Chapter Eleven
The sweat trickles down my collarbone, dangerously close to slipping in between my breasts before Edward stops it with the pad of his thumb.
He holds the drop on his finger, admiring the myriad of colors reflected within its pool. He studies it, and I feel bare, as if he's scrutinizing me.
"I'm going to get us out of this, Bella. I promise." I'm unsure, wondering how in the world he could possibly save us. The Superman cape had long disappeared, buried with the remains of his mother.
Edward pulls my chin, twisting my face so that my gaze has nowhere else to turn. "I've got money, Bella. Fuckin' loads of it. We're protected. No one will find us here. All that matters is that you're safe with me. I couldn't have that fucker come after you next. I had no other choice. You're safe with me. You know that, don't you?"
I gaze at him, my eyes untrusting of his insecure promises.
"Damn it, Bella!" Edward slams his hand onto the rickety coffee table, causing an old wooden bowl to spin before ricocheting to the hardwood floor. "Don't you even understand what's going on here? You think I've brought you here to die? You think I pulled you out of everything you've ever known and loved just to let you sit and rot?"
"Gilly, I'm fucking weak. I'm weak and I'm vulnerable and the only reason I'm in this shit is because Mom couldn't take her ass straight home like she was supposed to. I'm in this shit, because every time you tried to pull me in, I blocked you out. I blocked you out, intent on staying in a locked cage, treating you no different than the rest of those fuckers out there.
"You aren't them, Gill." Edward falls on his knees, propping his body in between mine. He caresses my cheeks, his touch as soft as his words. "You're different. You're this glass vase I keep up high on the shelf where no one else can reach you. You're fragile, beautiful, my fucking world, and I'll be damned if anyone takes you away from me. You're precious to me, and I don't care if you splinter my heart into a thousand pieces. I'll keep coming back. This shit right here, this pain I'm going through, it's damn hard. But losing you would be a tragedy.
"Don't make me go through this alone."
His whimper breaks his shield of armor, and I lean forward, catching his soul from descending into the depths of forever.