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As she headed toward her car, she saw so lot Matt
She stopped, not sure what to do Part of her wanted to run away Part of her wanted to run toward hi to be all right Neither was possible She wasn’t going to shoeakness and she wasn’t going to wish for the ie any to defeat hi herself he wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with Maybe that man had never existed--maybe she’d created hiot closer, she saw the shadows under his eyes He looked bad, which probably should have made her feel better, but it didn’t In the end, there wouldn’t be any winners in this battle Victory would come at a price that would require payment forever
"I’m sorry," he said when she reached her car "Jesse, I’m more sorry than I can say You shouldn’t have been served I knohat you went through when you read those papers I didn’t want that"
"Starting when?" she asked, steeling herself against being close to him "You obviously saw a lawyer more than once about this You had the papers drawn up You set everything in ed yourdeal It’s done, Matt It can’t be undone"
"I was pissed," he told her "Beyond pissed, beyond angry I hated that you’d kept Gabe froht"
"So you’re going to do the sae the past But at least I’ve ad I can toon not getting played, but you played the hell out of h and then you watched the events unfold How do you think that makes me feel?"
"Like shit," he said bluntly "The same way I felt when you left"
"I left because you rejected me and our child I’ll accept that you could believe I slept with Drew But even if I had been sleeping with my sister’s husband, there was still a chance the baby was yours You ignored that You letthe worst about me hat you needed to do"
"What else was there?" he de "Do you knohat it was like to find out you’d betrayed everything we’d had together?"
She stared into his eyes "I know exactly how that feels"
He stiffened
"It’s better being right, isn’t it?" she taunted "It’s et to win this one, Matt There’s nothing you can do or say to make anyone believe you weren’t the bastard You wantedyou remembered about me tosofor me to fall in love with you You wanted the words The second I said theet the papers ready"
"Yes"
"I meant what I said I loved you and I trusted you and you used that You set out to destroy me, but you’ve done far more than that You’ve threatened my child I may not seem very formidable to you, but I’m not alone I will do whatever is necessary to keep Gabe safe You’re not going to win by default Everythem up on it I will annihilate you in court You have no idea what you’re up against"
He could have at least pretended to look frightened Instead his expression turned sad "I’m sorry," he told her
Jesse hadn’t expected that "So what? You’re sorry That’s ht about all of it I wanted revenge, so I played the gaot to know Gabe and spent time with you I never saw the flaw ini you If I could take it back, I would All of it Not just serving you, but getting a lawyer involved at all"
The truly pathetic moment in all this was how desperately she wanted to believe hi as she said the words
"I know I’ve screwed it all up, Jess I get that" He shoved his hands into the front pockets in his jeans "You don’t need a lawyer I’ to try to take Gabe away I don’t want to hurt you I want us to try again"
She stared at hiether? After this? There’s no way in hell"
He ignored that "I want a real relationship with you I want to be Gabe’s father I want us to be a fah for it to really hurt "That’s crap Total crap Someone ants a relationship doesn’t plan the other person’s emotional destruction If you really cared about o of your plan, but you didn’t You walked away fro you I loved you and called your lawyer You care a whole lotelse I would never want to be with someone like you"
For the first ti to win His shoulders sluhtened "You don’t mean that"
"I mean every word"
"You can’t" He drew in a breath "I love you, Jesse"
The words were less, she told herself, even as they searched for a way into her heart No! She wouldn’t give in, wouldn’t be weak again If it was just her, maybe But Gabe was on the line here