CHAPTER b0128 /b

ric’s POV:

I had never been this confused about anything in my life. I always got it right, I always knew what bto /bdo, what to say, what to think.

But thisb? /b

It broke me so much that I couldn’t do anything but listen to her express her pain. All I could do was wonder if there was a way I could fix this. Hell–if there was a way to turn back the hands of the clock, bI /bfucking would.

But what Meadow wanted me to say… what she wanted me to admit.

Fuck. I cared about this woman more than anything, but she didn’t know me yet. I couldn’t let her feel that way about me when she hadn’t seen all of me.

I told her before that I was no monster, but I lied then.

I was a fucking monster.

Meadow exhaled slowly, pursing her lips. “You won’t say anything?” It seemed I couldn’t even say anything tonight. “You could at least lie, you know? At least that’s something we both know you’re good at.”

She shivered, crossing her arms in front of her chest again. She must’ve been feeling cold, but I didn’t bring my jacket with me.

My chest panged and my eyes fell shut as I let out a sharp exhale. “Get in the car. We’ll talk about this at the penthouse.”

Meadow’s eyes shed and she scoffed. “Bold of you to think you can justmand me to do whatever you want after I just found out you’ve been deceiving me all this while.”

“I know I deceived you, but we’re not going to get anywhere if we just-b” /b

“I told youi,/i” she whispered, her brows furrowing as if she just remembered something. “ric, you asked me to trust you and I did. I told you about my father and you listened to me as if you didn’t know who he was. Do you know how stupid that makes me feel?”

My jaw tightened so hard I felt a vein pop in my forehead.

I knew. Of course, I knew.

“Get in the car, Meadow. You’re freezing,” I said softly.

She scoffed again, looking away. b“/bAs if you’d care if I froze to death,” she muttered. “You’d be d that

b+15 /bbBONUS /b

byou /bat least got rid of one of Clint Russell’s daughters, huh? And then you could go after my sister and-”

“Don’t finish that sentence and get in the fucking car, Meadow.” My voice was lower nowb, /bbmore /bthreatening. A soft gasp escaped her mouth as she swung her head to face me again. My jaw bclenched/b. bNow/b.”

Her hands balled into fists at her sides, and she opened her mouth like she was about to argue, but at bthe /bst minute, she only scowled at me and stormed toward the car. Running a hand through my hairb, /bbI /bstrode past her, reaching for the handle before she could. Meadow’s fingers grazed my knuckles and a shiver shot down my spine.

“I’ve got it,” she bit out without looking at me. “I think I can open my own damn door.”

Fuck.

She was so pissed. But she didn’t take her hand off mine, and neither did I move to open the door. I was right behind her, her back nearly pressed against my chest. The air was… oh so fucking electric. “Meadow…” I didn’t realize my lips were moving until her name was out of my mouth. It was a whisper, barely there. But she heard it. I could tell because she tensed, letting out a shaky breath.

Although, she didn’t say a word to me. Her hand remained on mine, unmoving.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

A moment of silence stretched between us, a moment where I heard her visibly swallow. When I brought her here, I never expected the night to end this way–with her finding out about all this.

“I have no excuse for what I did, no excuse for keeping something this crucial from you.” I reached for her hair, pushing it to one side so her neck was exposed. And then I ced a soft kiss on it–a kiss that made her shiver. Or flinch. I wasn’t exactly sure. “It was stupid of me to y you, but I want you to understand that I have no intention of getting any sort of revenge on you, or your sister. I only hurt Juniper because she hurt you.”

Another shaky breath.

A sob.

She was crying. “Baby…” I continued to whisper. “Say something, please. I’m not sure I can stand you being this upset with me.”

“See?” Meadow choked out. “It’s things like this. Things that you say that make me need you.” She turned around to face me then, her lips quivering as she shook her head. “I don’t want you talking like this to me if you don’t have any ns of…” she trailed off, swallowing hard.

There it was again. Feelings. Those damn feelings. The ones she wasn’t supposed to feel for me. The ones I wasn’t supposed to feel for her. But I did.

I fucking did.

DONU

When I didn’t say anything, her eyes watered again. “Then again, my father… my father killed byours/bb. /bbI /bdon’t even know how I’m supposed to feel about that. Or how you must’ve felt having the daughter bof /bbyour /bfather’s murderer around you. I-b” /b

bMy /bjaw clenched. “I don’t care that he’s dead, Meadow.”

“Doesn’t change the fact though, does it?” Her brows furrowed. “No one deserves to have their life snatched from them like that.”

“Baby-b” /b

“Don’t call me thati,/ii” /ishe bit out. And then, letting out a sigh, she muttered. “I want to go back home. It was pointlessing here with you.”

“Was it?” I asked casually, arching a brow at her. Despite herself, Meadow blushed, probably remembering everything she saw in TED and all the things I did to her.

And all the things I would’ve done to her had my brother not shown up and… fucking punched me.

I had no idea if he had gone right back to Seattle or if he was going to spend the night in Vegas. But I needed to see him. To make sure that what I felt wasn’t just my mind ying tricks on me.

I pulled the door open for her. “We’ll head back tomorrow, then.”

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