Page 49 of Where the Little Birds Are (Little Bird Duet 2)

“I wish I could make this better,” he whispers, voice cracking. “But I know nothing can. Let’s be honest with each other, Lena. We’re wasting both of our time with this marriage. It shouldn’t be a charade to play with the public. This is our lives. It—”

The sound of something slamming against a hard surface causes me to jump, covering my mouth with my hand before I can yelp. Taking a deep breath, I peek around the corner and see Corbin’s fist against the table. His body is tight as his hand shakes where it rests.

“I guess that’s it then.”

My lips part.

“You’re not who I thought I loved.”

I frown.

His head dips down. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But it should have been more. I accept my hand in what I’ve done to fail this marriage—fail you. But don’t act like you’re innocent, Lena. I know you better than that. We can both say we loved each other once upon a time, but it was never real.”

My heart breaks for him. One of my hands cups my stomach as I watch him clench his phone before loosening it in his hold. “Goodbye, Len. I’ll…”

The phone moves from his ear as he stares at the screen for a long moment before he shakes his head and sets it down. He scrubs both hands down his face and stays like that.

Slowly, I make my way into the room. I don’t bother with the lights, letting us stay in the darkness where we belong. When I sit down at the table, I reach over and pull his hands away from his face.

“I’m sorry,” he speaks softly.

I shake my head, holding his hand. “You don’t need to apologize to me. If anything, I should say I’m sorry for everything.”

His brows furrow. “Why?”

My tongue swipes across my chapped lips, embracing the sting that accompanies the subtle movement. “I knew what the circumstances were and didn’t stop. We both should have been rational, and we weren’t.”

“Don’t say you regret it.”

I shrug. “I regret hurting people.”

“And what about us?”

Considering my answer thoughtfully, I take a deep breath and look at our hands. “Your mom told me a long time ago that it’s not good to live with regret because it stops you from succeeding. I’ve never regretted us. Not even now. Not even when I should.”

“Mom is a smart woman.”

I smile at that. “Sometimes I think my family wonders why I don’t hate you. When I told them about the movie deal they were in disbelief but not as much as when I announced the casting.”

Mom just blinked at me and Dad grumbled under his breath. But it was Gavin who shook his head and told me it was a bad idea to see it being filmed. I wonder now if he was worried I’d find out the truth.

“I’ve thought about that too,” I admit, playing with the smattering of dark hair on his hand. “But I realize now that you must really love someone when you can’t even hate them for breaking your heart.”

He flips our hands and webs out fingers together, radiating his warmth into me. “Sounds like a line from your book.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Exactly.”

My lips twitch.

Corbin taps my hand with one of his fingers, getting me to glance up at him. His eyes leak the silver tone from them, filling the orbs with melted lead and something else.

Sadness.

My curiosity gets the better of me. “What pictures were you two talking about?”

The muscles in his jaw ticks. “I really don’t think that matters in the grand scheme of things, Little Bird.”

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