CHAPTER 52: FIGHTING YOU...

Chapter 52: Fighting You...

It was never hard for Theo to read danger in a man’s eyes, sense lies in a heartbeat, but he could not read her now.

Danielle’s stillness scared him more than a gun aimed at his chest.

Finally, she spoke to him...

"When were you planning to tell me?"

Theo did not move. "You already know now."

"That is not what I asked." Danielle turned to face him. "When were you planning to tell me, Theo? Before or after you put a bullet in my father’s head?"

"Do not talk like that."

"Why? Because it sounds too real?" she snapped. "Because that is what you were sent here to do?"

Theo took a step forward. "I was sent here, yes. But I never-"

"Never what?" she interrupted. "Never meant to fall for me? Never meant to tell me the truth? Or never meant to kill him?"

Her voice trembled at the last part, and she hated that it did.

"I told you the truth because I thought you deserved to hear it from me."

Danielle let out a bitter laugh. "From you? The man who has been lying since the day he walked into my life?"

Theo exhaled through his nose, trying to stay calm. "I did not lie about everything."

"You lied about enough! You lied about who you were. You lied about why you were here. You lied about my father."

"I had to."

"No, you chose to."

Theo looked at her, "You think it is easy for me? You think I wanted this?"

"You had a choice, Theo!" Danielle shouted, standing up. "You always had a choice. You could have told me the truth before I trusted you. Before I-" She stopped herself before finishing the sentence.

"Before you what?"

"Before I fell for you," she whispered.

Theo closed his eyes for a moment, as if those words hurt more than any wound he had ever taken.

"I never asked for that..."

Danielle stared at him, stunned. "You never asked for it?"

"You think this is simple? You think I can have sex with you and still walk away from everything I am? You think I can just erase what I was made to do?"

"You can try...You can try, Theo. That is what people do when they love someone. They try."

Theo’s expression turned harder. "Love does not change who I am, Danielle. It only makes it harder."

"Then what am I to you?" she demanded. "A weakness?"

That silence spoke louder than words.

Danielle’s hands shook. "Say it...Say it, Theo. Say that I am your weakness. Say that you regret meeting me."

"You are not my weakness...You are the only thing that makes me feel human again."

She blinked through her tears. "Then why does it feel like I am the one who is breaking?"

Theo’s voice cracked too. "Because everything I touch breaks."

"Stop pretending that this is destiny. You made choices, Theo. You chose to lie...You chose to keep me in the dark. You chose to kill my father."

He raised his voice for the first time. "I did not kill him!"

The words hit the air like thunder. Both of them turned frosty.

Theo’s chest was heaving and his hands clenched at his sides. "I did not kill him," he repeated quietly...

Danielle’s eyes narrowed. "But you wanted to."

Theo looked away. "I wanted to end what he stood for."

"That is the same thing," she muttered bitterly.

"No, it is not. You do not know what he has done."

"I do not want to know!!! I just know that he is my father."

"And that is why I could never do it."

Danielle turned her back to him. "You say that like it is supposed to fix everything."

"It is the truth."

"The truth does not fix lies..."

"I am not your enemy, Danielle."

She turned around aggressively. "Then what are you, Theo? Because right now, I cannot tell the difference."

Theo looked at her one more time and his lips parted. There was too much between them...too many things that could not be unsaid.

Danielle rubbed her forehead and let out a trembling breath. "You know what hurts the most? It is not that you lied. It is that you made me believe you were the only person I could trust."

"I still am."

She laughed bitterly. "You are the reason I cannot trust anyone anymore."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Theo finally said, "I will fix this."

"You cannot fix betrayal, Theo. You cannot fix me."

He reached out to touch her arm, but she stepped back. "Do not."

His hand fell to his side. "You do not understand what I am fighting."

"Then make me understand!" she cried. "You keep saying there is more to the story, then tell me! Tell me everything, Theo. What are you hiding now?"

Theo hesitated. "It is not that simple."

"Nothing ever is with you..."

He looked down. "If I tell you, you will never look at me the same again."

"Maybe I already don’t..."

It was hard for both sides to explain what they felt...while Danielle wanted to punch Theo badly, Theo hoped it would give him forgiveness.

But Theo wanted to tell her everything...

About his childhood with Ethan, and about how deep the lies went. But some part of him still wanted to protect her from it, even if she no longer wanted his protection.

Danielle took a step closer and looked him in the eyes. "You want to fix things? Then start by telling me who you really are."

Theo’s lips parted, but before he could speak, his phone began to ring on the nightstand.

They both looked at it. The sound filled the silence between them.

Danielle’s heart pounded as she stared at the screen. The name flashing there was one she had seen before.

"Theo? Why is he calling you?"

"To probably end this once and for all...I have a feeling that he met our baby brother."