Page 10 of Before Broken Vows

"Fuck," he mutters, stepping back, finally giving me the space I need.

"Look, I know what I did. I know you hate me."

"You don't know shit about how I feel."

I flinch. "I deserve that."

"You deserve a lot worse." He looks away, then back at me. "Let's go."

I blink. "What?"

"My car. Now." He grabs my elbow, not rough but insistent. "Before I change my mind."

I feel a sense of relief so strong my knees nearly buckle. "Thank you."

"Don't." His eyes are hard. "This isn't forgiveness. This is me wanting answers, and you needing protection. Nothing more."

His words sting, but I get it. "I understand. What about my things back at the hotel?”

“Forget them,” he says and we walk back to his car in silence.

He unlocks the doors but doesn't open mine. He always used to.

I slide into the passenger seat and as I swing the door closed, I'm hit immediately by memories. Weekend drives along the coast,nights parked in secret overlooks above Athens or Kalamata. His hand on my thigh as we raced through empty streets or the back seat where he took my virginity. We didn't have a care in the world. Unfortunately, the world finally decided to pay attention to us.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Theo starts the engine.

"Where are we going?" I ask as we pull away from the curb.

"Kalamata," he says, one hand gripping the steering wheel while the other slides my note into his jacket pocket. "My estate there is secure."

"The family summer house?" The one where we spent those two weeks together before everything fell apart.

His jaw clenches. "Yeah, I guess you'll remember it well. Especially since it's the—" He cuts himself off. "It's a three-hour drive. I suggest you use that time to figure out exactly what you're going to tell me when we arrive."

I nod, unable to find words. There's so much I can't tell him. So much he deserves to know but can't.

We drive in silence as the city gives way to coastal highway. I lean my head against the window, watching the Aegean stretch out beside us, blue and endless. Just like the distance between us now.

What would he do if he knew the whole truth?

The thought makes my chest ache. He might help me, or he might hate me more. Either way, once he knows, nothing between us will ever be the same again.

It's ironic that I left to protect him and now I'm back because I need his protection.

Life has a twisted sense of humor sometimes. I'll be lucky if I can laugh when all this is over.

Either way, I don't know if I'm running toward safety, or straight into the jaws of something even worse.

5

STASSI

The ride out of Athens is suffocating. Theo doesn't say a word, just drives with one hand on the wheel, the other resting close enough to brush my thigh if he wanted to. He doesn't, but I feel the promise of it anyway.

The tension between us builds with every passing mile. I stare out the window, counting olive trees, ruined stone walls, clouds, anything to keep from looking at him.

But I can feel his gaze flick toward me more than once. I know he's trying to figure out if I'm a bomb about to detonate or just another regret he'll have to bury.