When the truck pulled up to the house, I looked out the window to see Bones behind the wheel. He turned off the engine but kept his gaze forward, looking across the golden fields to the small hills beyond. His expansive shoulders looked too big for the truck, and he rubbed his fingers along his bottom lip as he thought to himself.

I watched him, expecting him to express his happiness in a more overt way.

A minute passed before he finally got out of the truck and headed to the front door.

I got there first and opened the door before his hand reached the handle. I looked into his face, seeing his bright blue eyes and fair complexion. Hair sprinkled his jaw because he skipped a shave that morning. Just as he looked on the night I first met him, he seemed broken. There wasn’t anger in his eyes—just defeat.

I continued to stare into his face, trying to make sense of his response. My father had finally accepted the man I loved into our family, so there was no reason to be so moody. Bones was a naturally melancholy man, but this occasion deserved a smile. “What is it?”

Without taking his eyes off me, he shut the door behind him. The door clicked into place, and then the silence of the house surrounded us everywhere. Only our breaths could be heard—along with our frantically beating hearts. Bones stared at me with the same brooding expression, like he didn’t have an answer.

None of this was making sense. “What happened?”

He released a quiet sigh, his nostrils flaring in the process. He finally walked past me, making sure not to touch me as he went. He moved to the couch in the living room then lowered himself, his arms resting on his knees.

I didn’t even get a kiss. “Okay, you’re scaring me.”

He brought his palms together and slightly rubbed them back and forth. He watched his movements, more interested in his subtle fidgeting than me.

I sat beside him, feeling his heat the second I was this close to him. “My father said he would accept you. But it seems like you’ve walked in here with completely different news.”

He finally spoke. “Because I have.”

I was already afraid when I watched him sit in the truck for an extra minute. I was afraid when he didn’t kiss me when he came home. But now I was scared for a whole new reason. “Griffin?”

He turned his face my way, his bright eyes landing on mine. “He changed his mind, baby.”

My eyes widened a little farther, and my chest expanded to full capacity with the breath I took. My father and I had had a long talk before he came to his decision. I told him I loved this man so much that I wasn’t going to wait for his approval anymore. The conversation went well, and my family had finally moved in a new direction. “Why? How? What did you say to him?” All he had to do was be quiet and listen to my father. What did he do to provoke my father so strongly?

“The truth.” He faced forward again. “He said he would give me his approval, but I had to answer one more question…”

“And what question was that?”

He sighed like he didn’t want to give an answer. “He wanted to know how we fell in love. He says you’re stubborn and aggressive, and there’s no way you would have agreed to date me under those conditions. So he wanted me to explain how that happened. He asked the question when he already knew the answer. But he wanted to hear me say it to make sure.”

I would normally be mortified that my father knew something so personal about my romantic life, but now I was too upset about his decision to really focus on that. “And you told him…?”

He nodded. “I considered lying. But I’d only gotten this far with your father because of my honesty. My integrity is the only thing he’s ever respected me for. I wasn’t going to throw all that away.”

My palms pressed against my face, shutting out the room and the man beside me. Just when I’d thought I was getting everything I wanted, I lost it all.

“I told him I would spare your family if you gave yourself to me.”

I shut my eyes even though my face was already covered. “Jesus…”

“That set him off. He pulled a gun on me, pressed the barrel right into my skull, and told me to disappear. If he ever sees me again, he will shoot me. And I believe him. The only reason he didn’t kill me in his office was because of you.”

“This can’t be happening.” I slowly pulled my palms away from my face and looked at the living room. My heart was beating so fast, but I felt somber at the same time. I felt empty inside, like there was nothing left of me to give.

He leaned forward with his forearms on his knees, his head bowed to the floor.

I sat in silence, feeling every bone in my body break. My heart hurt in a brand-new way. It was a kind of sadness I’d never felt before. Bones had told me he loved me, and I’d sent him away. But that pain was nothing compared to what I felt now. I’d done everything to make this relationship work, had done everything to keep the man I shouldn’t love. But now we’d hit a dead end.

There was no moving forward.

Bones turned his face toward me, his pragmatic eyes empty of the sadness I was feeling. His carved jawline and hard cheekbones showed a masculine man who didn’t feel anything at all. Devoid of emotion, as if our lives hadn’t just been ruined, he stared at me like this didn’t destroy him the way it destroyed me. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“You’re sorry?” I whispered. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but I couldn’t swallow back the tears that were about to emerge. I woke up that morning happier than I’d been in a long time. The second Bones left, I pictured the way he would come home. I pictured the way we would start our lives together, the way he would ask me to be his wife. He wouldn’t get down on one knee and make a romantic gesture, but he would still sweep me off my feet.

His hand cupped my cheek, and he pressed his forehead against mine. “I did everything to keep you. I proved myself to your family. I played by their rules. I made every sacrifice they asked of me. Your father was never going to accept me. He was always looking for a reason…and now he has one.”

“But he said—”

“Doesn’t matter. He changed his mind.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears break the surface. “I can’t believe this.”

He grabbed my hand on my thigh and squeezed it.

“I just can’t…”

“I know, baby.”

He’d always been right. He knew we were destined to fail. There was never any hope. My family could never look past the crimes committed by Bones’s father. We would always stand on opposite sides of the battlefield. “It shouldn’t matter how our relationship started. The only thing that should matter is what it is now.”

“He doesn’t see it that way. He never will.”

“It’s my life…”

He shook his head slightly. “He doesn’t see it that way either. He said you’ll hate him for a while, but one day, you’ll thank him for this. You’ll marry a good guy who will treat you right…and you’ll forget about me.”

“I’ll never forget you. I don’t want anyone else.”

He closed his eyes.

I gripped his hand tighter. I felt him slip away even though he was right beside me. I felt my heart tear irreparably. I watched my entire life change, watched myself slip away. I couldn’t picture myself with another man, with anyone other than Bones. I’d already planned out the rest of our lives. My family was the most important thing in the world to me, but they shouldn’t have this much power over my future. I wasn’t a sixteen-year-old girl anymore. I was a grown woman who knew exactly what she wanted. “I tried doing this the right way. I tried to let my family see the man you really are. I tried to bring both of you together, to accept one another. But if they can’t accept us…then I don’t care.”

Bones opened his eyes and pulled his face away so he could look at me better. Confusion entered his gaze, affection shortly afterward.

“You’re the man I want—and that’s final.” If I had to split the holidays between Bones and my family, I would deal with it. If I had to watch my father stare at me with disappointment and disapproval, I would accept it. If I didn’t see my family as much as I used to because they couldn’t tolerate the man I loved, then that was the sacrifice I had to make.

“Baby.” His fingers moved under my chin. “That means a lot to me.”

“I love you…” When I blinked, more tears came. “I love you more than I’ll ever love another man. I can’t live without you…I don’t want to. I don’t want anyone else to be my husband. What we have is real, intense, beautiful. I know our relationship didn’t start the right way…but I would never change that.”

His fingers slid down my neck, right over my pulse, and to my shoulder. His gaze shifted away from mine, and he watched his fingers slide underneath my shirt so he could feel my beating heart. He was still for a long time, like he was counting the number of beats per minute. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. And you’ll always be the only woman I will ever love. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, no sacrifice I wouldn’t make. And that’s why I could never let you do this.”

My eyes shifted back and forth as I looked at him. My heart flushed with another surge of pain when I listened to the defeat in his voice.

“I know that’s not what you want. Maybe right now it is because you’re upset and emotional, but after time has passed, you’ll miss your family. You’ll miss the special relationship you have with your parents and your brother. Being with me will only distance you from them. Let’s not forget why we did all of this in the first place…because you need your family. I would never do that to you, never take away the people who mean the most to you.” His eyes lifted to mine. “I know what it’s like not having a family. It’s depressing, lonely, and empty. I wish my mother were still alive. I wish I had a brother or sister. I wish I had someone…but I don’t have anyone. As much as I want you, as much as I love you…” He shook his head. “I never want you to be alone…not even with me.”

“They would still be my family—”

“It wouldn’t be the same. You can always find another man to replace me, but you’ll never replace your family.”

“I don’t want to replace you either…”

“Neither do I.” He kept his voice steady even though I was covered in tears. “But we don’t have another choice. This is how it has to be.” He pulled his hand out of my shirt before he dug it into the back of my hair. He regarded me with a hard expression that was slightly tinted with sadness.

“No…”

He pressed his lips against my forehead and brought me into his chest. His powerful arms locked around me, and he held me close, his body warm and hard. His chin rested on my forehead, and he breathed with me.

I cried into his chest, unable to stop the tears. I’d been with other men who were handsome, successful, and interesting, but not a single one compared to this man. I loved him with all my heart, loved him even when I knew I shouldn’t. It was the kind of love I couldn’t explain to another person. I could argue with my father forever, but he would never understand how I felt about this man. He claimed he loved my mother in a way words couldn’t express, but that love wasn’t different from what I had with this man. “I can’t do this.”

Every time he took a breath, his chest expanded against mine. I could feel the shivers that rocked his body, the hints of emotional instability. I could feel the slight tremor of his hands, feel his heart crack inside his powerful chest. He didn’t say a single word, but he didn’t need to. I knew he was just as broken as I was. Even more broken. “Neither can I.”

I still hadn’t accepted the truth.

That this was over.

Bones and I didn’t speak of it again. We didn’t establish when he would be leaving or how we would say goodbye. Neither one of us wanted to deal with it, so we both decided to ignore it.

But we couldn’t ignore it forever.

My father put a gun to his head and ordered him to disappear. But if my father showed up on my doorstep to make sure Bones left, I wouldn’t open the door. It would be the first time in my life that I would tell my father off.

But I knew he wouldn’t come. I knew he respected my privacy…to some degree.

We lay in bed side by side that night, my leg hooked over his waist while his face rested close to mine on the pillow. Instead of closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, he chose to stare at me instead.

Now that my relationship with Bones had an expiration date, all I could do was cherish every single moment I had left. He would walk out that door soon, and I would never watch him walk back through it. My nights would be lonely, and all I would have to get me through the darkness were our memories.

I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. I couldn’t picture myself married with a family. I couldn’t picture my future when this man was all I ever wanted. Would I ever fall in love again? Was there a man out there who could compete with the man who had claimed my heart, body, and soul?

His hand slid up my back and underneath my hair. His fingers touched me lightly, his caresses gentle. His eyes never left my face, and instead of reflecting the pain that burned in his heart, his hands showed his depression. They shook a little, tiny vibrations that were almost undetectable.

My hands kept gripping him, making sure he was really there. I didn’t want him to slip away, to leave me without saying goodbye. Bones was that kind of man, the kind who slipped out in the middle of the night so I wouldn’t have to watch him go. That was the last thing I wanted. “Don’t leave without saying goodbye.” Watching him walk out of my life would be the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, but it was better than missing that moment altogether.

His eyes softened. “Alright.”

We still hadn’t discussed when he would be leaving. We hadn’t discussed anything. Would I stay at the house when he left? Would he return to Milan or Lake Garda? If I wanted to stay in Tuscany, I would have to stay with my parents, but that was the last place I would go. I didn’t hate them for the decision they made, but I certainly didn’t want to look at them right now.

“I want to stay as long as I can…but I know that’s not good for either of us.”

The longer he stayed, the more I dreaded the moment he would leave. Anticipating that terrible moment made me hurt all over. Just thinking about it stopped me from breathing. I would watch the love of my life walk out that door, and I wouldn’t stop him. I was saying goodbye to the greatest love I’d ever known.

“So, I’m going to leave tomorrow.” Bones was handling this situation much better than I was. While I spent my time crying, he kept his stoic expression. He wasn’t angry or sad, almost indifferent. He’d never been an emotional man, but he’d always been passionate. That intensity disappeared the moment he left my father’s company. It was the first time he’d seemed so defeated.

“No.” My palm went to his chest, resting right over his heart. “No, that’s too soon. I’m not ready.”

“You’ll never be ready, baby.”

“No.” My voice came out firmer, sterner than I’d ever been before. My breathing was haywire, and I could barely keep myself calm. Regardless of when he left, I wouldn’t be ready for it. But I certainly wasn’t ready for him to leave that soon. “Just no, alright?” I pressed my face into his chest so I could find comfort in his warmth and strength. I didn’t want him to look at me, to see how weak I’d become. A part of me regretted loving him in the first place. My instincts had told me it would end this way, but I’d made the mistake of falling madly in love with him anyway.

“Alright.” He brushed his lips against my forehead. “Then the day after.”

My eyes were closed, and I inhaled his scent. “How can you be in such a hurry to say goodbye to me?”

“That’s not how it is, and you know it.”

“Seems like it.”

“The longer we stretch this out, the more painful it’s going to be.”

“Doesn’t seem like you’re in pain at all…” It must have been the anger over the situation talking, but now I was spitting out anything that came to mind. I was furious and frustrated that this was happening, that we’d come so far only to fail.

“You know I am.”

“Then why am I the only one who’s a mess?”

He ran his hand down my hair and along my spine. “Just because I’m not a mess on the outside doesn’t mean I’m not a mess on the inside.”

When I woke up the next morning, he was gone.

He was nowhere in the house, and there wasn’t a note.

I immediately panicked, thinking he’d left without saying goodbye even though I asked him not to.

But then I remembered he wouldn’t lie to me, especially not now. I didn’t have a clue where he was or why he’d slipped out so early in the morning, but in my heart, I knew he would come back.

I skipped breakfast because I wasn’t hungry, and I sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of his scotch. Instead of having coffee, I decided to hit the booze. I drank from the short glass as I stared at the large bottle filled with amber liquid.

I was so heavy with sadness I didn’t know how to process it. It was so painful that it didn’t seem real. I couldn’t believe Bones would leave tomorrow morning.

And I would have to move on.

He would go back to his lifestyle, killing for cash and screwing prostitutes. He would close up again, turning his back on the world in favor of solitude. My painting would hang in one of his rooms so he would never forget my face. The years would pass and he would slowly forget about me, but he would never forget I was the only woman he’d ever loved.

I would lick my wounds for a long time, cry over the man I couldn’t have. But one day, I would stop dragging my feet on the floor and put myself out there again. Maybe I would meet a man I liked, but I didn’t believe I would meet one I loved. My family would be happy about the new man in my life, but in my heart, I would always want the man I couldn’t have. Despite how much I loved my father, I would always resent him for taking Bones away.

I drank the scotch and sat in the silence of the small villa. When Bones left tomorrow, I would probably stay here until I decided what to do. The only other place I could call home was my apartment in Milan. That place was heavy with memories of Bones, so I couldn’t stay there. With the money I’d made from my paintings, I should be able to get a new place. But did I want to stay in Milan? My plan had been to return to Tuscany and live in Florence, but now that I was angry with my father, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be so close to them right now.

I didn’t belong anywhere.

An hour later, the front door opened, and Bones’s heavy footfalls sounded against the tiled floor.

I stared at the half empty bottle of scotch, my stomach warm from all the booze I’d just consumed.

Bones stopped in the kitchen, staring at me with his irritated gaze.

I didn’t look at him. “Where were you?”

He held his silence, his disapproval filling the air. After pausing at the kitchen counter, he walked to the table and snatched the bottle from the surface. He examined the contents, calculating how much I’d drunk. “Don’t pull this stunt, Vanessa. You’re better than that.”

“I’m better than that?” I asked incredulously. “I can’t even remember a time when I’ve seen you drink water.”

“Because I never have.” He took the glass away from me and downed the rest of it. “I understand you’re upset, but don’t go down this path. You’re better than this, and I expect more from you.”

I gave him a glare. “Then don’t expect anything from me.”

“Too bad,” he snapped. “I always expect the world from you.” He pulled out the chair beside me and sat down, his body pivoted toward me. “I know this is shitty, baby. But you’re going to move past this. One day, you’re going to meet a nice guy, fall in love, and forget about me.”

His words infuriated me so much that I couldn’t think straight. Without thinking twice about it, I pulled my hand back and slapped him hard across the face. I hit him with enough force to turn the skin red. “Don’t say that to me.”

He turned with the hit, clenched his jaw, and then gave me a terrifying glare.

“I can’t believe you think our love is so trivial.”

“I don’t. I just don’t want you to lose yourself over this. Where’s the strong woman I fell in love with? Where’s the woman who doesn’t shed a tear over a man? That’s the woman you need to be right now. I don’t want you to be miserable. I know it sucks right now, but there’s a future for you. You’re in pain now, but you won’t always be. When I walk out that door, I want to know that you’re going to be alright.”

“Be alright?” I whispered. “How can I be alright without you?”

His eyes softened, but only for a moment. “You can do it, baby. You know you can call me if you need anything. I don’t care if you have a husband or kids. I’ll always be there if you need me.”

“I don’t want to do this…”

“I know,” he said quietly. “But it’s happening. I need you to keep yourself together.”

“I guess I’m not as strong as you.”

“No.” He gripped my wrist and gave it a squeeze. “You’re stronger.” He brought my hand to his mouth and placed a kiss right over the veins. “I know this hurts, but I know you have the strength to pull through it. I don’t want you to suffer. I want you to be happy.”

“You want me to love someone else?” I asked incredulously. “To find a nice guy like my father wants?”

He stared at my hand for a long time, pondering my question. He lifted his gaze again. “I want you to be happy, baby. If I can’t have you, I don’t want you to be alone. I would much rather picture you with a family like you’ve always wanted instead of depressed and alone because we can’t be together.”

My eyes softened, accompanied by a hint of tears. “Where were you?”

He looked away again. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“Because.” He turned his gaze on me, this time stern.

I didn’t bother asking any more questions because I knew I wouldn’t get an answer. “What do we do now?” I wanted to appreciate every moment we had left, but I was too upset to feel spontaneous or happy. Normally, we’d be making love or staring into each other’s eyes. But neither one of us was in the mood for that.

He pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch. “I have less than a day left with my woman. I know exactly what I want to do.”

The sex wasn’t good like it usually was. Knowing every kiss and thrust were final took all the enjoyment out of it. All I could think about were the nights I would be spending alone, remembering the evenings when things were good between us. I pictured him with the women who would follow after I was gone. I imagined the men I would date then dump. My hands moved through his short hair and down his muscular back, but it wasn’t the same as it used to be.

I was too heartbroken.

Bones wasn’t the same either. His lovemaking was slow, full of abrupt stops, like he was being hit with the reality that this heartbreak was inevitable. He was a powerful man who could control anything, but he couldn’t stop the sun from rising.

No one could.

All of our heat and passion had been stripped away, replaced by anger, fear, and sorrow. We were just ghosts of who we used to be.

We lay in bed together once the sun rose. The light slowly filled the bedroom as the world came to life once more. Tears constantly burned behind my eyes, but I never let them fall. I treasured the feeling of his hard chest underneath my hand, the way his blue eyes darkened when he stared at me. I was trying to capture everything, to keep it in my memory for years to come. I should want to forget about him to make this all easier, but Bones was definitely a man I never wanted to forget.

He was the love of my life.

Hours passed, and he stared at me with his handsome gaze. His eyes were empty, but his jaw was tight and his muscles rigid. He’d never been the kind of man to wear his heart on his sleeve, to display his emotions like a painting. To a stranger, it would seem like he was handling this breakup well. It might even seem like he was indifferent to it altogether.

But I knew that wasn’t the case.

He leaned over me and pressed a kiss to the skin over my heart. He let his lips linger, clinging to my warm skin before he pulled away. The sheets were kicked back, and he rose from the bed.

I knew what was coming.

Moving at a slow pace, he pulled on his clothes. First, it was his boxers and then his jeans. His t-shirt came next, along with his shoes.

I sat up in bed and watched him, the blankets held against my chest. It was time for me to get up and put my clothes on, but my body was too weak to move. Every breath hurt my chest, like I was breathing in poisonous gas.

Bones turned back to me, his hollow eyes full of sympathy. He watched me for a long time, silently demanding me to rise and get dressed. He wanted me to be stronger than this, to not be a wreck once he walked out that door. Despite my pain, he expected the most out of me.

I finally got out of bed.

The moments between getting ready and moving to the front door were horrible. My heart was beating fast with adrenaline, and my hands were shaking with the same tremors that Bones had. The love of my life was about to walk out forever. I would probably never see him again, only have his memory for comfort.

He already had his bags packed. He probably did it in the middle of the night to spare me the pain of watching him gather his things. They must already be in the truck because he didn’t carry them with him.

I followed him to the front door but stopped before I reached the threshold. “I can’t do this…” Tears were already starting to break past the flimsy barrier I was erecting. I’d always prided myself on being stronger than the average person, but all that confidence failed me. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and I didn’t think I could see it through. I’d been captured by a psychopath and I’d been shot in the arm, but those experiences didn’t leave me crippled the way this did. I’d rather be shot a million times than have to say goodbye to this man.

He slowly turned around, the disappointment in his eyes. “You’re stronger than this.”

“No, I’m not,” I whispered. “I can’t turn off my heart the way you can.”

His eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched a little harder.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I can barely breathe right now…”

“But you will do it, baby. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

“What kind of life will that be without you?” I snapped. “There will never be another man out there who will make me feel the way you do. Anytime I’m with someone, I’ll only think of you. And even when I’m not, I’ll still think of you. You aren’t just some man that I’m sleeping with—”

“I know.” His voice turned gentle despite the irritation in his voice. “I know how hard this is because I’m standing here with you. The idea of moving on after I’ve had something so great…sounds impossible. I thought my life was about to change. I thought I was going to settle down and say goodbye to the life of loneliness I used to live. But now I have to go back to it…as much as I don’t want to. My life will be bleak, a series of reckless decisions without consequence. But Vanessa, you have so much more to live for. Don’t go weak on me, not now and not ever. Hold your head high, be strong, and don’t lose yourself. The last thing I want is for you to be miserable, to make mistakes you’ll regret because of sadness. Take it slow, pick up the pieces, and then find the right man who can replace me, someone who will love you, provide for you, and protect you.”

The second I blinked, two tears streamed down my cheeks. “How can you say that to me?”

His jaw clenched tighter.

“How can you tell me to be with someone else so calmly?” My voice broke.

“It’s easy.” With stiff shoulders, he stared at me with the same intensity as before. “If we can’t be together, the next best thing is you being happy. I’m not a sadist. I don’t get off on the idea of you being miserable forever. I want you to end up with a husband and kids.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and felt more tears stream down my face. “I don’t even want to think about that right now. I don’t want to think about you with some other woman. If you think I’m going to stand here and encourage you to get married and have your own family…that’s never going to happen. Maybe I’m selfish and petty, but it hurts too much to say those things. And it hurts even more to hear them.”

He broke contact and dug his hand into his pocket. “When I told you I loved you, I meant it. That means I want you to be happy—even without me. When you meet someone you like, I don’t want you to push him away because of my memory. Loving you means I have to do the right thing, even if my heart is telling me otherwise.” He pulled a folded-up envelope from his pocket and placed it in my hand. “Open this when I leave.”

I gripped it in my fingers and felt something hard inside, like a key. “What is it?”

“Just open it when I leave.” He opened the front door, taking this goodbye to the next stage.

More tears fell. “I can’t do this…”

“Yes, you can.” He turned back to me, his expression as stoic as ever. I was fighting for sanity while he was perfectly calm. Even when a gun was pointed at his skull, he didn’t flinch. He never panicked despite the severity of the situation. This moment was no different. It didn’t affect him at all. “I know you can.”

“This isn’t as easy for me as it is for you.”

“Baby.” He slid his hand around my waist, and he looked down into my face. “Trust me, it’s not.”

I pressed my face against his chest and cried, my hands gripping his biceps as tightly as possible so he couldn’t walk away.

He rested his chin on my head and stood there with me, listening to me sob and feeling me soak his t-shirt.

In that moment, I hated my father. I hated what he’d done to me. I hated myself for walking down that alley in Milan at the wrong time. My love for this man was so powerful that it cursed me in the end, and a part of me regretted it. If I’d just had a meaningless relationship with Mateo, I wouldn’t be feeling this way. If I’d never loved so fiercely, I wouldn’t feel this loss so fiercely.

Bones cupped my cheek and directed my gaze on him. “I love you. Always will.”

I locked my arms around his neck, and I kissed him, kissed him for the last time. “I love you…” Our kiss was mixed with tears, my words lost in the sorrow. “You’re the love of my life.”

He kissed me a little harder, his fingers digging into my hair. Our tongues moved in sync as our lips came together and broke apart. His hand shook slightly against me, his passion and emptiness combining.

Then he abruptly pulled away. He turned around without looking at me again. He was out the front door in less than a second and then headed to his truck in the driveway. He was careful not to look at me, to see the devastated expression on my face before he left our relationship forever.

I watched his shoulders shift as he moved, watched him approach his truck and prepare to leave my life. Since the moment he’d come home from meeting my father, he’d been nothing but calm. He accepted my father’s judgment without argument, and even when I wanted to be with him anyway, he rejected the idea. This separation ruined my life, but it didn’t affect him in the same way. He was either incredibly strong or incredibly heartless.

He told me to marry someone else without a single hint of pain.

How could he say that to me?

He arrived at the truck and opened the door.

“Griffin.” I was just in one of his t-shirts with bare feet, but that didn’t stop me from crossing over the threshold and stepping onto the gravel of the driveway. The small rocks hurt my feet, but that didn’t stop me.

He kept his hand on the open door but didn’t turn around.

“Griffin.” My feet crunched against the gravel as the early morning light stretched across the golden fields. It was still dawn, and not a single car was on the road. The birds were singing, welcoming spring. It was a beautiful day, but that beauty wasn’t strong enough to diminish this painful moment. I stopped behind him, staring at his muscular back in his t-shirt.

“Don’t make me look at you again.”

“I just…” I didn’t want to leave things this way. All I’d done was yell at him for the things he said and cry, but I’d never told him I wanted him to be happy. He could say it to me, but I couldn’t say it to him. This was the last chance I would ever get. “I want you to be happy too…” That was the most I could say. That was the only blessing he would ever get from me. He could interpret it in whatever way he chose.

He took a deep breath but still didn’t turn around.

“Griffin…”

He finally dropped his arm from the car door and rotated, coming face-to-face with me. The strong man I saw just a moment ago had disappeared. His detached expression was gone, his indifference no longer evident. With wet eyes showing a tint of redness, he wore an expression I’d never seen before.

The look killed me, put a bullet right in my heart. His sadness destroyed me, made me feel worse than I already did. The strongest man I’d ever known had been reduced to brokenness. Tears burned in my eyes even more, and the sobs started to rack my body.

He kept control of his emotions better than I did, didn’t let a single tear fall. But the buildup of moisture was there, the redness in his eyes apparent. The skin around his eyes started to become puffy. He was too proud to cry, but not strong enough to hide the evidence of his impending tears. He’d been shot dozens of times, had suffered more than any person I’d ever known, and not once did he cave to the sadness. But this moment was the one that broke him. He cupped my cheeks with both hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead. His lips lingered a long time, warm and soft. The hair from his jaw brushed against me, making me think of all the times it happened before. “Goodbye, Vanessa.”