Page 135 of Unholy Obsession

He lets out a bitter laugh, but there’s nothing amusing about it. “Bullshit. You think I don’t know you by now? You think I don’t see right through you?”

Oh shit. Panic floods my chest. What if he really does? Everyone’s in actualrealfucking danger. Right this second, for all I know, Domhnall could be tromping into a hornet’s nest of bad guys, thinking he’s invincible like he always does.

And here I’ve been, taking one last ride. I should never have let myself be seduced by Bane again in the first place. What if I’ve already fucked everything up?

Because that’s what I do, isn’t it?

I fuck shit up.

I ruin things.

And, given enough time, I’d ruin Bane.

This is for his good, too.

I lift my chin and force my eyes flinty. “You don’t seeanything.”

His nostrils flare, and his hands curl into fists at his sides like he’s holding himself back from grabbing me and shaking the truth out of me. “I see a scared woman. A woman who’s running. From herself. And from me.”

I force down the lump in my throat. “How poetic. And completely fucking wrong. I’m walking away because Iwantto.”

“Bullshit,” he snarls again, stepping closer, heat radiating off of him. “If you wanted to go, you would have left before I ever touched you again. But you didn’t. You let me have you. You took everything I gave you and then some. And now you expect me to believe this is real? That you don’t love me?”

I blink but try not to let him see he’s just punched the air out of my lungs.Love. Oh god. He’s told me he loves me before, but just that once. I think he’s afraid he’ll scare me if he says it too much. Because I haven’t ever said it back.

I force myself to laugh caustically. “Love?” Meanwhile, I’m dying inside. “Whoever said anything aboutlove? I thought we both knew what this was. We were both just usingeach other.”

His face darkens, and his voice drops dangerously low. “You’re a coward.”

I inhale sharply, then point in his face. “You knew exactly who I was since the moment you met me. It’s not my fault youmade up some fairytale about a pretty, helpless maiden who needed saving. Because that was never me.”

“I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but you’re in trouble, aren’t you? Who was that woman with you in the bar?” His voice softens just slightly, rough with desperation. “Let me help, Moira. Let me in.”

I shake my head wildly, stepping back. “I don’t need help.”

“The hell you don’t.” His eyes flick over my face, searching, pleading. “You love me, Moira. Say it. Because I loveyou. See? I’m not afraid.”

I steel myself against the panic that’s like a thousand bats screeching and flapping in my ribcage.

Then I raise my chin.

For once in your goddamn life, Moira, don’t fuck this up.

He always did love it when I hurt him.

So I devastate him.

I lean in. “I don’twantyou, Bane. You’re nothing to me.”

Bane flinches like I just carved the words into his flesh.

His grip on my wrist goes slack, and I take the opening, pulling free. The moment I step back, his whole body changes; his face goes blank, his posture is locked in rigid control, and the Bane that loves me disappears behind a mask of cold, impenetrable steel.

It’s working. Now, I need to make sure it sticks.

“I used you,” I continue, voice sharp as a blade. “You were a fun distraction. But I’m done now. I don’t want you anymore.”

He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t move.

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