36. Derek
I watch as my heart runs out of the dining room, and it’s like she took my oxygen away with her. My chest feels as if it caves in on itself as I stand, pain lacing through my body as Georgia’s hurt face clouds my mind.
Lita and Mamá share a stricken expression, communicating quietly, but I’m already halfway out the door when I hear Mamá’s voice as she exclaims, “It’s just an outfit… I don’t know what’s wrong!”
Ignoring them, I chase after the woman who sashayed her way into my life. Georgia’s hair blows behind her as she runs, her body moving side to side.
“Where are you going?!” I yell, my voice echoing in the distance as she comes to a halt before speed walking in the darkness.
She calls over her shoulder, “The fuck away from you!” before turning and walking even faster.
I've got to say, I’ve never seen her walk this fast ever, especially in heels. Even though my legs are long, it seems like the quicker I walk toward her, the further she gets away.
She huffs loudly, her voice is shaky, and all I want to do is take her into my arms as her voice cracks when she yells, “You lied to me!”
Fuck.
I run a hand through my hair, tugging at the strands. I didn’t mean to. When she mentioned the internship, I wanted to do nothing more than help her. However, waking up married to her kind of took the cake at the time.
I’m on her heels, so close that I can almost touch her.
“I didn’t lie, darlin’... I just didn’t… tell you,” I say and cringe immediately as she whirls around.
This close, I can see the tear stains on her face. Her emerald eyes are encased in red, bloodshot from her tears. I shudder, wanting nothing more than to comfort her and take her into my arms, but how could I when I’m the cause of her pain?
“Don’t. That’s the same thing, and you know it, Derek.
You lied by omission.” Her voice shakes as she holds a hand up to silence me.
“This whole thing was orchestrated by you! You could’ve told me about her; I wouldn’t have forced you to introduce us, but it would’ve been good to know.
Hell, you could’ve trusted me—I trusted you.
I told you about my dad… Derek, I married you! ”
I flinch; her words are like a bullet to the heart.
“Darlin’, I—”
“Just stop! I need to not be around you…” she croaks, walking away from me… from us.
This entire time, I thought that losing my inheritance would be the worst thing to ever happen to me, but to watch the love of my life walk away feels like I’ve been dropped in hell.
When Rosemary left, she was just gone. I didn’t see it, I didn’t feel it until after. This? I’m feeling every two-inch cut to my heart as I watch the space between us increase.
She’s leaving me… leaving us.
“Trusted?” I croak out, finding my voice and strength. I can’t let her go, I won’t lose her. Not now, not ever.
Hell, I love this girl, and I haven’t even told her yet.
She sighs, stopping in her tracks and running a hand through her hair. “Look… I don’t know what to think right now—I need space.”
I reel back. “No.”
She tilts her head, her eyes ablaze with anger. “No?”
“Do you want to hear it in Spanish, darlin’? You will not leave me because you’re mad at me. Let’s go somewhere and talk about this like adults,” I say with the utmost confidence, but my heart is racing a mile a minute as her eye twitches.
“No,” she says, putting her foot down, and now I’m the one tilting my head.
“No?”
“Do you want to hear it in French? I said no. Derek, you lied to me—omitted the truth, whatever you want to call it. We’ve been lying to everyone for months! This isn’t even a real marriage and you—”
I lower my head before my sadness is replaced with determination; I have to save us.
“It was real to me. Georgia, you’re real to me. We—we’re something,” I say, my voice cracking as emotion clogs my throat, and I grab her hands.
Her chin wobbles, but she doesn’t shed a tear, not in front of me. That thought alone haunts me as memories of us in the kitchen all those months ago, cradling one another, cloud my mind.
“If we’re something, then you would’ve been straightforward from the beginning.
You knew how much I wanted that internship, and you didn’t say a word.
I literally started drinking that night because of the internship.
I’m not saying that you had to put in a good word for me, but it would’ve been nice to know that you’re Eden’s godson.
Had I gotten in, we wouldn’t be married right now, and no, I’m not saying this because I regret marrying you, but you have to understand how I feel. ”
I understand you.
She’s pulling away, slowly slipping through my fingers, and terror racks my body. I’m paralyzed as I look at her, and I can’t even recognize my own voice as I ask, “Are you leaving me?”
Her brows dip, and her expression softens before hardening like steel. “Leaving you? Derek, I fucking love you! But I’m hurt, and right now I don’t know what to think, and it’s killing me. I just need space.”
I stop trying to grab her hands. I’ve never seen her like this—defeated and small. Georgia Adams is one of the strongest people I know, and I did this to her…
She loves me, and I didn’t even get the chance to tell her I love her more.