Page 104 of Bet On Me, Daddy

But the words turned to ash on her tongue when she spun around to face him, ready to fight. And found him standing there, watching her, his expression completely void of any emotion, his face all but drained of color.

Haunted. That was all she could think. He looked haunted.

And she’d done that to him.

“Shit. Beckett. I’m sorry, I… that was a shitty thing for me to say.” Whatever trauma he had that had led him to being the way he was, it was clear she’d triggered it. Hard.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” But the tightness in his voice told her he was anything but fine. “My issue. My baggage to deal with. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Then why did she feel like dropping to her knees and begging his forgiveness?

Stepping forward, she reached for him, placing her hands on his too-pale cheeks. “I’m sorry for what I said. And I’m so fucking sorry for whatever happened to her. But I also can’t let you keep me locked up like some china doll because you’re scared I’m going to get broken.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” Maybe she hadn’t fucked everything up, after all. “Look, we obviously have some shit we need to figure out. But I really do need to get to work.”

“That’s going to be difficult, seeing as how you no longer have a job.”

Her head jerked back, as if he’d physically slapped her. Which, if he had, would honestly have been less shocking than what he’d actually said. “I’m sorry. What do you mean I no longer have a job?”

“Nancy called while you were sleeping yesterday morning. When I told her you were too ill to come into work, she said if you weren’t going to come in then you shouldn’t bother showing up again. I told her that was fine.”

Numb. She’d never known she could be this angry and completely numb at the same time. “You told her what?”

“I told her it was fine. And then I asked her name so I know who the fuck to fire when I buy the company.”

He looked so goddamned smug, standing there, bragging about how he could use his money to do whatever he wanted. To ruin lives.

Money. Power. Control. Was that all he cared about, after all?

“Get out.”

“What?”

“Get thefuckout of my apartment. Before I do or say something we both regret.”

The stone mask he’d been wearing finally slipped, revealing the fury beneath. “I’m not going anywhere, Ruby. Not while you’re this sick.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me. I need you to leave me the fuck alone. I’m serious, Beckett. I don’t want you here.”

“Jesus Christ.” Running his hands through his hair, he paced into her bedroom, then back out again, agitation pouring off him in waves. “What the hell was I supposed to do, Ruby? Wake you up and make you go to work when you were clearly in no shape to do so?”

“You were supposed to let me make my own goddamn decisions aboutmylife!” She was screaming now, or at least as close as she could get with her throat still on fire. “It wasn’t your decision to make!”

“I don’t care!” The words exploded out of him as he whirled on her, grabbing her by the arms and pushing her up against the wall behind them. “I don’t care about some shitty job and some bitch on a power trip, Ruby. I care about you. I care about keeping you out of the goddamn hospital. I care about never watching another woman I love?—”

Now it was his turn to jerk back, his face once more going white. Silence fell between them, so thick and heavy it felt like an actual physical barrier between them.

And inside Ruby’s chest, her heart was breaking. Shattering, really, with every single breath she took.

Because she’d been right, all along. No matter how different Beckett seemed, no matter how often he said just the right thing, at the end of the day he didn’t give a fuck what she wanted. What sheneeded. All he cared about was keeping her locked away in some ivory fucking tower.

Never again.Never.Again.

“You told me that someday I’d realize you weren’t him.” The words came out slowly, each one slicing her open from the inside. “But you still haven’t realized that I’m not her. I’m really, really fucking sorry for whatever happened. But I can’t, and won’t let you strip me of my choices, of mylifejust because you’ve got some misplaced hero complex.”

“Ruby, that’s not?—”

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