Page 164 of Heart of Stone

“What are you talking about?”

“You! For all I know, you could turn out just like your father! Then where will that leave me?”

I felt all the blood drain from my face.

Just like your father…

“Don’t,” I tried to warn. I shook my head, unable to think of anything else to say, completely devoid of all other words.

“No really, I have to worry about these things. Studies show that people who have suffered from extreme situations of violence are more likely to become…”

She went on and on about some crap that she had read. She began to quote articles about abused children growing into adulthood and about women who lose their identity by getting lost in an abusive relationship.

However, I wasn’t really listening to anything she was saying. My ears were ringing, like the aftershock of being too close to a grenade detonation. Her original words just kept playing over and over again in my head.

Just like your father…

Krystina had unknowingly voiced my worst fear, and crossed a line that she hadn’t known was drawn. I felt like I was free falling into a pit of nothingness, just as I had in my dream.

I said the only thing that I could think of to make her stop talking.

“Sapphire.”

CHAPTER 45

“What?” I asked, confused by Alexander’s use of my safe word.

“Sapphire. I’ve had enough.”

I looked at his face. It was twisted in pain, and the magnitude of hurt that shown in his eyes was shocking. My heart, that I had tried to keep tightly guarded, felt like it was splitting into a thousand pieces. Because of that pain, my decision to do what needed to be done solidified.

“We are a lethal combination, Alex. We can’t work.”

“I want us to work.”

“Me too,” I sadly admitted.

I reached up to touch his cheek. His eyes were full of regret.

“I tried to warn you. I said that I wasn’t good for you,” he reminded me.

“You’re right,” I agreed and smiled wistfully, thinking of the job interview that seemed to be forever and a day ago. “You did try to warn me. I should have listened to you. But then again, I was never very good at that.”

I traced the lines of his face with my finger, committing every detail to memory. The strong contour of his jaw. His chiseled cheekbones. The perfectly shaped mouth, that even in that moment, I wanted to kiss. And his eyes…the beautiful sapphires that had lit up my soul. I would miss his eyes the most.

I reluctantly pulled my hand away and climbed out of the car.

“Where are you going?” he asked in alarm.

He seemed shocked, as if he couldn’t see the inevitable. But then I realized, perhaps he did see it, but was only trying to deny it.

“I’m going to get a cab.”

“Angel, don’t do this,” he pleaded.

I looked down at him. Pain lanced at my chest, but I was resolute in my choice.

“Good-bye, Alex.”

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