Chapter 24
That was answer enough.
“You thought you could fix it before anyone noticed,” I said.
“We were fixing it.”
“After representing that it was already fixed.”
His palm struck the table.
Not hard.
But enough to make me flinch.
He saw it.
His face changed immediately.
For years, he had insisted I exaggerated his intimidation.
That I was too sensitive.
That I mistook intensity for aggression.
Now he watched my body react before my mind could hide it.
He slowly pulled his hand back.
“Did I do that often?” he asked.
I did not pretend not to understand.
“Not exactly that.”
“But you were afraid.”
“Sometimes.”
His face went pale.
“I never touched you.”
“I know.”
He seemed almost relieved.
I did not let him have it.
“Fear does not require bruises.”
His relief disappeared.
The room became very quiet.
“I loved you,” he said.
“I know.”
“I still do.”
I closed my eyes.
That was the cruelest thing he could have said because part of me believed him.
He loved me.
In the way he knew how.
Possessively.
Conditionally.
As long as my shape fit the space he had assigned me.
“I loved you too.”
He looked at me.
“But you kept making love mean permission.”
His eyes filled.
Damian turned his face away before a tear could fall.
I had seen him furious.
Triumphant.
Drunk.
Sick.
Exhausted.
I had seen him at his father’s grave.
I had never seen him cry.
“I lost everything,” he whispered.
“No.”
His eyes snapped back to mine.
“You have hundreds of millions of dollars.”
His expression turned bitter.
“You know that is not what I mean.”
“I do.”
I stood.
“You lost control.”
He stared at me.
“That is not the same as losing everything.”
I walked toward the door.
Behind me, he said, “What happens to us?”
I stopped.
“There is no us.”
He looked down.
The answer finally seemed to reach him.
Not as a threat.
Not as leverage.
Not as negotiation.
As fact.
I opened the door.
Before leaving, I looked back.
“The worst thing you ever taught me was that I was nothing without you.”
He did not move.
“The best thing you ever did was make me test whether that was true.”
Chapter 5: What Was Left After The Freeze
Three months later, Harbor Crown was still standing.
That surprised people who believed every scandal must end with sirens, handcuffs, bankruptcy, or a building collapsing into dust.