CHAPTER 27 : A Love That Refuses to Die

Their reunion isn't gentle. It's fire meeting gasoline, an explosion waiting to happen.

Eve doesn't hold back. She shoves Alexander, her small hands pressing against his chest, frustration and hurt pouring out of her. "You don't get to do this," she snaps. "You don't get to leave me in pieces and then show up acting like you never left."

Alexander catches her wrists, his grip firm but not cruel. "I never wanted to leave, Eve."

"Then why did you?"

His throat works around the words, as if they're knives cutting him from the inside. "Because if I stayed, you'd be buried next to me."

Eve stares at him, breath shallow. "So instead, you let me think you were gone forever?"

He lets go of her wrists, running a scarred hand down his face. "I thought it was the only way."

She shakes her head, stepping back. "You think you get to decide for me? You think you get to run and leave me with nothing but ghosts?"

Alexander clenches his jaw. "I was trying to protect you."

"By breaking me?" Her voice wavers, but she doesn't let the tears fall. "I don't care about the monsters in your past, Alexander. I care about the man standing in front of me."

He looks at her like she's both his salvation and his ruin. His fingers twitch at his sides, desperate to reach for her. "I'm not a man, Eve." His voice is low, dangerous. "I'm a curse you can't outrun."

She steps closer, pressing her palm against his chest. "Then stop making me run.