"Maybe you need to care more. Maybe you need to come clean about the fact that whatever is between us is not going away any time soon."
I stare into those blue eyes of his. He holds my gaze, and in them I see…the same helplessness that I feel.
"You know, I returned because I couldn’t believe that I had killed you. I prayed that you were still alive, that there had been a mistake. I had hoped that if you were… Perhaps, we could find a way to be together. But all you were interested in was revenge. Then, when I was taken from you, I guess you had a change of heart or something. And just when I think that perhaps I can find a way of being with you, after all… You do this." I wave a hand in the air, "You chip me, without batting an eyelid, like I’m your pet. This is not normal behavior, Michael."
He opens his mouth, but I shake my head. "No, don’t give me your bullshit about me not being normal. I know I am not. It’s why, all my life, I’ve hoped to find someone who could give me the kind of normalcy that I have missed all my life."
"You don’t mean it," he growls.
"Oh, but I do." I swallow. "All this time we were together, not once, did you ask me what I wanted."
"I didn’t need to," he jerks his chin toward where Andy is sleeping in his basket, "I know exactly what you need."
"Maybe that is the case," I murmur and he glares at me. "Fine, fine," I pull away from him, and this time, he releases me. "I don’t deny that everything you did…from refurbishing the studio, to the books to the kitten, was spot on. It’s what I’d have chosen for myself… Still, it’s just politeness to ask me what I want."
"You don’t want me to be polite."
"See?" I turn on him, "This…this is what I am talking about. You assuming you know my mind."
"I do."
"You don’t."
"Yes, I do."
"Argh," I dig my fingers in my hair and tug, "this is going nowhere."
"It can go exactly where you want it to."
"Where I want it to go is…" I tip up my chin, "far away from you."
"Don’t lie to me." He scowls.
"I am not." My heart hammers in my chest. My pulse rate spikes. I square my shoulders, hold his gaze. "If you think I can forgive what you did to me, then you have another think coming. I may have been able to look past the kidnapping, even, but this…this. What you did… It’s… I can’t even pretend to understand it. It’s the worst kind of violation, ever."
His jaw tics. A dense cloud of anger spools off of him and smashes into my chest. I gasp, take a step back.
"If you think I am letting you leave, you have another think coming," he growls.
"Fine," I snap.
"Fine."