Page 117 of Consume Me

“We have the money of the Family now. Don’t stress out, Bailey,” Abi says.

“If we pay people off for information, someone will start talking,” Celine says.

“I’ll talk to Cato. It’s better we have the Syndicate at our side,” I say.

“And I’ll talk to Cassandra,” Kaden says.

“We need to establish our power as the next generation anyway,” Dane says.

“But first, we need to show our faces in our classes. We can’t have people talking,” Abi says, and we all nod in agreement.

With the plan in motion, the gloom fades into the background.

While everyone shuffles outside, I wait for Mia to finish her muffin. She looks at me with those knowing eyes.

“Who is Cato exactly, and how do you know him?”

“He’s the heir to the Boston Mafia and one member of the Syndicate, which rules the underground. He came to one of my fights because I piqued his interest.”

“What deal did you make with him?”

She’s too damn smart. “Don’t try to sugarcoat it. It will only make me mad,” she adds, propping her ass against the counter and crossing her arms.

“I told him I’d do anything if he finds them before I do.”

She inhales in a lungful of air, her gaze lowering.

“You never intended to stay,” she whispers, her words so soft I can barely hear them.

Lifting my hand to touch her, I don’t even know what I intend to do: keep her or myself anchored. “Mia…”

She pushes at my chest, and nothing I have endured hurts more than her rejection. When I see her glistening eyes, it butchers me on the inside, I can barely stand.

She wipes the corners of her eyes with the back of her hands. Then, picking up her bag, she storms outside.

When I reach her side, she says, “I need a bit of distance.”

The wind and snow clashing together around us have nothing on the icy blast hitting me square in the chest with her words, lashing at the naked organ behind until it freezes to death.

“I wish I could offer you that, but we both know why I can’t.”

“Of course you can’t, but it’s so damn easy for you to leave me.”

I grip her wrist and spin her around, backing her into a tree on the sidewalk.

“I had my reason for doing that. A fucking valid reason. I never wanted my darkness to sully you. I left to punish myself for wanting something as pure as you while my blood is tainted. Yet, the moment Cassandra told me what was going on, I came back. For you. Be mad at me, yell and cuss me out, whatever it will take to make it better for you. But never tell me again that it’s easy for me to leave you. It’s the hardest fucking thing I have ever had to do.”

My chest heaves with my deep breathing. I need her to believe me.

She looks at me with big, incredulous eyes. If I get the chance, I will glue myself to her side for the rest of our lives, so she will never look at me like she does right now, distrust etchedon her flawless face. She wants to believe me, but she can’t. I broke her heart once, and I still have to earn her trust.

Lowering my forehead on hers, I say, “It’s okay if you don’t believe me. But please don’t take yourself away from me.”

“I never could…”

She believes that her feelings have been one-sided. I wish I could turn back time and get my shit together. But on top of everything happening in my life, juggling working for my father, making sure Cassandra was okay, and trying to find a way out, Mia crashed into my life. I thought she was divine punishment for what I did behind my friends’ backs, what I had to do to make sure they survived. Only to realize she was the hope I needed to push through the darkness. Sure, I left, but I needed that fucking time to come to terms with who I am. And what I am is an abomination, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“I’m sorry because I’d never let you go.”

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