Page 179 of Never Fall for an Angel

Yep, definitely our mother’s twin.

“You can’t be serious. You love her.”

“Does it matter?” I fire back, and she falls silent, her eyes glossing over with tears. “Mila is leaving.”

“She can’t,” she says through the tears in her eyes. “What happened between you two?”

“She lied to me.”

“Oh, give me a break,” she growls. “You lied to her when you married her in secret.” She watches for my reaction, a vindictive little smile crossing her face. “Yeah, I know things. Just like I know you’re in love with her.”

I’m not in the mood for this conversation.

“My love life is none of your concern. I suggest you worry about yourself.”

“Christian . . . you can’t let her leave. You’re different with her. She belongs here.”

She belongs here. I can’t help but scoff. I’ve been forcing her hand every step of the way.

That ends today.

A tremor rolls through me when I think about coming home to her last night. The way she wrapped herself around me. Like she’d missed me as much as I missed her.

Of course, it was all fucking bullshit.

She’s never been in this as deep as I have, but it’s for the best.

Every single person I’ve ever cared about has either turned up dead or damaged.

I can’t do that to her again. No matter what the possessive little voice in the back of my head says.

Her eyes filling with tears may as well be permanently burned into my brain. The hurt in her gaze when I told her to leave, even as she begged me to stop.

She still cares about me, even after everything I’ve put her through.

I fucking hate myself for it.

“Leave it alone, Bella.”

The words taste like battery acid on my tongue.

Bella’s eyes narrow, and a tear slips down her cheek. I shouldn’t be speaking to her about this. She’s got enough on herplate with the party tonight, and even if I can’t have what I want, there’s no reason for her to suffer the consequences.

Unfortunately, Bella’s not done, so being the asshole I am, I raise the gun back up and start shooting again. This time, the bullets drown out the sound of her voice.

“You’re such an asshole!” she shouts over the gun before turning and storming off.

Unfortunately, she has no idea how right she is about that statement.

I am an asshole.

Someday, Mila will figure it out, too.

MILA

Iwon’t chase you . . .

My husband is magnetic.

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