Page 80 of Can You Take It?

His hold on me tightens, a possessive grip that speaks volumes. A low curse escapes his breath.

“Izel don’t fuck with me right now,” Richard warns. “Who did this to you?”

I roll my eyes. “Does it matter? It’s not like you can do anything about it.”

“I can rip the person apart into shreds,” he growls.

I mockingly raise an eyebrow, feigning being impressed. “How gallant of you. But if you were capable of that, I wouldn’t have left you.”

He ignores my jab. “Was it the guy you were with?”

There’s a hint of jealousy in his voice, and I know I’ve touched a nerve. “No,” I reply flatly.

“Who the fuck were you with?” His grip tightens even more, and I can feel the anger rolling off him in waves.

“Kinda none of your business, is it?”

“Don’t make me abuse my power, Izel. I can have the manager hand over the security footage, or worse, I can have Noah hack into every camera in this damn place just to see who the hell you were with.”

I roll my eyes again, this time more dramatically. “It was Martin, my cousin. Satisfied?”

“What the fuck was he doing here with you?”

“He wanted to see me, Richard. You had me holed up in your house for over a month, remember? ‘Witness protection,’ you called it. Now that I’m finally out, Martin wanted to check in. Not that it’s any of your business.”

I try to move past him, but he doesn’t let me. He steps in closer. “I know I should apologize.”

“It wouldn’t work,” I retort coldly. “I was your suspect. Remember? Shouldn’t you be looking into my past?”

His eyes soften, and the moment I see the look of guilt flash across his face, it cuts deeper than I expected. Fuck, I hate myself for it. For pushing him like this, for causing him that pain. But I can’t let him know. I can’t show him that I’m not really angry, that it’s not about him at all.

“I know I fucked up. I shouldn’t have treated you like a suspect.”

“You violated my privacy. You dug into my past without any regard for my feelings. Do you know how that feels?”

His hand reaches out tentatively, fingers grazing my cheek in a sensual caress. “I know, and I’m sorry. I thought—”

“It was never about keeping me safe?” I scoff.

“It was about keeping you safe,” Richard insists.

“Safe?” I retort, incredulous. “Dragging me into hiding without giving me a chance to defend myself doesn’t sound like keeping me safe. It sounds like you wanted to control the narrative.”

“I was under orders,” Richard snaps back. “You can’t blame me for being a little paranoid after you didn’t bat an eye when your roommate got so brutally killed.”

I laugh, but it’s hollow, and it hurts more than I want to admit. “So that’s your excuse? I didn’t react the way you thought I should, so that made me suspicious?”

“Izel, you have to understand—”

“Understand what?” I cut him off. “That you’re willing to believe the worst about me because it’s convenient? Newsflash, Richard, Nightmare's my life, and closing my eyes just hits the replay button. Do you know what it’s like to wake up every night,gasping for breath, because you can still feel your father’s hands around your throat?”

Richard’s expression shifts from frustration to confusion. “Will tried to kill you?”

The shock in his voice makes my blood run cold. “What do you know about Will?”

“I know enough to understand that I need to find him. And when I do, I’ll kill him,” Richard replies.

Before I can process his words, he turns on his heel and strides away. Panic grips me as I reach out, “Richard, wait!”

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