Speaking those words broke my heart, but I can’t face the thought of hurting him. He had to know I was trying to protect him. Hearing the things Eli said brought all of my worst fears to the forefront again. Gio is risking so much for me, and he shouldn’t be. And me loving him was not enough to risk that. Besides, no relationship should be a dirty little secret. Hearing it described as that had made my skin crawl.
I had so desperately wanted him to defend us, but he didn’t, which made me wonder if he considered that that is what we were.
I had to end it before we fell any deeper. We had tried. Desperately. But this was for the best. He deserved so much more.
“Liv, please?” he whispered. I could hear his voice breaking slightly.
“Gio, I don’t want to go over it. Can we just get some s
