“No.”

Because he’d rather get this over with sooner rather than later, she translated, and her throat began to itch. “O-okay.” Ah, how it itched. “I’ll be just a minute.” Her voice croaked in the end. Shit. She really needed a glass of water. She was just thirsty, she told herself as she hurried towards the kitchen on legs that threatened to give out any second. That was all this was, rather than having anything to do with the fact that tears had been clogging her throat from the moment-—

If you want her so fucking much, then she’s yours—-

This time, her knees did buckle, and her hand slammed against the wall as Jane fought to keep herself upright.

Behind her, she heard Christian ask sharply, “Is everything fine?”

Oh my God, was he serious?

Jane told herself she would keep her cool. She wouldn’t beg, she wouldn’t shout. She would be an adult—-

But then she found herself whirling around.

Fuck being an adult.

“You know what you’re doing here, don’t you?”

Jane was yelling.

Christian’s face became rigid. “Don’t shout.”

Don’t shout? Jane heard herself laugh. Don’t shout? And she couldn’t help it any longer, shrieking, “Don’t shout? That’s really all you can say?” And she laughed again, unable to help it even as she realized her mood had swung alarmingly from despair to hysterics. Or maybe this mood was just another face of heartbreak. It was hard to tell anything when she was hurting so much.

When he only looked at her with those callously cold eyes of his, she said unevenly, “At least admit it.”

Christian’s lips tightened and he stood up with a shake of his head. “I’m not the one with something to admit—-”

“Don’t!” Jane’s voice shook at the strength of her emotions. She couldn’t believe he was still insisting on hiding behind such a stupid excuse. “I didn’t steal anything from you, and you know it! All this is about is you pushing me away because I’m getting too close—-”

“Will you fucking stop making this all about you,” Christian snarled. “I’m in danger of losing my company. Have you forgotten that? I’m responsible for over a hundred people – my job is to make sure they’ve got food on their tables, and here you fucking are, acting like this is still about us—-”

“Because it is,” Jane cried out, “and you’re destroying me—-”

“Bullshit.” Christian saw Jane pale and knew he was hurting her. “Don’t make this into some kind of fucking soap, where you’re the innocent victim everyone’s out to ruin.” He saw her lips tremble and he knew he should stop, but he couldn’t.

“Stop acting like it’s the end of the world. You’re far from being alone, and we both know it. I’m not the only man who wants you—-”

A stricken look crossed her face.

“But Christian...”

The heart-wrenching note of pain in her voice stopped the flow of his words.

“You’re the only one I want,” Jane whispered.

Christian sucked in his breath.

She wrapped her arms around herself while staring at him, wondering if he got it now. What other men felt didn’t. Only he mattered, but—-

If you want her so fucking much, then she’s yours.

The words came out of nowhere, and she jerked, realizing that she was the one who didn’t get it.

If you want her so fucking much, then she’s yours—-

He might be the only man she wanted, but it wasn’t the same for him.