CHAPTER 21
DARCY
Idon’t quite remember how or when I made it into bed back at the hotel with Maya lying right beside me, but somehow it happened, because when I wake up the next morning, I’m surrounded by the resort’s tacky wallpaper and the scent of Maya’s shampoo. I’d think that everything that happened last night was just a bad dream, but when I look over at Maya, I can see the bandage on her forehead, blood just beginning to become visible as it soaks through the cotton.
I’m startled by the sound of a knock at the door, and it occurs to me that that’s what woke me up in the first place.
I let out a heavy sigh.
It’s going to be Cody, of course. Here to take back his sister because, obviously, no one but him is capable of caring for her, and one little argument between the two of them won’t change that.
I slide out of bed, maneuvering carefully not to wake up Maya, and take my sweet time crossing the room. I open the door without double-checking that it is, in fact, Cody. But then I am taken aback. No. More than that. I’m reeling. Spiraling. Shrinking into myself. Sick enough to nearly throw up right here and now.
No. No no no no no no no.
The person at the door is most definitelynotCody.
How can this be?
“Milo.” The word is choked, strangled, like poison begging to be spit out. I hear a strangewhomp-whompingnoise in my head. The edges of my vision have gone blurry. It’s as thoughI’mthe one concussed, not Maya.
Fuck—he’s real. Milo isreal. And he’s here in front of me. He’s as real as the fear bubbling up from my stomach into my chest. Despicably, he’s as handsome as ever, as utterly deceiving as ever, with the biggest smile on his beautiful face.
“Hey, beautiful.”
No.
This is not happening.
“What are you doing here?” I croak.Ugh. What a dumb question. Of course I know, good and well,exactlywhat he’s doing here.
Milo is here to win me back.
He’s here to scare me into submission. And there’s no one to stop him. He’s either going to win, or there is about to be a knock-down, drag-out fight.
“I wanted to see you!” Milo says the words like they’re so easy, so casual. It’s as if I didn’t tell him that I hope he dies the last time I saw him. “And this isourhoneymoon, isn’t it? I helped pay for it. I think I have every right to be here, don’t you?”
I hate him. I really hate him. How dare he? After everything he’s done, all of the pain and grief he’s caused, how dare he show up here and tell me he’s entitled to my company?
“Go away, Milo. I actually happen to think you havezerobusiness being here.”
Milo’s face falls, the happy facade he’s pasted on fading for just a split second before it’s right back where it was. Only now,it is nowhereneargenuine—how strained it looks is actually kind of... scary.
“Oh, come on, Darcy,” he chastises in a faux-friendly tone. “Don’t be like that. I know you’re still mad, but I’m trying to fix things here. I thought that’s what you wanted. For me to fix everything.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? We’re past fixing things, Milo!” I scream-whisper, hoping beyond all hope that Maya doesn’t wake up and insert herself into this already awful situation. “What I want is for you to leave me alone!Please!” The strength depletes from my body. My dignity is gone. All that I have left is the idle hope that maybe—just maybe—he’ll leave if I beg hard enough. “I can’t do this anymore, Milo. I mean it. Please, just leave. No matter what you do, you won’t get me back. I’m done. And you’re just going to make it harder by doing... whatever this is.”
In an instant, Milo lets his fake smile completely disappear, and there’s something close to anger in his eyes. If it were anyone else, I might be afraid. But this is Milo. Milo is a raging person, but he’s also harmless—in the physical sense. The only damage he will ever inflict on me is emotional. ButGodis he good at inflicting emotional damage. It kind of makes up for his lack of a backbone when it comes to confrontation.
His tone is no longer pleasant. “Help me out here, Darcy, because I don’t understand. You love me. I know you do. And I’m trying to change. No, Ihavechanged. I changed for you. I know I’ve made mistakes, but?—”
“There’s no ‘but!’” I exclaim in exasperation. “The things you did can’t be fixed, and you can’t change them with some self-reflection. You broke my heart, Milo. And I will never let you anywhere near it again. You had your chance, and you blew it. And nowplease, just leave me alone. I don’t want to see you.I don’t want you to call me. I just want to forget that you ever existed.”
“You don’t think that’s a little harsh?”
I swear I see some form of actual hurt etched into the lines of his face. I never knew he was capable of hurting. Of being angry, sure. Of being happy, absolutely. But hurt? In utter despair over heartbreak? Never in a million years would I have guessed that Milo could experience it. And even more so, experience it because ofme.
“No, I don’t,” I say, keeping my tone even. Iwantto be civil. “And you don’t either, do you? You know what you did. You know that your cheating wasn’t a mistake or a one-time thing. You were bored in our relationship, so you sought excitement with someone else. Someone you work with. How could I ever sleep next to you knowing that? It’s theworstkind of humiliation, Milo.”
