Page 18 of Into The Rabbit Hole

It was torture that she couldn’t just throw herself into his arms and feel his touch on her skin. It was agony looking at him and seeing the extent of suffering on his face and in hiseyes.

“Wade,” she cried, trying to stop herself from shaking and wasting the little time they had bycrying.

“Baby, you shouldn’t have comeback.”

“I shouldn’t haveleft.”

He shook his head firmly at her. “No, baby, the best thing you did was to leaveme.”

“No. It was theworst.”

“No, baby. You can’t be with me. I shouldn’t have…” He held her gaze and a look of pain filled hiseyes.

“Don’t,” she breathed. “Don’t tell me you should never have been with me. Hearing you say that will destroyme.”

“You were always too good for me, Chloe. I was selfish to drag you into this mess, and it would destroy me if something happened toyou.”

She shook her head trying to protest, but he stoppedher.

“Chloe, look at Merissa. She died just because she knew me. Please go to France where you’ll be safe and forgetme.”

“I love you,” she told him, refusing to listen. How could she forgethim?

“And I have always loved you.” He nodded. “How stupid of me to not know that all these long years. I remembered the other day, I was thinking back to the first time I felt like this about you. To the first time I knew I loved you. I was six years old. Your mom reminded me of when I used her stockings as a zip line. I jumped out of the window at your house, the stockings broke, and I fell and broke my arm. I remember looking up and seeing you about to jump after me. That was the moment when I first felt like this. When I thought, she’ll die if she followsme.”

It was too much. The walls of her chest were caving in as she listened, and her heart was pounding within her at such an intensity that she found it hard tobreathe.

“Wade.”

“Baby…you’ll die if you follow me.” He held her gaze then placed the phone back on thehook.

“Wade!” She was crying out his name, but of course he couldn’t hear her. Devastation overtook her and squeezed her heart, she couldn’t believe what was really happening. What he was saying, what he wasdoing.

Blinded by her tears, she watched him as he walked back out with the guard, never looking back. Leavingher.