Page 90 of Fractured Fear

Throwing ice on the inferno, I back away from the sexy men intent on ruining every last pair of panties I own. I ask, “Why didn’t my alarm go off?”

“I turned it off,” Zane states.

“What? Why?”

“You needed the rest.”

“I wanted to go for a run,” I argue.

“Not today.” Zane’s face is completely blank, but his arms are crossed ready to fight me on this. Where did all this bossiness come from?

“Why the hell not?” I am outraged.

“You work too hard. You’re going to wear yourself into the ground.”

“You don’t get to make that choice for me, Zane.” I know my voice is getting louder with each reply, but I don’t give a flying fuck.

“Yes, I do,” he says it so casually like it’s no big deal.

“No, you don’t. What makes you think this is okay? What gives you the right?”

His face turns hard. “You trying to run away. That’s what gives me the right.”

My mouth drops open.

Reading my expression, Rio adds with a shrug of his shoulders, “You should have promised.”

“Y’all can’t be serious. If I promise I won’t run now, can I go workout?”

“Nope,” Zane answers.

“Again. Why the hell not?”

“Because then it wouldn’t be a genuine promise, and you’d probably break it.”

He’s right, but I won’t admit that to him. I won’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know he’s right. His lack of trust in me hurts, but I won’t admit to that either.

“Y’all could just come with me like you normally do,” I suggest.

“No, can do. We both have to get to work,” Zane says.

Letting out a frustrated sigh I glare at the both of them. “This is not okay. You have to know that.”

Zane approaches me and softly cradles my face in his hands. “I won’t lose you, Spencer. I can’t. You’ve possessed me. Body,mind, and soul. I can’t breathe without you. If you were to go, you would leave me suffocating.”

Tears swim in my eyes blurring Zane’s face, but his words ring in my heart. I scared him more than I realized. Leaving wouldn’t just shake my foundation, but his as well.

Can I do that to him? To them?

My options are: break their hearts or be the cause of their death.

I can only live with one of those.

CHAPTER 37

ZANE

Walking away from Spencer this morning took a strength I don’t have. Each step was like walking through mud, but to keep her safe I had to keep going. Reaching down deep inside myself, I grasped the critical need I have to just exist in her vicinity and shoved it aside.

---