“If you say you want to save the love Enzo and I have, then you won’t make me do this, you will end this. You will stop Enzo from hurting me, because if he hurts Liesel, I will never forgive him.”
Zeke cocks his head. “Yes, you will. You love him. Love can forgive anything.”
My hand shakes. “I can’t forgive this. I’ve already forgiven too much.”
“It’s okay, Kai. I’ll forgive you. Enzo will forgive you. And you will eventually forgive yourself.”
My heart breaks so far open I’m not sure I can put it back together. A giant hole forms, endangering everything I care about.
Not time.
Not love.
Nothing will fix it.
I’m permanently broken. Because I have to choose between two men I love, and I already know who I’m going to choose—Enzo.
And that breaks me more than anything. Most love isn’t tested like this. Most love isn’t this big. Most love doesn’t require you to give up everything and everyone you love in order to keep that love. But my love for Enzo does.
Our love is toxic. It’s wrong. As Zeke said, our love is destined to destroy the world.
All the more reason to let go of it. Save Zeke. Choose Zeke. Let Enzo go.
But saving Zeke means I’ll end up alone—never to fall in love again. Because Zeke is right, the love I feel for Enzo is a once in a million kind of love, and once I’ve felt that I will never settle for anything less.
But I’m selfish to keep Enzo’s love even though it will end up destroying me and everyone else who enters our lives.
“Zeke,” I warn, as I blink away the tears.
Zeke takes a deep breath as he ties his hair back, and then he closes his eyes, putting his hands in his pockets, letting me hurt him.
I swallow.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
But when I fire, more of me breaks. I only graze the outside of his shoulder, but it’s enough to cause pain and for me to know I’ve sacrificed everything because there is no coming back from shooting someone you love.
“Ready to talk?” I ask. Please.
“No, never, stingray. You’re not strong enough. You can’t hurt me,” Zeke taunts—trying to make me shoot him again. Trying to take away some of my pain. But then he shouldn’t have used his adorable nickname for me if he wanted me to shoot him.
Fucking, dammit.
It only makes me love him more.
I aim again, this time for his other shoulder.
And then the door opens.
I turn with wide eyes as I see Archard standing at the door.
“The game is over,” he says.
I drop the gun so fast I’m afraid it will go off from the impact when I realize I didn’t put the safety back on. But thank God, it doesn’t.