“Nothing,” she spat. “Don’t pretend like you care.”
Her accusation pissed me off. Where the hell was this coming from? When I left to go to the bathroom, she was fine.
I advanced toward her, my eyes narrowing to slits. “I don’t care about you?” I growled. I raised my hand to touch her face, but she stepped back.
My hands ached to reach out and pull her back to me. Instead, I let my hands fall helplessly to my sides.
My breath quickened. “You know I’d never purposely hurt you, Gigi. That’s the last thing I’d ever do.”
She stepped back, putting further distance between us. “I think we established how much you can hurt me.”
Her words cut deep. My hands balled into fists at my sides. “Does this mean you’re ready to talk about what happened to you?”
“Yes. I want to talk about what happened to me that night and the months following. But are you ready to hear all the details?”
I stood frozen, unable to form a coherent response. The only thing I could do was stare at her and admire the magnificent creature before me. She was more defiant than ever. A cold dread gripped me, knowing that her newfound strength stemmed from the recent traumatic events.
“Nico.” Her voice pulled me back from the edge of my thoughts.
I blinked. “Yes.” A blatant lie, but telling her the truth would make me look weak, and she had already weakened me.
No words were spoken. We stood in front of each other, breaths ragged and shallow, like we’d just sprinted a marathon.
“You know what? I changed my mind. I’m leaving,” she stated flatly.
“No, you’re not,” I countered, holding back the desperation from creeping into my tone.
She scoffed and strode toward her heels, but I reached out, gripping her arm, anchoring her in place.
“I said, no, you’re not. We need to talk about what just happened. Why did you try to leave? Did I do something wrong?”
She yanked her arm free and fixed me with a penetrating stare. The weight of her gaze dug into my soul. Her silence was deafening, so I took a step forward, trying to close the distance between us. It was killing me.
“I’m so fucking sorry for not believing you. I am so sorry for what happened to you. I understand that no amount of sorry’s will get you to forgive me. But I’m going to say it for the rest of my fuckinglife.”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, the warm gold of her irises clouded by pain, and my chest tightened at the sight.
“When you were taken from me, I felt my soul was ripped apart, Gigi. I became the monster everyone feared. I went months”—I gritted my teeth, the memory of those dark days flooded back— “months without you, and I only had myself to blame.”
“It doesn't matter, Nico,” she said quietly. “You can’t undo the past.”
“I know.” I nodded sadly. “Tell me what to do, Gigi,” I begged. “Tell me what I can do for you to give me a chance to make this right.”
She angrily brushed away her tears. “You can’t, Nico! That’s just it! I was kidnapped because of you!” She hurled one of her heels at me, and I managed to avoid it.
“Tortured... because of you!” The second shoe stung as it connected with my chest, but her words cut deeper.
“Rapedbecause of you!” Her fingers dug into my chest, her tears burning my skin.
“Lost the baby because?—”
“Enough!” I barked, unable to withstand her torment any longer.
“Fuck you, Nico!” She slapped me across the face, and I grabbed her wrist when she tried to do it again “Don’t.”
“What are you going to do?” she goaded. “Huh? Well, you can’t do anything that hasn’t already been done!”
“I said enough! I don’t want to hear that fucking word!” It felt like a dagger piercing my soul every time because of what she went through.
