The Closer (18+) ✓

| 9.4 | the silver jubilee

Previously on The Closer

"I'm not asking for much, Hans," I whispered, my voice almost brittle. He stopped fighting to get away from me and when I met his gaze, the struggle was gone. "I just want the truth."

"The truth," he repeated, his voice metallic, heavy.

Maybe I was asking for too much. The truth had nearly destroyed us, him more than me. But was that really the reason?

---

❝And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be
Right in front of me
Talk some sense to me.❞

Chapter Nine:
The Silver Jubilee
(cont'd)

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

The thrumming of his vein below my finger increased. He snapped his focus away from me, taking a step back. I took one forward, not letting go.

"I need to know why."

"Why should it matter?" Hans snarled, wrenching his arm out of my grasp with a sudden amount of strength that I hadn't prepared for. He glared down at me, eyes narrowing into slits. "Your life without me in it has been just fine. You've got your perfect little job. Your regular drinking buddies. Your Tim."

I didn't expect him to snap. Hans was master of the art of deception and after all I had learned about him, I knew putting on a facade was one among the many tricks the man had up his sleeve. And yet, he snapped. It was something about my words, something about me that did it. The shock that flitted across my face was clearly visible to him as he stood, a towering mass of shaking, heated anger. I managed to keep my composure as I spoke, calm and collected.

"Is this because of Jacob?"

Hans stood still, not answering. The silence did more damage than his words. The thought of my past with Jacob ruining what I potentially had with Hans was heart-wrenching. It's exactly what I'd been trying to avoid: the pains of a scar creating new ones, but here we were. My palms pressed against the sides of my dress to keep from shaking.

"Is this because of all I said?" I took a step forward. "Or are you just scared of letting someone in?"

That was the trigger.

"I have nothing to be scared of," Hans spat, shooting me a look of utter vehemence. "Least of all you."

"And yet, you're the one who's running away from this." My lips curled into a mocking sneer. "Tell me, Hans. You're the one who bared your heart to me, and pretended to treat me like a stranger afterward. You're the one who's spending his birthday, all alone in his apartment. You're the one who cut yourself out of my life. And you're telling me you're not scared of us? Of this?"

I thrust an arm at the space between the two of us.

"I'll tell you what I think. You're scared of being alone."

"Stop it." His eyes darkened, gleaming dangerously at me in warning. Oh no, I was just warming up.

"You're scared of the tiniest possibility of finally finding someone that means something to you. And you're scared of holding on because you don't want to be left alone again."