This was my chance. I had to use it right. I couldn’t allow myself to be crushed any more than I already had been.
I’d been caged for so long. Held in chains of torment and pain.
If I was going to stretch my wings, then I was going to fly.
We crawled along the busy stretch. The silence that rained between us was heavier than stones.
The street was filled with tourists, the snow on the ground and coating the rooftops a draw for those who had flocked here for a winter escape.
We traveled only a short distance before Logan made a quick left into the side drive of a large building that sat close to the street.
It was seven or eight stories, I would guess, modern, yet it still exuded a warm, cabin-esque vibe. Dark woods and even darker panes of glass that glinted against the frosty rays of sunlight that blazed from the clear, blue sky.
The first floor housed a steakhouse and a couple boutique shops, and I could only assume there were apartments on the floors above.
We followed along the drive lined by snow-covered shrubs before Logan pushed a button on his visor and a gate opened for us to enter a parking garage in the basement. He whipped down the short slope. The sun faded behind us, dimming the atmosphere to a hazy glow of yellowed lights that illuminated the dank space.
In an instant, it felt as if the walls had closed in.
As if I had been sentenced and was being led into punishment.
But that’s what this was, wasn’t it?
Punishment?
Because there were few things that hurt as badly as looking at the man I loved with all of me and never being able to admit it. Few things that hurt as badly as the loss that had eclipsed my heart in vacant shadows.
My heart throbbed.
I thought maybe he was being punished, too.
He pulled into a spot reserved for L7E, put it into park, and killed the engine. For a second, I stared ahead, fidgeting because I wasn’t sure where to go from there. I hadn’t planned beyond this, but I refused to believe it was a mistake.
“That’s your cue to get out.” Logan’s voice was hard.
Fumbling, I rushed to unlatch the door and stepped out into the frigid cold. Goosebumps crawled up my legs and burrowed beneath the dress. Thank God for the jacket, but it did little to shield from the cold that seeped all the way to the bone.
Logan was already there by the time I shut the door. He reached out and grabbed both sides of my coat, drawing the lapels up close to my chin.
My eyes widened in shock, and my stupid, frozen heart thawed at the gesture. At the energy that whispered and called.
A swift, unspoken claim.
“We need to get you inside and get you warm.”
My eyes flicked all over his face, searching for an answer.
The man heard the silent question for what it was.
“I take care of what’s mine.” He repeated what he’d said last night, the words a seductive threat that would ruin me if I let them.
The man was luring me into a gulf of contradiction.
No right, and no wrong.
No up, and no down.
I was subject to this division that would cut me in two.