Our Broken Pieces

Chapter 37

Mystic~

I stood in the middle of the room, wondering how in the hell did I find myself back in time. A time when, once again, my word wasn't good enough. Where the people-or person as was this case-believed the word of someone else, rather than coming to me and asking me to explain their confusion. Like my parents, Gage had heard something that he hadn't liked, then charged like a rhino, instead of trusting me.

My heart's been broken only twice in my lifetime, and both times by the same person. The only difference was that this time, I wasn't a confused, lost, scared girl. I was a strong, albeit empty woman. Still, if I refused to take this shit from my parents, then I sure as hell wasn't going to take it from Gage Evans.

"Let me get this straight," I said, shock and emotion gone from my voice. "Reagan, mind you, a woman who doesn't like me, and you know this, came to you and told you that I was all over David, and instead of asking me about it, you assumed it was true, and so you, what? Barged in here to catch us?"

Gone was the anger. In its place was resignation. "Mystic-"

"No," I spat, cutting him off. "It's a yes or no question, Gage. Is that or isn't that what happened here?"

His jaw clenched as he bit out, "Yes."

This was the part where you'd think that tears would be flowing, but they weren't. I was too numb for that. I was too heartbroken for that. I was too empty for that.

I arched a brow. "I guess you owe my parents, my sister, and Margot an apology, huh?"

His lip curled in fury. "It's not the same thing."

"Yes, it is," I argued. "Just like they took Margot's side over mine without a thought to asking me, you just did the same thing. But even worse, at least Margot had been my best friend. My parents had no reason to think that she was lying. You took the word of a woman who hates me and would love nothing more than to cause problems for me."

"Why would she lie?" he asked, another nail in our coffin. "It's not like she knows about us."

I shook my head, ready to end this. "Of course, she knows about us, Gage," I told him. "Damn near everyone in this building does."

His head reared back, disbelieving. "How?"

"That day in the conference room? People heard and saw us, Gage. It was all over the place that there was something going on between us. Sure, they didn't know what exactly, but they knew. Reagan knew."

"Mystic-"

"Go to hell, Gage," I scoffed tiredly, turning to clean up the meeting room, so that I could get the hell away from him. "We're done here."

"We'll never be done," he replied, his voice hard and unyielding.

After stuffing all the design materials in a CI briefcase, I turned to face him. "That's where you're wrong, Gage," I told him. "My soul might be tied to yours, but my soul survived being without you for ten years, it'll survive another fifty years without you."

Gage shook his head. "No," he snarled. "You don't get to leave me, Mystic. Especially, not over one stupid fight."

"I'm not leaving you over one stupid fight," I clarified. "I'm leaving you because my voice matters. My word is worthy. Because I am not a cheater or a liar."

I went to leave the room, but his hands latched onto my arms, and he held me prisoner where I stood. "Mystic-"

With every ounce of strength I possessed, I shoved my heart, my soul, my very essence back, then faced the only man on the planet that had the ability to destroy me so thoroughly. "If you do not let me go this very second, I will break into so many pieces that I will never be able to put myself back together again, Gage." His face immediately paled at my raw vulnerability. "Let. Me. Go."