Saudade | ✓

dulce

My jaw dropped to the floor with the realization. My entire body went cold, and anger like no other made my chest flare. Dean's smile vanished when he saw the expression on my face. He moved a step as if to explain, but I raised a shaky hand to stop him.

"What is this?"

My voice was eerily calm, the exact opposite of the maelstrom in my soul. Dean gauged my reaction carefully, his eyes not leaving mine, not even for once.

"A house," he replied simply.

My nostrils flared. "I can see that. Please don't play dumb with me Dean."

And instead of pacifying me, he made it worse. He calmly smiled. "Fine. This house is yours. It's under your name."

Now I was livid. What the hell was he thinking? Was he even thinking at all?

"Are you crazy?" I nearly screeched.

"Maybe I am."

He sounded all too calm about it. He sat on one of the sofas and poured himself a drink on the high ball glass. He poured another one for me, and I took it because I was pretty sure I'd break down if I didn't calm my nerves.

"So what is this? A pathetic ruse to buy my affections?"

He looked insulted. He ground his jaw, fire brimming on the depths of his eyes.

Ha! Insulted? What right did he think he had to be insulted?

"Ofcourse not. I'm not trying to buy anything. I'm offering it to you as a gift."

"As a gift?" I laughed without humor. "Oh, true to his southern parentage. You think you can make me give in with your material gifts."

He clenched his jaw, and ran a hand through his hair as if trying to calm himself. He shut his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, Annie. This house is my gift to you, given freely without a trace of malice. It's everything you've ever wanted. I know how much you wanted a stable home after never having one all these years. I want you to have that stability."

I clenched my teeth. "I can achieve that stability by myself, thank you."

"I didn't say you couldn't," he said, his tone turning gentle. "I'm well aware of how capable you are of doing so. But I just want to give this to you. And before you say anything, I didn't take anything from my inheritance to build this. This is years worth of my savings."

"If it's years worth your savings, why would you give it to a woman who wants nothing to do with you?"

He flinched, looking like I had just hit him. The hurt on his face shouldn't make me feel guilty after all that he'd done to me, to her... but it made my chest clench in way that it shouldn't have. I bit my lip, and tried to inject gentleness in my tone. Though I didn't know why I would even consider his feelings after all he'd done.

"What i'm trying to say is that I don't want it to be under my name. This is your house, Dean."

"It's actually your house which could very well be ours should you take me back."