Page 52 of Plus-Size Bratva Bride

"What the hell are you doing?" Abe's voice was low, dangerous.

I turned slowly, my heart pounding. Abe was on his feet, his muscular form taut with tension. His blue-gray eyes, usually so warm when they looked at me, had turned to ice.

"I…" My voice cracked. I swallowed hard, trying to summon my resolve. "I told you I'm leaving."

Abe's jaw clenched. "Like hell you are." He took a step toward me, and I instinctively backed up against the door. "Explain. Now."

I lifted my chin, calling on every ounce of strength I possessed. "The threat's gone, Abe. You don't need to protect me anymore. So I'm going home."

A flash of hurt crossed his face. “Is that all this was to you?” He pointed at the space around him. “Were you… using me until your troubles were behind you?”

A flash of anger surged through my veins at the unfair accusation and I crossed my arms in front of me.

"I was never using you, Abe," I shot back, my voice steadier now, laced with indignation. "I care about you. More than I ever thought possible."

He took another step closer, his gaze piercing into mine as he yelled in my face. "Then why run? Why give up on us when we haven't even begun?"

“When we haven’t even begun?” I scoffed, getting even more upset. “You’ve had ample opportunity to talk about whatthisis.” My hand motioned between his chest and mine. “How was I to know there was something to begin with when we’ve never had a real fucking conversation? As of now, we were just a fling. Nothing more.”

Abe flinched as if I'd slapped him. His eyes darkened, a storm brewing in those icy depths. "That's all you think this is? You think I've been playing you, using you for some cheap thrill?" His voice was low, dangerous, the kind of tone that usually sent chills down my spine. “I’ve been there for you through thick and thin, Pippa! I sat by your side when you told me about your parents, I told you how my father killed my mother in front of my eyes. What did you think that was? An attempt at a quick fling? There are easier ways to have a fling, Sweetheart.”

The timing of his declaration wasn’t lost on me. He wasn’t some love-sick schoolboy afraid of manning up for a conversation about what we were. He simply never thought about it because itwasn’t a priority. Until then.Just when I was ready to walk out.

I held my ground, refusing to back down from anger, even though at the back of my head a small voice told me how fucked it was of me to insinuate what I did. "What else am I supposed to think, Abe? You never let me in. You never told me how you felt. It was always about protection, about control. You never once spoke about what this is we are doing. Am I to go assuming you wanted more? I can't live like that, assume you’re both feet in when you aren’t.”

Abe's hands clenched into fists by his sides, the tendons standing out against his skin. He took a deep breath, visibly struggling to control his temper. Moments passed and he didn’t speak. I felt the anger draining out of me, leaving behind a strange fatigue and acceptance that scared me more than any confrontation ever could. He had nothing to say to me. He could have still fought, still proven me wrong, but he was just standing there, saying nothing, when he had ample time to tell me I waswrong.

“I… I think it’s still best I leave. Maybe we need some space to clear our heads,” I said, my chest racing in my heart, threatening to burst. I needed to get out of here for some fresh air.

“That’s right,” he scoffed in my face. “You’re running away, thinking only of yourself. Howtypical. Howselfish.”

"You're just saying that," I whispered, hating how small and vulnerable my voice sounded. "You don't mean it."

"Oh. So now you can read my mind?" Abe's hands clenched into fists at his sides. “When I show you I care, you believe I don’t because I neverdiscussedit. When I tell you you’re being selfish, you decide I don’tmeanit. Which one is it, Pippa? Words or action?”

I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out. He was right. For all his faults, Abe had always been brutally honest with me. So why was it so hard to believe him now?

"I can't stay," I said, more to convince myself than him. "I won't be your charity case or your temporary distraction."

Abe moved with lightning speed, closing the distance between us. His large hands gripped my shoulders, not painfully, but firmly enough to keep me in place.

"Look at me," he demanded, his blue-gray eyes boring into mine. "Does this look like charity to you?"

I couldn't look away, trapped by the intensity of his gaze. My resolve was crumbling, and I hated myself for it. "Abe, please," I whispered, unsure if I was asking him to let me go or to never let me leave.

His grip loosened, but he didn't step back. "Stay," he said, his voice low and rough. "Just… stay, Pippa. We can figure this out."

I felt tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. "I'm scared," I admitted, the words slipping out before I could stop them. I took a deep breath and turned away from him, my heart shattering with each inch of distance I put between us. The silence in the room was deafening, thick with all the things we'd left unsaid. I could feel Abe's eyes burning into my back, but I forced myself not to look at him. If I did, I knew I'd crumble.

Besides, he did nothing to ease my fear. This fight he was putting on? He himself didn’t knowwhathe was fighting for. He simply didn’t know how to cope with me leaving because he’d probably never had a woman leave him before.

That thought crawled its way into my head, solidifying what I had intuitively believed to be true: It wasn’t that he had wanted me. It was that he hadn’t managed to conquer me the way he knew best. I hadn’t given him the chance to break my heart.

I knew then that I was doing the right thing by leaving to protect myself and my child.

My hand trembled as I reached for the doorknob. "Goodbye, Abe," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

I stepped into the hallway, my legs feeling like lead. I had ten minutes to pack and call a cab before it got too late. Back in my room, I quickly shoved things into my suitcase. Each moment was a battle against my own desires, my mind screaming at me to turn back, to run into Abe's arms and never leave. But I kept going, one foot in front of the other.

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