Page 57 of Now You're Mine

Nearly eight hours later,when it’s all over, Wyn takes me home and vows to check on me later. I wave her off, though. She’s already done so much for me, and I don’t want to put her out any more than I already have.

Besides, I’m so exhausted, and all I want to do is sleep, anyway.

The second I walk through my dorm room door, I crawl into bed and pull the blankets over my head. I’m bone-tired, and I feel like I could sleep for weeks. The second my head hits the pillow, and my eyelids flutter closed, I’mout.

I’m not sure how long I’m asleep, but when I wake up, there’s someone in my room with me. Their presence is like a weight on my subconscious, and as confirmation, I hear something before I even open my eyes. It’s a faint sound, just the slight rustle of clothing, but it’s unmistakable in the near-silence of my room, and it sets my pulse racing.

Tyler is dead,I tell myself.Nathan is dead. James is dead.

Could it be a Burning Crown member who's pissed about what happened to James? No. I instantly dismiss that. After Nathan’s body was found, the police investigated him and discovered he and Tyler were the only ones behind the threats toward me. They’d bonded over their mutual hate for me, I guess.

There’s no one left to hurt me. Roman made sure of that.

Clenching my jaw, I find the courage to open my eyes. The room is dim, and it’s cast in shadows from the moonlight that’s pouring in from my single window. On the far side of my microscopic room, there’s a desk and a chair. Someone is sitting in that chair. He’s leaning back, legs spread, one finger touching his lips casually like he owns the world and everything in it. Includingme.

Some might say he does.

Roman Rush.

I sit up, still groggy and sleep-drenched, and he doesn’t say a word. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be the first one to speak. But I definitely won’t be the one to break the silence. I don’t even know what to say.

“You didn’t call me,” he says finally, that deep timbre skipping down my spine. It’s been too long since I’ve heard it.

“I know,” I reply. Wyn must have told either him or one of the guys that I was in the hospital. It’s the only reason he’s here, and that sends a shard of sadness straight through me. “But I’m fine. So you really didn’t need to come.”

If he just came out of a sense of duty, then I’ve just given him an out—and I hold my breath, my heart pounding, waiting to see if he’ll take it.

“And the baby?” he asks, his voice emotionless.

I should have seen that question coming, but it still takes me by surprise, and I have to swallow back the emotion that rises upin my throat. “I, um…”Whew, God. This is harder than I thought it would be. “...I lost the baby.”

I know he hears the wobble in my voice—there’s no way he could miss it—but he remains perfectly still, his pale gaze fixed on me. Finally, he says, “You’re sure?”

Like I’d beunsure about something like that.

Pulling the covers back, I rise up out of the bed, wincing at the sudden movement. They gave me pretty heavy pain meds in the hospital, but those are just starting to wear off.

I’m in gray sweatpants and a white tank top, and I walk up to the door, pulling it open. “Yes, I’m sure,” I say, remembering as the ultrasound tech searched in vain for a heartbeat. “We’re free of each other now.”

Even as I say those words, though, I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I can’t breathe, and I’m desperately trying to hold my shit together. But losingyet anotherperson I love is destroying me, and I wonder just how much more pain I can take. When will it end?

He stands up slowly and walks over to me. I’m holding onto the edge of the door with white knuckles, my eyes cast downward. I can’t look into that beautiful face, and watch him walk away from meagain. I just can’t. Everyone has their limits, and this is mine.

He stops in front of me and uses the crook of his finger to tilt my chin up, so I’m looking into his eyes. “I don’t want to be free of you, Little Rabbit,” he whispers, emotion tinging his words. “Please don’t tell me to walk away from us again.”

The pain in his eyes is so unbearably intense that I crumble under the weight of it. The tears come, and I don’t even try to stop them now. “I thought youwantedto walk away,” I say, my voice trembling. “I texted you, and you never replied. You never even checked on me. For two weeks,nothing.”

“The last couple weeks have been hell, Lux. Every day, every minute, was a struggle not to call you. I can’t tell you how many times I almost gave in.”

I half-shrug. “So, what stopped you?”

Over these last couple of weeks, I’ve wondered, more than once, if he blames me for what happened with James, and maybe that’s why he stayed away. I wanted to know. But now, with the words about to emerge, I don’t know if I’m actually ready to hear them.

He drops his hand and glances away like he’s trying to find the words to explain. “Keeping my distance was the only way I could give you peace, which is what you deserve and more after everything I’ve put you through.”

I lick my bottom lip, and it’s salty from my tears. “Is that why you were moving?”

He looks at me again, his gaze wandering over my face like he’s trying to commit every detail to memory. “Yes,” he says quietly. “I knew moving across the country was the only way I could stay away, and even then, I doubt it would have worked. I’ll always be pulled to you, Lux.Always. There’s nothing you or I can do about that.”

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