Page 68 of Text Me, Take Me

“But he’s letting you do it, anyway?”

“We’ve sort of got to a place wherelettingme isn’t really the point. If we’re going to make this work, I have to be more than his prisoner, you know? We have to be equals.”

“I know the feeling,” Tash murmurs. “When Rafe tried to stop me from coming here, for example, I put my foot down big time.”

“Doesn’t it mess with your head? They took us against our will.”

Tash shrugs. “Finding a meaningful connection is a rare thing, Evie. The way I see it, I will not waste all this love by interrogating it.”

“Love,” I murmur. “You don’t seem confused about it.”

“I’m not. Are you?”

I bite my lip, looking at Dom. He seemed different after the meeting with his dad. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a tragic-looking, emotional older man who seemed desperate to reconnect with his son, a husky voice stating, inclear terms, that I’m the person who has made Dom happy for the first time in his life.

“I can’t think about that now,” I admit.

Dom approaches us, smiling at Tasha. “Hi, Tasha. It’s nice to meet you. Rafe has been singing your praises.”

She looks over at Rafe uncomplicatedly, adoringly. Dom’s lip twitches, and I wonder if he’s jealous. But we’re never going to be uncomplicated, are we? Can we get there?

“I bet he has,” Tash says, laughing.

“Evie,” Dom says, turning to me. “Can I get a moment?”

“Tash, will you watch Meatball?”

“Gladly.”

Dom takes my arm and leads me into the backroom. When he looks down at me, it’s impossible not to feel the emotion emanating off of him. He takes my hands. “I need to ask you one last time?—”

“If he turns up and I’m not there, he’ll run,” I cut in. “You were going to ask me to wait behind, right? Not to do this?”

He nods, eyes smoldering. I see the old version of Dom trying to break through, the version who carried me from my apartment and locked me in the panic room, my captor, my Warden. But then he lets out a shuddering breath.

“If anything happens to you…”

“It won’t,” I affirm. “Not with you watching over me.”

“Even if the plan goes smoothly, it’ll still mean you watching a man die in front of you. I’m aiming for the head, Evie. That will not be pretty.”

“I can handle it. He deserves it. After all, he’s done–all he’s tried to do. And then, this is over. We’re free…”

His eyes grow glassy.To love each other, he wants to say, but then he swallows, like he’s forcing the words down.

“Keep the phone on you at all times,” he says. “I’m going to be watching you. If anything happens, drop to the ground.” He grits his teeth. “Fuck–I shouldn’t let you do this.”

I put my hand on his chest, feeling his heart pounding below. “This isn’t aboutlettingme do anything, remember? If we’re going to be anything, you have to understand that. I’m…” I hesitate, but then I remember the look on Tash’s face, the unashamed and unabashed love. “I’m yours, Dom, but that doesn’t mean you control me.”

He places his hands on my shoulders and pulls me in for a hug. He holds me like it might be the last time, kissing the top of my head and taking a moment to inhale, as if he needs to savor my scent. I cling onto his sides, holding firmly, almost desperately.

Desperation is the best way to think about it, aboutus. I was desperate to find someone–then desperate to be free–and now, I’m desperate for the tension to end so we can clear the fallout and finally face how we truly feel when there’s not a boot on our neck.

“Do you know the plan?” he asks softly.

“I need to keep Mason talking,” I say. “Then create some distance between us so that when you take the shot, you don’t hitme.” I tremble all over, but then I force down the nerves. “But you need to give me some time so he can delete the video. I can’t risk him having backups that could bury me.”

He holds me tightly. “I have to ask you, Keepsake, one final time.”

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