of time until Maddox turned me into his fuckboy. She’d spared me from all of that, but I couldn’t bring myself to thank her. “It was really dangerous…and you got really lucky.”
“I didn’t get lucky. I aimed the damn gun and pulled the trigger. That’s not luck, that’s guts.”
I dismissed her last statement by walking to the bar and pouring myself a drink. I tilted my head back and let the liquid wash down my throat before I turned back to her. “You want one?”
“I’m breastfeeding.”
I was never around Andrew, so I didn’t know shit like that. I took another drink. “Then I guess you should leave.” There was nothing for us to say. Maddox was gone, and that was the final thing keeping us together. We accomplished what we’d set out to do. Now it was time to move on.
She stepped toward me as her arms dropped to her sides. “What?”
I turned so I could face her directly. “There’s nothing left to say, so you can leave.”
She threw up her arms. “And that’s it?”
I forced myself to say the words that I wanted to keep bottled inside. “Thank you.” I was grateful she’d saved me, but I was resentful she didn’t do this sooner. I was resentful that she’d saved me when I should’ve saved myself.
She came closer to me until we were within arm’s reach. “I don’t understand. It’s like you’re mad at me. You should be happy. Andrew and I can move back to Florence, and we can have what we’ve always wanted. We can get remarried…be happy. You’re acting like everything is going to go back to the way it was.”
I automatically took a step back without even thinking about it. “It is going to go back to the way it was. Why would it change?”
The color in her cheeks slowly faded away, and her lips loosened because her features slowly tightened with pain. “I don’t understand…”