I captured her chin, forcing her to look at me. “That’s what you want? You want to bail on us without trying?”
We locked gazes. I refused to look away first. Her eyes glistened. I bent my head, pressing my lips against hers, my grip still firm on her chin. Even though she didn’t kiss me back, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting her.
I tasted her salty tears, felt her sorrow. I smelled her delicate jasmine scent.
A half-gasp, half-whimper escaped her lips, and she pulled back. When she looked up at me, she swallowed, her eyebrows pinching together.
“I don’t want to try. It’s not worth it. We’re not compatible…not for the long run. We have different goals and dreams, and now’s the time to pursue mine. I have to put myself first, and that means walking away from you and this whole mess before it destroys me.” Her words came out ragged and grief-stricken.
“Give me a little more time.”
“No. I’m walking out the door now, and I don’t want to see you again. Don’t try to contact me. Don’t try to find me. Just let me go. It’s for the best. You know it, and I know it.”
I slammed my fist into the wall next to her head. She flinched, clutching her heart.
“You’re not fucking going anywhere.” I punched the wall over and over. Drywall showered her head like pixie dust. My knuckles cracked open. Blood dripped from my hand. “You’re mine. I won’t let you go.”
She covered her tear-streaked face. “I’m not yours, and you’re not mine. We had fun, but it’s over now. I don’t want you, and you don’t want me. Not really.”
This isn’t happening. She wouldn’t give up on us so easily.
My heart squeezed. Pain sliced through me with more misery than I thought possible. My hands curled into her shoulders, and I tugged her against my chest, clawing at her like a fucking animal. “Don’t lie to me.”
Tony’s arms closed around my waist, hauling me backward. “Let her go, Gian. It’s done.”
I struggled against him, kicking and yelling. “Fuck you, Tony. You don’t know anything.”
“This is the way it has to be,” Evie whispered as Tony dragged me out the back door of the restaurant.
The minute the door slammed behind us, Tony released me.
“Get a hold of yourself, man. You’re acting like a fucking pussy.”
I buried my face in my hands. My shoulders jerked up and down, and my eyes stung. I couldn’t believe I was about to burst into tears for the first time in twenty years. My life was spinning out of control. Despair and rage wrapped around me like a straightjacket, and I wanted to storm back into the restaurant and kill Alix and Dominick and set the place on fire.
Instead, I walked away with every inch of me still aching for her.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Evangeline
The moment the door closed behind me, I wanted to die. I’d torn Gian’s heart out, but I might as well have torn out my own. I ruined us. I had pushed away the only person who ever wanted to fight for me.
I wanted to take back my words. I wanted to run after him and tell him I lied. Tell him I loved him. Tell him I wanted him. Only I couldn’t. Not now, not ever. He had already sacrificed enough for me. I wouldn’t let him sacrifice his family and honor too. While I might not like what his life entailed, I wouldn’t let him throw it away for me.
Likewise, I refused to play into my father’s twisted logic and hand him the Trassato territories on a silver platter so Gian could be with me, a woman who he’d only known for a couple of months. I’d rather spend the rest of my life missing him than lining Alix’s pockets.
I swiped away my tears and strode out of the kitchen with my head held high. My shoes hammered against the floor like detonating bombs.
“Where are you going?” Konstantin asked.
I kept going, not meeting any of the stares searing into my flesh. “It’s none of your business.”
“Don’t walk away from me, girl.” Alix caught my arm the second I stepped over the threshold of the door.
Shivering with disgust, I broke his grip. “Gian and I are over. You’ll have to find another way to get what you want.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
Evangeline
One Week Later…
“Evie, you were great up there. They’d be crazy not to give you a part. I’m so proud of you. You’re so much better than Mom ever was.”
I spun around. “Kon, what are you doing here?”
My brother shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. A yellowing bruise circled one of his eyes, and he had a scab on his lower lip. “We need to talk.”