Guarded

25

Harry’s POV

I pulled her close to me. I didn’t know what to say. I just held her while she cried for the hundredth time since I had come back into her life and I felt so overcome with guilt that I knew I had to tell her what I had done.

“I did something similar, too,” I said lowly. I sort of hoped she wouldn’t hear me.

“What do you mean?” She asked, turning to face me. Her expression was confused. The sun was almost risen now and the golden rays lit up her tanned skin and I could see in her brown eyes there was a look of tiredness.

Fuck.

I sighed and moved back from her, putting my face in my hands and then running my hands through my hair. It was my trademark look when I was stressed and I chewed nervously on my bottom lip, unsure of how to proceed.

“Harry?” She asked. “What do you mean?”

“I had a hand in your break-up with Cost, Annaleise.” I saw the look on her face and instantly regretted my words.

“What do you mean. Harry?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Hayley had told me how Cost was with her the one night but she told me about the cover-up. Carissa was actually right about one thing – Cost was gay and hiding it. Apparently all the girls he was with were cover-ups.”

“Harry – what does that have to do with us?” Her tone was harsher this time and her brown eyes pierced mine, searching for answers.

“I called the paparazzi the night you left the club with me to go back to my hotel room and I leaked the story about how we used to date in the past.” I looked at her to see she had turned away from me. “I then used Hayley’s phone to call Cost and blackmailed him into coming to the hotel where we where, hoping it would push you towards me. I never meant for things to get so out of hand and I never meant to keep this a secret from you – I wanted to tell you so bad and I wanted to just be with you, Annaleise, I love you.”

I reached for her hand and she snatched it away from me. “How could you?” She stood up and paced back and forth in front of me. I watched her before getting up and attempting to close the distance between the two of us.

“Harry, stay the fuck away from me right now.” Her gaze was deadly and her words were cold.

I watched her pace back and forth before she stopped and picked up the keys that were lying in the sand. “I need to go,” she said, heading off towards the car.

Fuck.

I chased after her. “Annaleise, you can’t just leave me here. Look, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry. Don’t apologize. Don’t fucking say anything. How could you? How could you do something like that? How could you manipulate me and everyone else just so you could get your way? How could you be so selfish? Dear God, I swear, if that fucking crazy bitch hadn’t kidnapped me and there been a link between her and Cost I swear Harry I would think you were the reason for Cost’s death.”