Page 110 of Give Me Redemption

He twists back and glares at me.

My heart tries to beat faster, but it’s hurting, and this is going to be hell. It hangs on a bungee cord, ready to snap.

He turns and looks at the pill bottle and glass of wine on the table before picking them both up and tossing them at the wall.

I flinch.

“You popping pills?” he asks. “Are you a pill popper? Is that something else I didn’t know?”

I don’t say anything, but I don’t look away. He can rip me apart right now, and I’ll stand here and take it like the woman I am.

I will hold my chin up, even though my heart is dragging me down.

Because I deserve every bit of punishment he can give.

“Why?” Jace asks. “Why did you do this?”

I lean my head back and shake it. “Does it matter?” I ask, hopeless.

“What?” he spits, anger smothering him.

Sadness twines around my soul, constricting.

My jaw locks. I can’t talk. I can’t do anything.

“Answer me, goddammit,” he says, picking up the side table and throwing it across the room. It punctures a hole in the wall, and I cover my mouth as papers fly out of the drawer. Almost in slow motion, they drift in the air, floating in different directions as they descend to the floor.

Chloe.

Everything I have on her case is now exposed for him to see.

Everything about me is now ripped open for him to judge.

Here I am, Jace.

Here’s me in all my beautiful glory.

He looks to the papers falling around the room, which is painted in warm gold from the glow of the lamp. He reaches down and picks one up, scanning over it before his eyes jump back to me. He narrows his blues and looks down again.

“What the fuck is this?” he asks. “What is all of this?” He turns slightly in the room, blue eyes roaming over the papers.

I look down at my life strewn on the floor. Picture after picture, newspaper article after article. I gaze at it all, my thoughts just as scattered.

What happened to me?

My hand stays on my mouth, my vision blurring. I shut my eyes, slowly sliding down the door until I feel the floor beneath me. My eyes open and I tremble.

How did I get here?

How did I become this person?

So obsessed with something that I hurt the one person I don’t know how to live without.

Jace watches me. I can feel his eyes even without seeing them.

“I’m sorry,” I say. I shake my head. “I’m so damn sorry.” He walks over to me.

“Get up,” he says.

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