Chapter Eighteen
Ryker
I pushed Hattie’s hair away from her face and pressed a kiss to her trembling lips. “Are you ready to do this?”
She licked her lips. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
I lifted her hand, slid the ring I gave her last night from her finger and placed it in her open palm. “Put this somewhere safe until you’re on the airplane.”
She slipped it in her pocket and closed her eyes. Her lashes cast shadows on her cheekbones. “Are you sure we have to do this?” A quiet desperation colored her words, turning my stomach inside out.
“Look at me,” I whispered as I curled my hand around the side of her face. “It’s just for show. Everything I say once we walk out this door doesn’t mean anything.”
Last night, we agreed to stage a fight so everyone believed we were no longer together. I didn’t like the idea of the last words we’d share for weeks or longer being filled with hatred, but I needed to do everything possible to keep her safe. That meant explicitly showing everyone I didn’t want her any longer.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt,” she said, her voice cracking.
“They’re just words. Don’t give them the power to hurt you. You know how I feel about you. What I say out there won’t change anything.”
I leaned in and kissed her one more time—maybe the last time if things exploded in my face. Her lips were soft and inviting. She tasted like mint and Hattie, the elixir of love and life. My tongue teased as it slid inside of her mouth, stoking my flame of never-ending desire for her. I tunneled my hands into her hair, deepening our kiss. A low moan slipped from her lips, and I swallowed it, burying it inside of me for later. I wanted to pull her into me. I wanted more time, but it wasn’t possible. At least not today.
“Better?”
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, too.”
I nodded and flung the door open.
“Get the fuck out of this house,” I yelled as I stalked down the hall.
“Why are you doing this?” Hattie said, her voice small.
“Because we’re over. You need to leave.”
Her suitcase rumbled over the tile floor behind her as she followed me down the hall. “So that’s it. After everything you put me through, don’t you think you owe me a better explanation?”
I halted in the foyer by the front door. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Noah, Ignacio, and Emanuel sitting in the living room just as Noah and I agreed.
“Fuck, Hattie.” I jerked my hand through the strands of my disheveled hair. “Do you want me to spell it out for you?”
She angled her chin to the side. “Yes.”
“We had fun together. You were a good diversion, but I’m just not interested in you anymore. Being with you feels more like work than fun, and I don’t want to work that hard.”
She flinched, then her shoulders slouched. She looked so fucking defeated. I hated hurting her even if it wasn’t real. I hated Ignacio. I hated the Vargas Cartel. I wished I could wrap her up in my arms and carry her away from this place. Instead, I dug my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from folding her into my arms.
“You said you loved me,” she said, her voice trembling.
“I lied.”
The color drained from her face. “What about the baby?”
I snorted as I whipped the front door open. “Oh please, Hattie. You don’t even know if it’s mine. It could be Evan’s.”
She stared at me for a long second, and my heart thudded wildly in my chest.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I willed her to see the truth in my eyes and stay strong.
“I guess you’ll never know,” she said softly.
“I guess not.” I pulled her plane ticket from my pocket and held it out in front of me. “Here.”
“What’s that?”
“A plane ticket. Noah is going to accompany you home to make sure I don’t have to waste any more time or resources rescuing you again.”
“Wow.” A bitter laugh tumbled from her lips as she shook her head. “You really can’t wait to get rid of me.”
Noah crossed the room and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He whispered something in her ear as he steered her toward the open door. I wanted to rip his lips off his face.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Go home, Hattie. Go back to Evan or whoever.”
She whipped her head around, pinning me with her glassy eyes. “I fucking hate you. I wish I never met you. You ruined my life.”
“Yeah, well, the feeling’s mutual. Get her out of here, Noah.”
She shrugged his arm off her shoulder. “I’m going. I don’t need your lapdog to escort me out the door.”
Then the door slammed shut, and she was gone.
“Ryker,” Ignacio said as he walked across the room.
“I don’t want to talk right now.”
He patted me on the arm. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but you did the right thing. Juan will go after her again. Sending her away is the only way she’ll be safe.”
I shrugged. “I was ready to move on.”
Ignacio’s brow furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
My hands shook, and I shoved them into my pockets, hiding them. “I thought I loved her, but I don’t. We’re too different. We’d never work.”
“What’s going to happen with the baby?” Ignacio asked.
I rolled my shoulders, and I sucked in a breath through my nose. “I don’t give a fuck,” I hissed.
I didn’t wait for his response. I needed to get away from him. I was going to be sick.
Chapter Nineteen
Hattie
I clutched the handle of my suitcase in one hand, dragging it behind me out of the automatic airport doors. It had been a long twenty-four hours, but now I was back in D.C. It didn’t feel like home. It felt foreign. In fact, without Ryker I felt like a drifter clasping onto meaningless things that used to be the center of my world.
Taxis zipped in out of the parking lanes. Cars honked. Police officers directed traffic. Tourists and businessmen fumbled with their phones. Nothing about this felt right. I sucked in a deep breath, drawing the muggy air into my body. I’d spent so many years of my life being practical and making socially acceptable decisions, but every cell in my body begged me to turn around and run right back to Ryker. Frozen with indecision, I tapped my fingers on the hard plastic handle of my suitcase. I backtracked a few steps.
With his ear pressed to his cell phone, Noah glanced over his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?” he mouthed.
My body sagged and I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. I had to stick with Ryker’s plan. We needed to put all our ghosts to bed if we wanted to be together, and that meant eliminating the Deverons from my life permanently.
Frowning, he popped the trunk and loaded my luggage into the car. He didn’t have anything except a small black bag. Then, he opened the back door of a black sedan and gestured for me to get in. He climbed in next to me, and the car pulled away from the curb.
“Do you have the papers?” he asked.
“Why?”
His heavily fringed eyes narrowed. “I need to review them before we walk into the meeting.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “You’re not coming in with me. I’m going to do this alone.”
He angled his head to the side, and one side of his mouth curved up into a grin. “Yes. I am. Ryker wanted my help. I don’t do things half-assed. I’m either all the way in or I won’t bother.”
“He wanted your help keeping me safe. Nothing else,” I countered.