Page 167 of The Sweetest Obsession

Sometimes you gotta be the ticker in Poe’sThe Tell-Tale Heart, beating away under the floorboards until just by knowing you’re there, waiting, your suspect cracks and does the hard sleuthing work for you.

Still, I wish I had something to tell her when I get home and drag through the door.

Something besides waiting around while forensics tests those bones, seeing if we can get a match on DNA or dental records to ID the victim.

Especially when I find Ophelia curled up on the couch and crying her eyes out.

Every thought of Mason Law, Cora Lafayette, and the scummy Arrendell clan goes flying out of my head.

I barely remember to close the door as I cross the floor quickly, dropping to my knees in front of the sofa and reaching for her hands.

“Philia?” I breathe. “Butterfly, what’s wrong?”

“No—no, I—”

She shakes her head quickly.

Fuck, it nearly wrenches my heart to bits when she pulls her hands away, rejecting my touch.

It almost breaks me, but I let her.

I ain’t gonna force her through that much hurt.

Sometimes all a man can do is know when to give his woman space.

Craning my head, I try to catch her wide, wet eyes again.

“Ophelia, talk to me. What happened? Did they call about Angela?”

“No, but theycould!” she bursts out. “That’s... that’s the problem, you see.”

She’s got this pleading look.

Like she expects me to have an answer when I don’t even know the question.

“Babe, hey. Hey, whatever’s upsetting you, we can talk through it, okay?” I reach out tentatively, holding her chin up with my fingers. “Can you slow down and start over? Rewind a little and clue me in. I’m right the fuck here. I’m always listening.”

Sniffling, Ophelia doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, looking away from me and rubbing her red, raw nose.

When she finally speaks, it’s through trembling lips. “I just—I can’t do this, Grant.”

I know what she means before she explains it.

I know the feeling when a sledgehammer crashes into your heart, but I still have to ask.

“This?” I bite off.

“Us!” she flares miserably. There’s a lashing anger in her voice, but it seems like it’s more for herself than for me. “I’m... I’m just all over the place. Everything hurts. I’m up and down all the time, falling for you and learning to love Nell while my mom’s dying and we don’t know what’s up with the Law guy and... and I don’t even know what’s going on with Ros. But I’m scared for her. I’m so scared, and I just can’t takeall these feelings ripping me around. Grant, I...”

She can’t finish.

Not when she meets my eyes.

I hate that she can see I’ve been flayed the fuck open.

This girl, she’s breaking my goddamned heart.

Same way she did the night she decided to leave, only I was the fool who broke us then.

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