Page 6 of Awakening

“Just listen to me, Liv. I’m so sorry for the way I treated you. There’s nothing I regret more. I got caught up in the privilege my name and exposure brought, and I let it go to my head. I’d never let that happen again. You deserve so much better than that, and I’ll be who you deserve this time. I still love you, Olivia. Please, come back to me and let me get you out of this.”

“Colin, I’m with Ethan.”

“No.” Colin shakes his head. “I was told that if I came here, you’d come back to me.”

“No, I’m not coming back to you. I’m with Ethan, and we’re starting a family,” I say through tears. “You have to help me get out of here. Please.”

He shakes his head, taking my hands and gripping them tightly. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make things right with you.”

“I don’t mean—I can’t be with you, Colin.”

He shakes his head again, holding my hands tighter. “No. I won’t let him have you, Olivia. He took you from me.”

My mouth drops open as the air leaves my throat. “Are you serious right now?”

Colin takes a deep breath, obviously trying to compose himself. “I don’t mean to be harsh, but if I get you out of here, I need you to be with me. My dad has the jet on standby. We can go anywhere in the world you want.”

“You told your dad? You shouldn’t have brought him into this.”

“Ian said he’ll only release you to me if I take you and disappear. I had to tell my dad. I need his help. Let’s face it, this isn’t exactly my dad’s first questionable situation. He’ll keep it quiet. We’ll start over, Liv. We can be happy again. All of us,” he says, looking at my stomach, which is churning with disgust.

Tearing my hands from his grip, I say, “I can’t believe you’re being so selfish.”

“Selfish? I want to take you and another man’s baby away with me and love you both. That’s fucking selfish?”

“Yes! You’d be denying Ethan the opportunity to love and raise his own child, Colin.”

He rests back on his heels. “He’s the one that started all of this. He took what was mine. Now I have a chance to take it back, and the fact that I’d be taking something else that belongs to him,” he says, eyeing my pregnant stomach, “well, let him see how it fucking feels.”

“It’s not the same, and you know it. This is his child, Colin.”

“I don’t care. He deserves everything he has coming to him. I can make you happy again, Olivia. I know I can. Just give me a fucking chance. Isn’t there a part of you that still loves me?”

I can’t believe I once planned to share my life with this man. My body trembles with sobs as I scoot back on the mattress and rest my back against the wall. I shake my head and look him straight in the eyes. “No.”

He shrinks back, and it’s obvious I’ve wounded him. “Olivia?—”

“Colin, please,” I say as the sobbing takes over my body. “I love Ethan. He’s my fiancé, and I want to go home to him. Please, please…I’m literally begging you to help me. Help my baby. Please, help us get back to Ethan. He and this unborn baby are my entire life. If you really love me the way you say you do, then do the right thing. Help me get back to Ethan.”

He sits quietly for a moment before taking my hand again. I think I’ve finally made some progress with him, but then he shakes his head. “No. I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

I rip my hand from his. “What? Aren’t you listening to me?”

“I’m doing what I should have done from the start. I’m not giving up without a fight this time.”

“What about what Ian is doing to me and my baby? Do you care about that at all? He’s drugging me, Colin.”

“I didn’t know about that,” he says, dragging his hands through his hair. “He assured me that you were safe.”

“Well, I’m not. I’m not safe at all, Colin! Ian is fucking dangerous! He had me kidnapped.”

“I’m trying to offer you my help, Liv.”

“But only on your terms, right?”

“I won’t give you back to that man, Olivia. He stole you right out from under my fucking nose!”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this right now!” I lean forward, pushing him in his chest.

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