“Jo.”
I start, then stare at him. Did I manage to conjure up the man because I’ve been thinking about him so much?
No. He’s still in front of me, in the lot. He looks like a modern, urban warrior in that suit. His face is carved into an unsmiling façade. And I have the most absurd urge to have it relax into a grin. Have his green eyes light with happiness.
Stop fantasizing. Your ovaries can’t handle it, and your womb is already occupied.
“Edgar, what are you still doing here? I thought you went home.” My voice is calm, which is good. I don’t want him to know he affects me when he has no feelings for me.
“I wanted to speak with you.” He hesitates for a moment, his eyebrows pulling tighter. “Sorry if your parents yelled at you.”
I shake my head. “They didn’t.” They just made me cry with their love.
But Edgar seems skeptical. He scrutinizes my face in silence.
Oh geez. Is he going to notice I have tears in my eyes? “My parents wanted to let me know they’re one hundred percent behind me, no matter what I decide to do.”
“And your decision?” His expression’s impassive, but something in his tone indicates that my answer isn’t just critically important, but he won’t be budging until he hears it.
I sigh. He isn’t making this easy. I should’ve added “persistent” to the list of qualities about him. “I already told you at Starbucks.”
“Giving in to your ex-boyfriend is a mistake.”
His quiet statement freezes me with shock. “What? How do you know about that?”
“Yuna told me. She specifically said if I don’t save you, she’ll send ninjas after me.”
I snort, then let out a laugh despite my less-than-fantastic mood. That’s so her. She’s all about friendship and wanting to help. “Then you know what’s at stake and what I have to do.”
“Marry your ex?” Edgar’s voice turns rougher. “That’s the best solution you can come up with?”
Damn it. He doesn’t have to say it like it’s the stupidest thing he’s ever heard. Embarrassment heats my face. Edgar’s opinion of me seems to matter an awful lot, and it pisses me off.
“It’s only until my dad retires,” I say sharply.
“It won’t be only until then.”
I tilt my head. What does Edgar know that I don’t?
He continues, “Your ex is going to get a taste for controlling you.”
“So what? He knows releasing the video on its own is going to get his face permanently rearranged and all his limbs broken. The only reason he can threaten me at all is because of the damage he’s going to inflict on my dad.”
“He’ll find some other person you care about and threaten them next. People who like to manipulate others don’t quit unless you make them stop.”
I didn’t think about that. But I don’t want to believe it can happen. Defensiveness and self-recrimination mingle together, fueling my anger. Whether that emotion is directed at me or Aaron or Edgar—or even all of us—I can’t say. “Come on. You don’t know that.”
A bleak pain flashes through his eyes. For a moment, I feel like a jerk for putting that look in them. He’s not the enemy here.
“Actually, I do,” he says. “There are people who’ll dangle a hope that if you’ll just do this one thing, everything will get better. But it never does. There’s always one more thing you need to do. People who control you like that are never satisfied. And your ex—Aaron—will find a way to abuse you like that over and over again.”
There’s so much rawness in his voice that I’m pretty sure he’s speaking from experience. Just what happened to him and who hurt him like that? It seems impossible, given how solid and strong he is now. “I’m sorry, Edgar. It sounds painful.”
An impenetrable shutter comes down. “No need for sympathy. I was making a point, Jo. You should’ve told me the whole truth when I came to see you at the barre studio.”
“Why? Didn’t you understand what I meant when I left Anthony’s mansion without a word? It was supposed to be one time only. And I planned to keep it that way until you popped back in my life, thanks to my meddling cousin. Actually, I still prefer to keep it that way, especially when our circumstances haven’t changed since that night.”
You said you didn’t love me, and I don’t love you either.