Page 64 of Finn
I tightened my grip on his hands, as if holding him tighter would keep him from saying what I knew was coming.
“Gabriel,” I warned, my voice low. “Don’t even think about suggesting we part ways.”
He gave me a pained look, his expression filled with a mix of regret and resignation.
“Maybe your brother’s right, Finn. It’s not too late for you to go back to your old life. I know how to disappear. It would be like I was really?—”
“Dead?” I interrupted, my voice rising.
The word felt like a slap, and anger flared inside me, hot and uncontrollable. I yanked my hands away from his.
“Finn—” he began, but I cut him off.
“Don’t. Don’t even say it.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
After everything we’d been through, after all the sacrifices I’d made, he was ready to throw it all away?
“I’m just saying?—”
“I know what you’re saying!” I snapped, my voice shaking with anger and hurt.
I continued, “You think this is all a mistake. That I’m better off without you. Well, guess what, Gabriel? I don’t care what you think. I made my choice, and I’m not going back.”
Gabriel flinched, his expression twisting with guilt, but I wasn’t done.
“You don’t get to decide what’s best for me. Not Asher, not the Guild, and not you. I chose you. And if you can’t accept that...” My voice broke, and I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. “Then maybe you don’t trust me as much as I thought you did.”
Silence fell between us, heavy and suffocating.
Gabriel’s face was a mixture of pain and indecision, and I couldn’t stand to look at it any longer.
I downed the rest of my coffee in one bitter gulp and stood abruptly.
“Finn,” Gabriel said softly, reaching for me, but I stepped back.
“I need some air. Don’t follow me,” I said, my voice flat.
Without waiting for a response, I slipped out of the booth and walked out of the diner, the bell above the door jingling behind me.
The cool night air hit my face, but it did nothing to ease the storm raging inside me.
I paced along the sidewalk, trying to calm my breathing, trying to untangle the mess of emotions that threatened to overwhelm me.
I wasn’t just angry. I was hurt. Hurt that Gabriel didn’t believe in me, in us.
After everything we’d been through, I thought we were stronger than this.
But maybe I was wrong.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GABRIEL
I’ve madeplenty of mistakes in my life, but this felt like the worst one.
Why couldn’t I keep my thoughts to myself? I had seen the flicker of hurt in Finn’s eyes the moment I spoke.
He was trying so hard to hold everything together, to push forward despite everything we’d been through.
