She may expect me to lie again, but I won’t. “I had to keep the outside world away. We needed that time to figure out what could be possible for us.”
Greer studies my face, dissecting my answer. “And you’d do it again, wouldn’t you?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes. When you’re the prize, there’s no lines I won’t cross.”
Her eyes narrow. “I’m no one’s prize. Go fuck yourself, Cav.”
I’m not expecting the slap, so when it lands on my cheek, my head snaps sideways.
She walks with dignity toward the bathroom at the back of the plane, and I wonder if I’m going to be able to dig my way out of this.
Her words echo in my head. I’ve never felt rage like I did . . .
Moments later, the sound of quiet sobs escape from the bathroom, gutting me. Fuck.
After making quick work of the lock on the door, I pull it open and Greer is hunched over the vanity, her shoulders shaking as she cries out all the emotions of the last few days. I pull her into my arms but she struggles, beating against my chest.
“I hate you. I hate how you make me feel. Why do you do this to me? It wasn’t enough to crush me three years ago? You had to come back and do it again? What kind of sick bastard are you?”
Her fists connect with my chest over and over, and her tears soak my T-shirt. But I say nothing and hold her tighter.
I’m not letting her go.
I’m not this girl, the one who breaks down and cries in bathrooms. I’m not prone to outrageous emotional displays, crying jags, or pounding against a man’s chest as I tell him I hate him. But somehow, I’ve become this girl with Cav.
Is it because I’ve never felt anything so strongly before him? That means something. Doesn’t it? Have I been floating through life on this boring plateau where my emotions were always on the level, barely veering up or down? Do I want to go back to that? The colorless world where everything is fine and acceptable rather than amazing, but sometimes gut-wrenching?
You can’t have the sweet without the bitter, and as much as I want to tell Cav to stop screwing with my heart and my head, I already know what my life is like without him.
Gray. Bleak. Acceptable.
I want more than that. And dammit, I want him, even if he’s crazy enough to think kidnapping me is a good plan.
With that realization, my pounding fists become grasping fingers that curl into his shirt and draw him closer. His arms tighten around me, one hand cupping the back of my head and pulling it to his shoulder.
Can I accept this? Him? Even with the lies he has told me?
I know myself well enough to realize I can’t move forward with him until I let go of the anger and betrayal.
Tears continue to fall, but instead of tears of anger, there’s a cathartic force behind them. When they subside, Cav’s grip on my hair loosens and I lift my head to meet his gaze.
“What are we doing?” I whisper the question in an unsteady tone.
“Working on having something beautiful.”
“Do you think that’s even possible for us?”
“You have to fight through the darkness to appreciate the beauty in the light. That’s what we’re doing. Fighting through the dark shit between us so we don’t take for granted what’s on the other side. If it were easy, would it be as special?”
His words make a weird sort of sense, and even though they don’t seem like typical Cav, his serious expression says he means them absolutely.
“How do we get there?”
Smoothing his hand through my hair again, he tilts my head back further. “We start over. A new beginning where we leave the past behind.”
The concept is as seductive as it is simple.
“The past has its claws hooked deep in us.”
Cav releases me before setting me away from him a step. “Are you more than Creighton Karas’s little sister?”
I blink at the sudden change in subject and tone. “Maybe not to everyone, but absolutely.”
“There are a hell of a lot of reasons I left New York, but the most compelling one is the fact that I’m not just Dom Casso’s bastard kid. That’s my past. It has nothing to do with who I am now. I don’t take orders from him. I don’t fall in line. My future is a lot bigger than the life I had in New York. In Hollywood, I’m Cav Westman. I’m my own man, and I’ve worked my ass off to become the kind of man you could respect. I’ve made my way on my own merit, not with my name, my connections, or anything else.”
I understand what he’s saying and can respect it, because as long as I stay in New York, I’ll always be Creighton Karas’s little sister. Be catered to because of my name and my connections. Any job I get will be obtained through the network my family ties allow me to be part of. The idea of stepping outside that bubble into a world where I have to make my way solely on my own merit like Cav did is equal parts terrifying and invigorating.
Can I do it? Am I going to have that chance? Cav is watching me, waiting for a response.