Page 53 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

Her sense of hurt and injustice grew with each word, and she started to crack. “What is it going to be this time?” she asked unevenly. “Perhaps it’s your brother’s turn to have an emergency?”

Alessandro drew a ragged breath, knowing he would be better off lying but also unable to. This time, he wanted everything right between them.Everything.This time, he was ready to share the truth with her.

“Yes.”

Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”Surely Alessandro didn’t think she wasthatstupid to buy the same excuse?

“Itwasmy brother who—-”

“Are you freaking serious?” she cried out. “Can’t you even be more creative? Or even realistic with your lies?”

Alessandro shook his head. “It is no lie. My brother needed my help—-”

“In the middle of the night? What kind of help did he need?” Bitterness assailed her. “Did it involve another woman and a quickie?”

“No!” Alessandro was aghast at the turn her thoughts had taken, but of course he knew he only had himself to blame for it. “Kassia, listen to me—-” He tried to take hold of her shoulders, but she struggled against him violently. “Kassia, dammit, I don’t want to hurt you—-”

“You’ve been hurting me from the start!” Her voice broke, her control snapped, and she started to sob. “I don’t understand what you want from me.”

“I’m sorry.” He wanted to haul her into his arms, but the way she had furiously struggled left him powerless while he watched Kassia drown under all the pain he had inflicted on her. His voice thickened as he repeated the words. “I’m sorry, Kassia.” He held her gaze captive, willing her to see that he meant it. “But if you give me this one last chance, I swear I’ll never hurt you—-”

She was already shaking her head before he even finished, and desperation ate at him. “Kassia. Give me one damn chance—-”

But still, she shook her head. “I don’t think you ever mean to hurt me,” she whispered. “But I also don’t think you’ll ever be capable of loving me—-” She stopped, her gaze searching, and again she was wearing her heart on her sleeve.

He knew then. He only had to say those three words, and she would run back to his arms. He wanted to say the words, but they eluded him. It was as if the words made up his last wall of defense against heartbreak, and even now, he couldn’t completely rid himself of the fear that love would force him to his knees the way it had with Domenico.

A sob suddenly escaped Kassia, and his gaze jerked back to her.

Her face was ravaged with pain, and Alessandro whitened, realizing that his silence had made Kassia think he didn’t love her still.

“Kassia—-”

“Don’t bother explaining.” She choked back another sob.

“It’s not like that, baby.” He tried reaching for her again.

“Don’t touch me,” Kassia screamed.

Alessandro froze.

Kassia trembled, horrified at how she had completely lost it. “S-sorry.” She was drowning with humiliation. She had just given herself away, had just let Alessandro know how much it had meant to hear the words and how much it devastated her to realize that Alessandro was incapable of saying them.

She closed her eyes. “You have to let me go now, Professor. I don’t want to...” She forced another sob down before it could claw out of her throat. “I need to learn how to move on—-”

“I don’t want you to move on,” he gritted out.

Her eyes flew open. “Then whatdoyou want?” she demanded painfully. “That I just be content at warming your bed—-”

“No, goddammit! You’re not like that – you wereneverlike that—-”

“Liar!” God, what kind of a fool did the professor think she was? She tried to shove past him, but he caught her wrist and whirled her back to face him. “Let me go,” she screamed.

“Never,” Alessandro rasped out. “Listen to me, Kassia.” He cupped her face and forced her to look at him. “It was never like that between us. You were andarethe only one I want in my life—-”

She laughed hysterically. “You really think I’m that stupid?” She kept laughing, knowing that when she stopped, she would start crying, and she just didn’t want that to happen. “You’ve been playing with me—-”

“No. I wasn’t.” But still she kept laughing, and Alessandro’s unease deepened. “Kassia, stop—-”