Chapter 110 Breaking point
Jason’s POV
I stood on the balcony, cigarette burning between my fingers, watching the city wake up. From here I could watch my father's car drive off to whatever demanded his attention early this morning.
I took a long drag and watched until the car disappeared around the corner.
The penthouse was quiet now that it was just me and her. The thought made something dangerous coil in my chest.
I crushed the cigarette against the railing and flicked it over the edge. I watched it fall twenty stories before disappearing.
Then I turned and walked inside.
My feet carried me through the living room, down the hallway, straight to her door. I stood there for a moment. With my hands raised and my knuckles inches away from the wood.
This was insane. Since when did a girl make me go crazy? Since when? I am the son of Gavin. Grand son of Zeus. No woman on this earth should make me feel like this. If she wanted to fuck an old man instead of me the new upgraded version, that that is her fucking fucked up loss. I’m going to my room.
Instead, I knocked. Fuck. I knocked again. Harder.
“Coming,” her voice called out, it sounded muffled and sleepy.
The door opened. Melissa stood there in one of Gavin’s t-shirts, the fabric falling to mid-thigh. Her hair was messy from sleep. Her eyes were half-closed, still adjusting to the light.
“What?” she asked, confused.
I opened my mouth then closed it. Exhaled hard. Then I stepped forward.
Into her room. Then back out into the hallway.
Then forward again.
I couldn’t make myself decide. Couldn’t make my body do what my brain was screaming at it to do…walk away, leave her alone, don’t cross this line.
“Can I snatch you from the hands of the devil himself? I’m falling and I can’t get out. Help me.”
“Jason, what’s wrong?” Her voice changed. She sounded now. She reached for my arm. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
The feeling of her fingers against my skin made me break out in cold sweat. I walked in. Grabbed her face with both hands, tilting her head up. “Salvami (save me)” I breathe out.
And I kissed her. Her eyes flew open with shock.
She tried to push against my stomach but I was already turning her, spinning her around, using my weight to pin her against the wall.
I tilted her head to the side, deepening the kiss. Tasting her. Finally tasting her the way I’d wanted to for months.
She made a sound…surprise or protest, I couldn’t tell…and pushed harder against my chest.
I didn’t budge.
Her hands came up between us, trying to create space.Then her forehead cracked against my nose.
“Ow!” She stumbled back, one hand flying to her head. “Ow, ow, ow.”
I touched my nose. It wasn’t bleeding but it hurt like hell.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Jason?!” She was crying now. Actual tears streaming down her face as she cradled her head. “What the fuck?!”
I stared at her and something in my chest shattered completely.
“I love you!” The words exploded out of me. “I love you, Melissa!”
She froze.
Her hand slowly lowered from her head. She stared at me like I’d just spoken a language she didn’t understand.
“What?”
“I love you,” I said again. Quieter this time but no less intense. “I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you. Since before I even knew who you were. Since that first fucking second you walked into my life and turned everything upside down.”
“Jason…”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.” I took a step toward her. She took a step back. “I can’t sleep. I can’t focus. I can’t breathe without wanting you so badly it’s killing me.”
“Stop.” Her voice shook. “Stop talking.”
“I tried to stay away. I swear to God I tried.” Another step forward. Another step back. “But I can’t. I physically cannot stay away from you.”
“You have to.” She hit the wall with her back. Nowhere left to go. “Jason, you have to. This is…this is insane. This is wrong.”
“I know it’s wrong!” I slammed my hand against the wall beside her head. She flinched but I couldn’t stop. “Don’t you think I know that? You’re with my father. You’re practically my stepsister. I know how fucked up this is!”
“Then why are you doing this?!”
“Because I can’t help it!” I was shouting now. “Because every time I see you with him, every time you smile at him, every time you say ‘my Gavin’ like he owns you…it makes me want to burn the whole world down!”
“That’s not love, Jason. That’s obsession.”
“Maybe it is.” I leaned in closer. Close enough to see the gold flecks in her dark eyes. “Maybe I am obsessed with you. Maybe I’m completely out of my mind. But that doesn’t make it any less real.”
“Gavin…”
“Fuck Gavin!” The words came out harsh. “I don’t care that he’s my father. I don’t care that he loves you. I don’t care about any of it because I loved you first!”
“No, you didn’t.” She shook her head. Tears still streaming down her face. “I can’t,” she said finally. “Jason, I can’t give you what you want.”
“I know.”
“I love Gavin.”
“I know that too.”
“Then why…why tell me this? Why make everything so much harder than it already is?”
“Because I’m selfish.” I dropped my hand from her face and stepped back. “Because I’m my grandfather’s grandson and I take what I want and damn the consequences.”
“You can’t have me.”
“I know.” I said it again.
“You need to leave,” she said quietly. “Right now.”
“This isn’t something we can’t take back, Melissa.”
“Jason, please.” Her voice broke. “Please just go.”
I looked at her for a long moment. Memorizing her face. The tears on her cheeks. The way she held herself like she was trying not to fall apart.
“I’m sorry,” I said. And meant it. “I’m sorry for kissing you. I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I’m sorry for being fucked up enough to fall in love with my father’s woman.”
“Jason…”
“But I’m not sorry for loving you.” I walked toward the door. Stopped with my hand on the frame. “And I’m not going to stop. Even if you never feel the same way. Even if this destroys me. I’m not going to stop.”