Page 101 of Obsession

Confusion furrowed his brow. “Grace, I…”

“I don’t understand you. You push me away, then pull me so close that I can’t even see around us. All I do is feel. And it’s too much, Blake. You can’t make me a part of something, then keep taking it away from me.”

“You think this is easy for me? I know that almost every word out of your mouth to me is a lie, and I still can’t stay away from you.” He crossed the room and gripped the upper part of my arms.

I tried to back up, but he held me tight.

He shook me. “I want you so much that it makes me insane. I’ve always wanted you.”

I shook my head. That was the second time he’d said that.Alwayswas such an immeasurable word. It didn’t make sense when describing the few weeks we’d known each other.

He seemed to figure out he’d said too much. He lifted me on to my toes. “And you’re not a whore. My buying that angel has nothing to do with us.”

“It has everything to do with us. I poured myself into that piece.”

“Are you the fallen angel?” He let me down and cupped my face, his fingers tangling in my hair. “Gold hair and those huge blue eyes that look at me with such longing and hate at the same time.”

My vision blurred. I backed out of his hold, and I turned away before the tears could actually fall. “I’m no angel.”

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “Neither am I. If there was anyone less deserving of you, it’s me.”

I sagged. The anger that had fed me—sustained me for so long—drained away. So completely it was a miracle I remained standing.

The only thing left was truth. I couldn’t keep doing this, and yet I couldn’t seem to walk away from him.

I turned in his arms. “I’m so tired of the lies.”

“All we have are lies, Grace.”

His serious dark eyes were so sad. I picked around the anger that I’d been holding on to. Fear seemed to be the single thing that linked every fight, and every lie.

I took a deep breath. There were things I needed to tell him. Things I had to say that just wouldn’t make sense unless he saw them for himself. “Come home with me, Blake.”

“To your real home?”

I nodded. “No more lies.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Icouldn’t breathe. He stared into my eyes for so long, I was fairly sure my lungs were going to explode.

He stepped away from me, then he went around his desk.

I closed my eyes. I heard a door click shut. Loss seeped into my chest. When I finally breathed in, it felt as if I’d replaced my lungs with shards of glass. Then his hand wrapped around mine.

My eyes flew open.

“Take me home, Grace.”

He was wearing his suit jacket again—still no tie—with an overcoat on, keys in hand.

Blake didn’t seem the type to hold hands, and yet this was the second time he’d kept me close this way. We rode down in silence. I peeked up at him, unsure what was going on in his busy brain.

I knew something was going on up there.

I could pretty much hear the gears whirling, but he didn’t say a word. Then again, neither did I.

When the doors opened, Violet stood. “Before lockdown, and no bloodshed.”

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