Page 108 of Grand Love

Nina

“What the hell!”

Stumbling back, I bump into Mason’s chest. His hands land on my shoulders, pinning me in place.

“Go and sit on the sofa, Nina. I need to explain this,” he grounds out the words but they don’t stick, my thoughts lost and now on the woman who stands in the open doorway.

“You think you can talk yourself out of this?” I snap my head around, stepping away from him. “Who even are you?!”

My heart aches in my chest.

He has no idea how much he hurts me. I go to leave but he reaches for me. “No! You aren’t fucking running; you will hear me out this time!”

I fight in his arms, not giving a crap that she watches on. “Let me go!” I shout.

Elliot and George appear at the door, obviously hearing the commotion. They both look completely mortified. “Mason, let go of her,” Elliot snaps.

“You aren’t leaving me.”

Mason’s grip is tight, and I can feel the fear in his hold. I look at the woman standing in his bathroom with her gaze locked on me. I see the pity on her face and my eyes instantly sting with tears.

How did I end up as this woman?

“Let me go,” I tell him, completely deflated.

“Mason!” Elliot says sternly.

“I did this for you,” he speaks into my ear, loosening his arms and then lowering me to the ground.

I move quickly away from him. Elliot catches my hand the second I reach him. He leads me down a corridor to what I presume is his office, ushering me inside with a hand on my back. It’s hard to see through the tears pooling in my eyes.

The door clicks shut and he pulls me to his chest, holding me tight. “Nina—”

“Did you know?”

“Yes,” he answers honestly.

“Elliot.” I push off him. “Why?” I shrug, my shoulders shaking with my tears. “Why am I still putting myself through this?”

“It’s not what you think, Nina. You need to hear him out. Promise me you will let him explain this.”

“No. I’m done with all these promises! Promise me I don’t have to hurt at his hands anymore, Elliot. Because I am done feeling the way I do.”

“I’m not asking you to promise him anything. I’m asking you to promise me.” He gets eye level with me, resting his hands on my shoulders. “I’m going to be honest with you.”

I snivel, wiping my face with the palms of my hands.

“That man in there” —he shifts his head towards the wall— “is petrified that you are going to run, again. Not just today either, but since that first night.”

“We were nothing back then, Elliot.”

“I don’t care. You may not have meant to, but you conditioned him to keep things from you right from the get-go. Because every time he told you something that had the potential to hurt you, you ran.”

My jaw clenches tight as pain pulses through my chest and shoots right to my fingertips. “I don’t want to run.”

“I know you don’t.”

“It’s always been my shield. Things get bad and I put one foot in front of the other and move. Leave before the pain hits.”

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