Restitution (The Edge of Darkness, #3)

by Leigh Rivers

He shoves his hands in his trouser pockets and steps forward. “Do you believe me now that I don’t know how to be in a relationship?” I lower my head. “It doesn’t mean that at all.” “You said so yourself. It triggered me. And it pisses me off, Stacey.” I nibble my lip. “I know.” He pulls a hand from his pocket and aggressively taps the side of his head with bared teeth. “It’s Bernadette. She’s in my head all the fucking time. Every single thing I do, I hear her voice, smell her fucking perfume and feel her nails clawing into my skin. I’m trying so damn hard to push it all aside and be good enough for you.” He eats up the distance between us, making my pulse race. “I. Don’t. Know. How.” I fight tears, seeing into his abused soul through the deadliness of his eyes. “But, despite every reason not to, I want to be with you. I need you.” My head tilts as a tear slides down my cheek. “You do?” “Of course I do,” he says with a frown, closing the remaining distance between us and wiping the tear away with his thumb, stroking beneath my eye as he cups my face. “But I’ve fucked up too much, and I don’t know how to fix any of this.” “I forgave you,” I reply, my voice shaking.