Page 27 of Make You Mine

Since no one is around to witness my lingering stare, I can finally get a good look at him. Trent’s bigger than I remember, tougher even, and with an edge I don’t recall being there before. He looks older and more mature, but in a good way. His dirty blond hair is a bit shorter than I’d prefer; I used to love running my hands through it, pulling him closer as our bodies molded together. Regardless, Trent is still sexy as sin, and his kind green eyes beckon me to him like they did the first day I met him.

As I continue to stare at him, the only question that escapes my lips is, “Why?”Why did you leave me? Why haven’t you reachedout? Why are you back now?I wait on bated breath for his response while trying my best to hold back the tears.

“I asked Micah to bring you here. I needed to talk to you somewhere we could be alone,” he replies as he takes me in.

Opening my arms wide, I say, “Well, I'm here, so start talking.” I don’t know how to act right now. I'm more than relieved to be here with him and finally getting this time together, but at the same time, I’m still upset. Harboring feelings of betrayal.

Not only do I blame my parents for the situation I'm in, but deep down, I partially blame Trent too. I know he had nothing to do with my marriage to Junior, but I feel like if he stuck around and didn’t disappear, I wouldn’t be the shell of a woman I am now having to take matters into my own hands. Or at least that’s how I felt until he showed back up, and now I don’t know what to think.

I know I'm selfish. I’ve heard of the saying if you love someone, you should let them go, but dammit, I wasn’t ready to let him go. Especially without even a goodbye.

“Come, sit down. Let me explain. We don’t have a lot of time,” he says, walking toward the couch in the room.

“I'm trying to understand what’s going on. I know there’s a lot I don’t know…”

Trent reaches for my hand once we’re seated on the couch. The warmth of his touch sparks a forgotten feeling of comfort deep within me. A feeling that I’ve been longing for years to experience again.

“But I’ve also been hurt for so long by your absence. Leaving without a word…that hurt. I’ve never experienced pain like that before. Even your brother wouldn’t give me any real answers.”

His brow furrows. “What do you mean? You went to my brother?”

“When I hadn’t heard from you…I sought out your brother. I needed answers, Trent. No one knew what happened to you. Lottie and G were clueless too, so he was my last resort.” I shift in my seat to angle my body toward him. “When he told me you went to Europe to study abroad, my heart broke. Knowing you left without a single word. Especially when he confirmed you were there with Amelia.”

I shouldn’t have shared that last piece of information with him. It doesn’t matter who he went there with. But knowing he was overseas with her, that hurt the most. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure it’s something I ever truly got over. It’s silly, I know… I was engaged to someone else, yet here I was, pissed that he was somewhere so breathtaking with another woman. Many nights, I would dream of what it would have been like if it was me he took there instead.

Trent’s voice interrupts my daydream. “What the fuck, Ashley? Do you honestly think I left you to go to Europe with Amelia?”

Swallowing hard, my eyes drift to lock onto his. I don’t answer. I let my expression do the talking. His hands rub over his face in an exasperation.

“Amelia, really? Ashley… I went there for you. For us,” he says, grabbing onto my hand again. “I went there for you,” he says with more assertion when I don’t respond.

“What do you mean?”

He scoots closer to me, and the feel of his body next to mine allows my shoulders to relax for the first time today.

“You know I work with Trevor.”

I nod, and he continues.

“Well, it goes a bit deeper than that. I could feel you slipping through my fingers, and I needed to do something. Needed to figure out how we could get through this.” He exhales loudly, then starts again, and I hold my breath for what he’s about to say. “It's no secret our brothers knew each other. Your brother was worried about you. Even though everyone thought Junior was going to treat you right. He still took pity on me, on us. Because he knew we were in love, he and my brother approached me with an opportunity. My brother is part of an organization called The Saints. Not sure if you’ve heard of it.”

I nod again. Of course, I’ve heard of them…

The four tally marks. I knew I had seen them before, and now it all makes sense.

“Well, with some help from Trevor and a push from Micah, I was invited to join. However, part of my initiation requirement was to finish my doctorate. You see, each member has a role they fulfill within The Saints, allowing our influence to infiltrate worldwide.”

“But why Europe?” I ask, still not understanding that piece of all this.

“We have a chapter there where I was able to train, as well as finish up school in their accelerated undergrad program. That way, by the time I came back to New York, I could immediately start med school and already have some training under my belt. It made the most sense while I developed a plan.”

My eyes drop to my hands resting in my lap while I let that all sink in. He didn’t abandon me… He left for me.For us.

“But why didn’t you call or tell me what was going on? It hurt, Trent, it hurt so badly I could barely function.”

He grabs hold of both my hands, shocking me momentarily at the sudden movement. “Baby, do you know how much it broke me to walk away from you? Leaving you here with another man, and now seeing what he’s done to you…” I feel his hands trembling around mine, his eyes staring at my neck where I attempted to cover the evidence. The expression on his face has my stomach rolling. Embarrassment causes me to scoot away from him on the couch. I know what happened is not my fault, but the fact that he sees me as a victim has my temper rising.

He runs his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends. “Fucking hell, Ashley, I wish you would’ve told someone.”

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