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Chapter Nineteen

Berlin

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My feet felt heavyas cement as I dragged myself across the lot and up towards the front door. The entire time I kept hoping that he would just grab my hand and yank me back to the car.

I don't want to go back.

My eyes fluttered to the surrounding treeline that hid our little evil oasis. Tucked far out of view from the prying eyes Virgo knew wouldn't approve of his ways, the Canary thrived by word of mouth and sour men who had far too much money to spend.

“Don't even think about it,” Salt said, his eyes wolfish and aware of what was running through my head as he walked behind me. “If you really don't want to die, then don't do something stupid.”

“Stupid is you kissing me like you mean it, and then actually making me come back here.”

“No, stupid is you not trusting me.”

Cocking my head over my shoulder, I eyed him boldly. “You haven't given me a reason to trust you.”

Coiling his fingers around my arm, he turned me on my feet, causing me to sway. With firm fingers, he held me steady, his voice low as if he was afraid someone might hear him.

“I've been nothing but straight forward with you. Not once have I led you to believe anything that wasn't the truth. If that isn't a reason for you to trust me, then maybe Ishouldjust walk away. I won't stay here and watch you get yourself killed because you're too fucking blind to see it.”

My eyes wandered around his face, with one heavy brow slanted in disagreement. “You brought me back.” My words were bitter as my voice came out raspy. “I'll never forgive you for this. You had your chance to do something good, instead you let him control you.”

“Me? I had my chance?” His face spiked in annoyance as he frowned. “I opened the car door and told you to get out, you could have run away at any point last night, but you stayed. You could have called the fucking cops, but instead you called your fucking—”

Smack!

“Fuck you.” Balling my fists at my side, I stood up on my toes so I was closer to his face. “You act like you're some fucking hero for giving me one night away, but you're not. You're just another asshole. One night doesn't fix shit, one night doesn't make you a fucking saint.” Storming off, my feet pounded across the walkway.

He was no different than any other man I had ever met.

Bentley Saltiana was only out for himself.

Why am I surprised?

I knew I was coming back.

But I was wishing for something else.

I wanted to believe so badly that this man had been sent to me as my savior. That finally my prayers had been heard and it was my time for something better.

I was wrong.

Because he did do exactly like he said. And for me, it just wasn't good enough. He was a lamb in sheep's clothing, pretending to be confident and powerful.

A confident man would have saved me. A powerful man wouldn't have let Virgo win. A real man would have known exactly what to do, and it wasn't returning me to this fucking place.

A new scar had started form, one that wasn't visible.

It was a gash across my heart where I had stupidly penned his name.