Pain ripples across his face.
I lean in closer — our lips are nearly brushing, now. “You say I’m a ghost? I might as well be. You’ve taken all my vital parts with you, and left me empty.”
Our eyes hold. Our breaths mingle. We are hovering on the edge of a kiss. Flirting with disaster. And we both know it.
Carter breaks eye contact first — whirling away from me, he crosses the room with determined strides, putting some much-needed space between us. His hands land on the mantle, gripping the stone so hard his knuckles go white. I can’t see his face, but I know it bears a dark expression from his tone alone.
“If I could give it back, I would.” He pauses. “Your heart. But it seems I’ve exchanged it for my own. Along with my soul.”
A tear snakes down my cheek. I stare at his back, wishing I could cross to him, wrap my arms around his waist, rest my head against the strong planes of his shoulders. But that wouldn’t do either of us any good.
“Chloe brought me here because I said I needed closure. To… to let you go.” The words are sour as poison.
His grip tightens. “Is that so?”
“I don’t want to. But I think we both know I don’t have a choice.”
“And how exactly am I supposed to help with that, Emilia? Please, let me know how I can possibly be of service here.”
“Just—” My voice breaks again. I do my damndest to get it under control, but it’s a struggle. “Tell me you’ll be happy. Tell me you won’t let this —us— make you bitter or jaded. Tell me you’ll move on. Tell me you won’t look back with regret. Tell me you’ll find someone—” A sob is clogging my throat, threatening to break free. I swallow uselessly against it. “—Someone who will love you endlessly. Because you deserve that, Carter. You deserve it so much.”
His spine is now so rigid, he appears made of the same marble as the mantle. I don’t even think he’s breathing.
“And what about you?” he rasps out, the words leaden.
“What about me?”
“You’ve told me everything you want for me. What do you want for yourself?”
You,I think but do not say, for it is a useless wish.
“Nothing,” I lie. “Knowing you’re happy will be enough for me.”
He laughs so coldly, I shiver. “Let’s not dance around the truth here, Your Majesty. You don’t want closure. You want me to tell you pretty lies about the happy future sprawled out ahead of us. You want to be let off the fucking hook, wrapping yourself in a warm blanket of deceptions — that I’m out there living well without you, that this is for the best, that we aren’t both going to end up miserable when all is said and done.”
“Don’t. Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” He spins around to look at me, his face dark with wrath, his eyes narrowed with disdain. “Oh, I forgot. You don’t want the truth. You want lies.” I watch his Adam’s apple bob roughly. “Fine. I’ll lie to you, Emilia. What is it you want to hear?”
I can’t manage a word; my throat is a block of grief. It’s so thick, it’s engulfing me.
“I…” He takes a single step. “Will not let this make me jaded.”
I suck in a breath, trying not to sob.
Good.
This is good.
This is what I asked for.
This is what I needed to hear.
“I…” He takes another step. “Will move on with someone new.”
Tears begin leaking down my cheeks in earnest. I manage to nod this time, encouraging him to carry on. He’s halfway across the room now — six feet away. It feels like a mile.
“What else, Your Majesty?”