Page 184 of She will Always be Mine

This time, I’m going to fight for him. For us.

Zain informed me yesterday that Riaan is back and has been for the past two days. I cried from the stark relief because I could finally bring him home. To me.

I had almost fell to my knees when I heard he had returned safely. I just know him leaving the city and learning about my uncle’s death a few days later, wasn’t a coincidence.

If it’s true and he believes that I’ll love him any less, he’s fucking wrong. He’s mine to love. His darkness is my home. And his twisted heart is mine to cherish.

I won’t let him walk away from us now that our stars have aligned.

So without wasting any more time, I put on the summer dress he loves so much and hail a cab. The sun has fallen by the time I reach his childhood home. My feet moves to the one and only place I knew I would find him.

The balcony.

Where it all began with a stolen kiss.

The world calls us sinners. Maybe we are.

Maybe he’s my Adam and I’m his Eve.

The only difference is that our love story is laid with more thorns and mayhem.

The door opens with a creak as I push it and for a second, my mind is stuck in fear as I stare at the dark hallway, but I don’t stop. Nothing will stand in between Riaan and me ever again. Gripping the handrail, I climb the stairs and the closer I get, the harder my heart beats.

He’s here.

The balcony is still the same as all the times I’ve been here, just not the people that frequents it.

My gaze locks on Riaan’s broad back as he stands tall and imposing under the soft moonlight. He’s wearing his favorite pair of jeans and black T-shirt—like the first night we met here—only now, he’s smoking a blunt.

My soft footfalls fill the silence and his head tilts sideways.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” I accuse, my voice echoing in the dark.

He slowly faces me and quirks arrogantly, “Who says I’m hiding?”

His lips circle around his joint as he takes a puff.

Taking a step closer, I demand, “Then why did I have to find you?”

“Why didn’t you call?” Another step.

“Why didn’t you come back to me?” I shout, erasing the distancing between us. I push a hand at his chest as he stares down, eyes unblinking and intense. “Am I not yours anymore?”

His gaze darkens to the color of black coals and he growls, “What did you just say?”

“I said, am I not yours anymore?” I say with a stab of my finger in his chest before I curl my fists in his shirt and tilt my chin, “Because if you’re letting me go, then that’s what it means.”

The blunt falls at our feet as he throws it away. Grabbing my waist, he whirls us around and shoves me against the banister. “You don’t really mean that. Take it back.”

“No. You left me alone, Riaan.” I hate how shaky my voice sounds. “You broke your vow.”

“Nyra.” His grip on my waist tightens painfully as shadows fall on his handsome face.

“I woke up and you were gone.”

“I don’t deserve you, baby,” he brokenly whispers. “I only bring you darkness. It’s me who’s tainted, not you.”

My lips part while my heart cracks at his confession and the guilt he’s drowning in. While I had my family by my side, he’s been all alone. His family was torn apart, he lost his father and yet, he’s worried about me. I realize now the reason behind his distance.

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