Keeping her head turned away from his, she muttered under her breath, “Please let me go.” The heat of his touch was bringing back too many memories, and they allhurt. She tried yanking her wrist out of his hold, but this only caused his grip to tighten, and her frustration and terror grew. “Please let me go. Can’t you see we’re causing a scene—-”
“I don’t give a damn,” he muttered back. “All I give a damn about is keeping you from leaving—-”
Only when she heard his last words did she realize how close she was, tottering over the edge, and now she was falling, breaking, snapping—-
Anneke whirled to face him, crying out,“You left me first!”
Heads started to turn towards them, but she no longer cared. “You cheated on me.”
“Anneke—-”
“You made me beg.”
He started to reach for her. “Anneke, please—-”
“And after all that, you still left me.”
The pain of that night flared back into life inside of her, and all she could suddenly see was her past self, slumped down on his basement floor, her life crumbling around her—-
And he knew that.
And he still had left.
Self-loathing burned inside of Marcus as he watched the play of emotions on Anneke’s face. He knew – of course he goddamn knew – what she was thinking.Remembering.And when he heard her speak—-
“What did I do to you that was so terrible you h-had to destroy me—-” Her voice broke.
And so did his heart.
“It wasn’t you,” he said hoarsely. “And I know how it sounds like a fucking cliché, but it is the truth,bambina—-”
She flinched. “Don’t.” Her voice was tight with suppressed tears. “Justdon’tcall me that.”
“But you are that. You will always be that—-”
Lies.
All lies.
“It’s never going to happen again, Anneke.”
More lies. Oh God, why did healwayshave to lie?
“I love you—-”
A soft cry of pain escaped her.
And that was the greatest lie of all, and she could no longer bear it.
Anneke glanced wildly at the table—-
Coffee?No, that was too hot.
Vase?No, that might break his head.
So all that was left—-
Anneke grabbed the handful of sugar cubes from the crystal saucer and threw it at Marcus’ face, one after another.