Page 111 of Relentless Oath

“Then why are you talking about keeping this life at all costs?”

It didn’t matter what I told her. She would still never trust me. She had already decided that I was the bad guy.

I felt stupid. Nothing would change. Why did I even try?

I turned away from her, preparing not to even honor her words with acknowledgment, but she grabbed my hand.

“Dario, please just tell me the truth.”

“Does it matter what the truth is, Mya? You don’t trust me. You never have.”

“You’ve never given me any reason to.”

I paused. Is that how she saw things? I searched her eyes, not knowing what to say or how to continue.

This conversation was making me feel things I’d rather not feel…regret, fear, worry.Those emotions weren’t welcome in my world.

But it didn’t matter because Mya was my world.

I didn’t know when things had started to change. I don’t know when my heart took over for lust, when my obsessions with Mya grew into something else…something brighter and bigger than just the need to be near her.

Something in me was different. Mya had made me different.

Was I going to let my pride throw all that away? I couldn’t.

She was reaching out. She was trying to give me the benefit of the doubt.

The least I could do was meet her halfway.

“What can I do, Mya? What can I do to prove that I didn’t lie to you about trying to dismantle everything that I have built?”

She stared at me and then just shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. So much has happened between us. And now, I don’t know. I want to believe you, Dario. I do. I want things to be…” her voice trailed off and she looked down at her hands and backup at me. “I want to trust you and I want you to trust me, but maybe that’s not realistic. Maybe that will never happen.”

I had an idea. I pulled out the flash drive. “You once asked me what was on this. It’s my bargaining chip. It has all the information about all my business deals going back a decade and a half. Not only does it implicate me, but all the others that worked for me. It was the only thing I had hanging over my brother’s head. He knows with this information, he’ll know everything about every facet of my operation. And I know he knows it exists. He wants it.”

I took the flash drive and threw it into the river. She gasped.

“Now I don’t have that bargaining chip. Or my contacts. Or any of the dirt I’d kept on so many people over the years. If that doesn’t show you that I have no interest in going back to that life, then I don’t know what else to do. I’m giving up that life, Mya. I don’t want it anymore. And I need you to trust that what I’m saying is true. And if you don’t, then there’s nothing else I can do.”

Her face didn’t reflect any emotion. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. I’d done something crazy. But I knew deep down the bargaining chip would have just served as my segue back into the business.

I would have used it to manipulate and claw myself back to the top. I threw the flash drive away not just because I wanted to prove something to her, but also because I wanted to prove something to myself.

I wanted to prove that I could be better. For her. For the baby. For us.

She stood up and took a step toward me when I heard the unmistakable snap of a tree branch next to the cabin. I looked over to find Nico standing a few feet behind Mya, his gun trained on her back.

“Damn, bro. I was here for that little flash drive. You shouldn’t have done that.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Mya

“He’s going to kill you,”I spat out as Nico pushed me into the house.

“Don’t touch her again,” Dario growled.

Where was Joseph? I hoped he was okay. How had Nico found us? I stared at him.

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