Page 38 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)

“You were made for me,” Chase says. “Remember? We always said we were made for each other. That you’re mine.”

I’ve heard this all before. Every time he fucked up, every time he’d hurt me, he’d remind me of the way things used to be. When we first started dating, he said we were the luckiest two people on earth. Back then, it was all cute dates and handholding. Little nicknames and forehead kisses.

I thought my heart was safe with him. I thought I was safe with him.

And then I found out how wrong I was about all of it.

It didn’t happen overnight. It happened slowly, piece by agonizing piece.

Until every little thing I did would cause an argument.

If I needed him too much, I was overbearing.

If I didn’t need him enough, I was punishing him.

And the pure exhaustion of playing that game whittled me down into a person I didn’t even recognize. Someone dull and lifeless.

For so long, my worst fear was losing him and the life I had built around him. But while trying so hard to keep him, I lost myself. And then, when that worst fear happened—when he left me, after making me promise a million times I would never leave him —I survived it .

No. More than that. I finally started to thrive . And now I’m finding myself again. Not the Sydney I forced myself to be to make him happy. Not the mask I made myself wear. The real, true me.

And losing her again is not an option.

I take a deep breath to steady my nerves. “I know what we said, Chase.” I force myself to look him in the eyes when I say it, so he knows I mean it. “But that’s not enough anymore. It’s over. We’re over.”

He shakes his head, not listening to me.

“I know I sabotaged everything. I do, babe. But you’ll come around.

I’ll wait forever for you. I’ll wait ten more lifetimes.

I know I screwed up, but I’m ready to settle down.

To go all in. To get married and have a life with you. Just like you always wanted.”

Chase finishes his monologue with an eager smile, reaching out to take my hand in his.

I don’t even try to stop him. I’m too stunned to do anything but blink. “I’m sorry…did you just…did you just try to propose to me?” My voice sounds as incredulous as I feel.

“Sure.” Chase shrugs. “If that’s what you need to move on, why not? Let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

He says it with all the emotionality of someone ordering at a drive-through. I’ll have a burger with large fries, and oh hey, why don’t we get married?

There was a time in my life when I would have given anything for this moment. Where even this half-baked, shitty proposal would have made me the happiest woman in the world.

That time is behind me.

“This isn’t going to work, Chase,” I say, voice steady despite the nausea rising inside me. “You think you can just pick me back up after Caroline didn’t work out? God… you knew how mu ch I loved you and you used that against me. For years . I can’t do this. I can’t be that person anymore.”

I shake my head in disgust, and suddenly the words are coming out of my mouth too fast, but I can’t stop them.

“I have more important things to deal with right now, like figuring out if our building being sold is going to financially ruin me. Like figuring out where I’m going to live!

I can’t… I can’t do this with you right now. You need to go. I need you to leave.”

I try to pull away from him, but he grips my hand even tighter, squeezing it so hard the bones grind against one another. He moves closer until he’s pressed against me, his body flush against mine, and I shrink back against the books to escape him.

“Fine,” Chase says. I recognize the anger in his voice burning under the surface. And I recognize that look in his eyes. I have the sudden urge to shout for Jade, to let her know I’m here. That I might be in danger. “If you want to be like that? I’ll go.”

He finally lets go of my hand, but instead of leaving, he lingers, reaching up to play with a loose curl hanging down my chest. His fingers lightly graze my nipple as he does it, and he pauses there, touching me through the fabric of my dress.

“Call me when you come to your senses, Sydney,” he says. “We both know what we have. You know I love you. Will always love you.”

I might throw up. I can’t believe this is the man I was missing for months, the man I spent weeks crying over. All I ever wanted was to be enough for him. And here I am hearing everything I had hoped I’d hear… and I feel nothing but disgust.

I don’t know when it changed, when I actually closed my heart to him for good, but I can confidently say that I feel nothing but contempt for him right now. I can see his manipulation from the outside so clearly now, and just like that, I’m free.

His touch is revolting, but I suppress the urge to react. To give him a reason to push things further. I keep my face stoically calm.

“Go home, Chase,” I tell him, voice little more than a whisper.

“You need me, Sydney,” Chase insists. The words sound more like a threat than a promise. “Don’t ever forget that.”

Finally, he steps back, giving me one last sickeningly sweet smile before he slips into the aisle of books and disappears.

I release a shaky breath and try to calm down.

My nerves are shot, and I’m so tightly wound, I want to scream.

I can only hope that whatever karmic energy is hell bent on punishing me settles down now.

I don’t think I can handle anything else today. I really don’t.

And as if summoned by the very thought, a cold voice comes from the shadows.

“Lover’s quarrel?” Sebastian asks.