Page 235 of Hate Mates

“I’ve asked my men to send me hourly reports.”

“I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for Lana and me. I couldn’t have searched for her without your help.” She pulls in a haggard sigh. “In fact, I'd be dead now. At least now I have a chance to get my sister back. Although she may still be gone forever.”

“Don’t think like that.”

“I have to be realistic.”

“My men are the world's finest, so I have faith they'll get her back." I never really spoke to her about the defense systems my father used to protect us. It's been amplified a hundredfold since the threat of our enemies. “They go on these sorts of recon missions all the time, so please try not to worry.”

“I can’t believe you’re helping me like this.”

“Of course I am.”

“But you don’t owe me anything.”

“I do.”

She shakes her head. "No, you don't.

“Piper—”

“No, Cristiano, you don’t owe meanything. Realistically, I'm just someone you used to know." Her breath catches and she stands to leave.

I stand, too. "Piper, you are so much more than that to me.”

She gazes back at me, her chest heaving on the edge of a staccato breath. “It’s strange and hard… talking to you again. Especially during this situation with Lana. It's like a systems overload, and I don't know how to deal with the fallout."

I dip my head, and then I nod, understanding. "I know."

“I hated you for leaving me.” A tear runs down her cheek. “I hated you so damn much, Cristiano.”

It cuts me deeply to hear her say those words, but I deserve every one of them. “I… know.”

“I understand why you left, but that’s all. Iunderstandit. I get it. I'd be a fool if I didn't understand that you protected me, but the pain is still there.” She presses a hand to her heart. “It’s been six years’ worth of pain because I never forgot you.”

“I never forgot you either.”

“But I didn’t know that, and even though I get it, it feels unfair that you could check on me, and I never knew if you were dead or alive."

"I wish I could have changed that.”

“Was there really no other way?”

“Not for us.”

"I just wish you’d given me a choice."

“Every choice would have put you in danger. When they killed my cousin's fiancée just because they were seen together in the park, then they bombed my uncle's restaurant with his entire staff inside, I realized I couldn’t risk losing you." I never get emotional, but memories of our lost loved ones who didn't need to die hit differently. "I couldn't lose you that way, Piper. Not death. So I chose for you to hate me instead.”

Her skin pales at the horrific details I'd spared her earlier.

“I am so sorry for leaving.” The words feel inadequate, but they're all I have. "Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. But I’d do it again the same way if it meant keeping you alive.”

She dips her head and allows a stream of tears to fall before returning her gaze to me. "You disappeared without a trace. Do you have any idea what that did to me?" Pain flashes across her face. "I mourned you, then I had to learn how to live without you. Now you're home and I don't know what that means."

“Well, that’s just the thing. I’m home for you. I flew back to Chicago with one goal in mind.” I take a step closer, close enough to catch the scent of the soap she used—pine and something citrusy.

“What goal?”

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