Page 74 of Shifted

"This is the worst thing anyone's ever done to me," I admit and look up at him; he is blurred within my tears. "Can you hear it?" His eyes peered into mine in confusion, and his tears were full of sorrow that he didn't deserve. Because he was leaving me, and I couldn't hate him fully for it. Because I couldn't not support his dreams as he's done for mine.

"Can I hear what?" He stutters with his words, afraid to question me.

"My heart breaking?" I whisper as my eyes shut, and I try to steady my emotions. But as I took in his scent one last time, I felt it. I felt the goodbye coming and the earth closing in on me. The glass inside of me broke, stabbing me on the inside to bleed out alone.

"I've never been good at letting go," I rasp. “But now I feel like there are too many burdens I'm holding onto, and I don't know how to get rid of them anymore." I used to question myself a lot about whether this was the point where I should give up or if I could handle it a little bit more. I didn’t know where to go from here and knew I’d never love or trust again.

But now, as I'm in his arms, I know this is the last time. I find myself wondering if I should even fight back or just let go. 'Love' is something that exists in every little cell, allowing you to fall hopelessly and dangerously. I don't know what I expected. Maybe our promises, our plans, and our life together. I was expecting a ring and not an expiration date for us.

"I love you. " But instead of coming out simply because I did, it was more of a pleading—a pleading that he wouldn’t move on and leave me because I needed him.

"Baby." His lips pressed against my forehead, causing a throbbing ache from the sensation. My head felt heavy, and my heart was broken. I broke free from his arms.

"Grandma was right. We'd end up in flames if we were never honest and too afraid to try, but I didn't care." I moved my way toward the door, grabbing my bag. I couldn’t spend another second with this man who broke me beyond repair. I finally found a sense of home, and he ripped it and threw it out the door with me.

"Hope, please, you won't let me talk." He grabbed my hand and turned me towards him. "I want a life with you," he pleaded, but I now knew it was all a lie. He had already ruined us with the secrets he had kept from me; how could I trust him?

"And you want miles, distance, secrets, and other girls named Mikki." I felt like my lungs could cave in, and my mascara smeared down my cheeks. I felt like a four-inch knife had cut deep into my heart. Days ago, we spent hours intertwined in each other's arms, madly in love and hopeful for our futures, and now, when we came home to the city when we revealed the ugly truths about ourselves, we are only left in heartbreak.

"Mikki is my coworker. Her text was flirty and weird, so I didn't reply to it. Hope you know I'd never betray you like that. You’re my world; please understand—”

"You already did. I don't care anymore. Because while you were one foot out the door, I was all in." I take a sharp breath as tears drip down my face. "I love you, not anyone else; it's just you." The honesty peers into my soul, as once a comfort, it feels now painful.

It's just him; it’s always been just him. The only man I’ve ever loved or given myself to. He was once my home, but now he’s burned it down to the ground. But if history serves to be true, even the ones you love are the ones who hurt you the most.

"Next time, whoever she is, wherever she is. Don't keep anything from her. Learn from me." I stared at him for the last time. I opened the door to the hot July air, welcoming August. I walked out, closing the doors behind me, as well as a chapter.

The chapter of him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Hope Taylor

Waking up this morning to a loud pounding at my door alarms me as I wasn’t expecting anyone. It echoed through the apartment. I grab the bat hidden in the corner of my room. I don't have guns in here for the safety of my child. I keep them elsewhere. The horror stories keep me up at night sometimes.

But as the banging grew louder, I slowly made my way downstairs, approaching the door. I looked through the peephole, and my stomach dropped.

"You're meant never to see me again," I yell back at him through the door, "We had an agreement!"

"This is bigger than that, Angel- Hope!" I bite my pride and open the door. Isaac enters my home, and as he tries to walk further in, I stop him at the hallway entrance.

"You won't be making yourself comfortable. It's four in the morning. Why the fuck are you at my house. I was sleeping, and my child is sleeping. How did you find me?"

"It's very easy to track someone once you get a name." He began to pace back and forth as if something was truly wrong, like he'd done something bad.

"Spit it out." He looked over at me.

"I know you hate him, but I sent Amartolós on a mission," he began. I watched as Isaac sunk to the floor, unable to stand. "I've never lost a man on a mission before, but I sent Amartolós out into a fortress." My heart stopped for a moment.

"What?" I asked, and he glanced up at me in horror.

"He's not dead, he's been taken. I had a job for a hit on Eros Onasis, a big cartel leader. Amartolós, at first, was worked up about it. He has a grudge against the man." He stands to his feet and brushes past me into my kitchen. "Isaac," I mutter.

"I need scotch; I need something hard." I pointed to a cabinet, and he walked over to help himself. "Eros isn't an idiot. His place is sealed and isolated. I was a fool for sending him in alone to get the job done. I can't ask you to go— especially after." He looked up the stairs to Joely’s room, knowing my child was sound asleep. He couldn’t ask me to go after he knew I was someone's mother.

"How bad is it?" I could see the inner demons he was fighting back inside. Something was very wrong, and he knew I would be the only one who could possibly get him out.

"He won't live if he's not already dead by now. His death will be grueling and painful, and you'll get a copy of it. Eros is a cruel man; he needed to be stopped." I felt sick. I didn't know Amartolós, but I knew he needed someone to fight for him. Because nobody ever fought for me. But I knew deep down that he would; he was the one who was meant to kill me. "Send me the details. I'll get him. But I'll need backup." He pulls out his phone, already getting people on it. This wouldn’t be a regular mission. I wasn’t promised to come out of this one unscratched.

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