Chapter 2

Marissa, with her nasty snarl and wicked eyes, is running through my head, smirking at me, cackling at me. I can almost sense her satisfaction coursing through me. She’s won. She’s taken him from me in the worst way.

“I don’t know if I can come back from this… I need time to breathe, time to think,” I whisper, afraid that saying it louder will be more crushing to my soul.

“I don’t want you to leave.” He croaks as he tries to see my face in the gloom of the dim light, leaning closer so I can feel his body heat hovering over mine. He’s caging me in without touching me, and I hold my breath.

“I can’t stay.” I curl up tighter, hiding what I am from the man I love most in the world, the one person who changed everything in my life for the better. Yet destroyed it all in the same gentle stroke.

“I’ll do anything, whatever you ask, Emma… Just please, don’t leave me,” his voice is softer, almost breathless. He sniffs, and I know he has tears on his cheek. It kills me