Chapter 119 Here We Go Again “I swear to God, Dean, I will pepper spray your creepy ass to death if you try anything funny.” The words tore out of me before I could stop them, sharp as the can of spray digging into the palm of my hand inside my bag. My knuckles ached from clutching it too tight. He jerked his head toward me, his expression caught somewhere between disbelief and offense. “Pepper spray?” His laugh was humorless. “Are you fucking serious right now? You don’t trust me?” I leveled him with a glare, refusing to show fear. “Try me and you’ll find out.” His jaw slackened for a moment, then snapped shut. He shook his head slowly, like I’d just said the most incomprehensible thing in the world. “Unbelievable. I can’t believe we’re at this point.” “Well, you’d better start believing it,” I snapped back. The car felt too small, too hot. Every breath of his air seemed to clog my lungs. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, the leather creaking beneath his palms, but his eyes flicked toward me, desperate, almost wounded.“How the hell did I even become your sworn enemy?” he asked, voice low but burning with questions. “Look around you, Sav. I am not the bad guy here.” A bitter laugh ripped from my throat. “Oh really? My bad. I must’ve mistaken you for him.” His nostrils flared, like he wanted to say more but bit down hard on it. For half a second, silence pressed between us, broken only by the steady hum of the engine. “You’re barking up the wrong tree,” he muttered finally. “You shouldn’t be fighting me. We should be working together, damn it. Whoever’s behind Chloe’s disappearance—they need to be brought to justice. That’s what matters right now. Not…this.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he flung his hand into the air, the gesture slicing through the space between us. “We should be on the same team.” My mouth twisted. “No fucking way.” He turned to me again, desperation painted all over his features. “C’mon, Savannah. Put your grievances with me aside for once. This—this isn’t about us. We don’t really know who’s behind this. It could be anyone. Someone you least expect. It could be—” I cut him off, fury boiling through me. “Oh, great. Go ahead. Say it. Say Roman’s the one you’re trying to pin this on. You’re disgusting.” “I never said anything, Sav.” His hands came up in mock surrender. “You did.” I leaned toward him, my words a hiss. “That’s exactly what you meant. That’s exactly what you’re trying to say.” My chest rose and fell sharply, heat rushing to my cheeks. “It’s a shame you’re still the same piece of shit you’ve always been. Your jealousy will be your undoing. You’re so jealous that I’m happy, that I’m in love with someone else, that you’ll stoop to anything—defaming, blackmailing, lying—just to see me miserable. You even offered me money for pleasure, Dean. You even tried to force yourself on me. Have you forgotten so quickly? And now here you are, sitting in front of me like you’re entitled to my forgiveness? You should be ashamed of yourself.” The car swerved slightly as his grip hardened on the wheel. “Really?” he bit out, his voice trembling with anger. “You want to talk about lies? Didn’t you start this whole damn thing as a charade to get my attention?” I rolled my eyes so hard it almost hurt. My hands flew up in exasperation. “Here we go again. Jesus, Dean, my world doesn’t revolve around you. Get your head out of your ass. It’s been a good minute since us—if you haven’t noticed, there’s something called moving on. Maybe you should try it sometime.”His laugh was bitter. “If you didn’t notice, Savannah, that’s exactly what I was doing, until your bimbo sister dragged all this shit to my doorstep.” My blood ran cold. My fingers curled into fists. “Well, if you didn’t connive with her to hurt me, there wouldn’t have been any shit to begin with.” I shot back. “Don’t you dare act like you’re innocent in all this.” The muscles in his neck strained as silence engulfed him. His hands flexed against the steering wheel again and again, leather groaning under his grip. For the first time in the ride, he didn’t fire back. He just stared straight ahead, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. The silence should have felt like a relief. Instead, it throbbed with tension, loud as a scream. I inhaled shakily, forcing air back into my lungs. “Just don’t say another word. We’re going in circles. We’re reopening old wounds, and I’m not doing this again.” My throat felt raw, but I pressed on. “I’m happy. I’m in love. I’ve moved on. I’ve healed from you. And I honestly wish you’d do the same. You’re filled with bitterness and jealousy, and it’s eating you alive. Find help, Dean. I genuinely want you to do that.” For the briefest second, something flickered in his eyes. Regret? Shame? But it vanished as quickly as it came, smothered beneath a sneer.“I don’t need help,” he spat. “I’m fine. I just need the cops to get off my back and stop paying me a fucking visit every day.” I turned my face toward the window, watching the blur of passing trees. I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t want to. “Everyone tells me they believe me,” he went on, his voice quieter now, almost weary. “They tell me they know I didn’t do it. But I still feel their stares boring into my back. I hear the whispers when I walk past. I see the way they look at me—it’s different now. It’s like they’ve already judged me guilty. The look at me like I have blood on my hands, Sav.” I swallowed hard, unwilling to give him the sympathy he clearly wanted. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you—” The shrill ring of my phone cut me off, slicing through the tension like a lifeline. Relief surged through me when I saw the caller ID: Roman. “Great,” Dean muttered, recognizing it instantly. His knuckles whitened again on the wheel. I pressed the phone to my ear. “My love,” Roman’s voice purred through the speaker, deep and sensual, softening every tense muscle in my body. Just hearing him steadied me. “Is he bothering you yet?”A smile spread across my face before I could stop it. “I can handle him,” I said, trying to keep my voice light. “You sure?” His tone carried a warning under the warmth. “You can always let me know, and I’ll have a word with him. Just one word.” My gaze flicked to Dean, who looked like he was seconds away from shattering the steering wheel. His jaw worked furiously as if grinding invisible teeth. I laughed softly into the phone. “Nah. He’s no match for me. I can really handle him.” “If you insist.” I heard the faint clatter of a fork on a plate in the background. My brows furrowed. “What was that? Are you making breakfast?” His reply was swift, smooth. “Yes, I am. Strange, isn’t it?” A laugh bubbled up, genuine this time. “Very strange. But you’re making me breakfast when I return. That’s non-negotiable.” “Anything for you, my love.” A pause. Then, teasingly: “Just keep the doctor on standby.” I laughed harder, the sound like a balm against the storm inside me. “I love you.” “I love you too,” he replied instantly, voice warm enough to melt me from the inside out. “I’ll let you be for now. But I’ll call back later, okay?” “Yes,” I whispered, smiling despite the tension in the car. “Goodbye, my love. It's so lonely here.” A smile tugged at my lips. “Goodbye,” I said, then ended the call. The silence that followed was heavy, but not unbearable anymore. Roman’s voice lingered in my ears, reminding me I wasn’t alone. Not in this car. Not in this world. I slipped the phone back into my purse and turned to Dean. His face was drawn tight, lips pressed into a thin, angry line. “How much longer till we get there?” I asked evenly. His eyes didn’t flick to me. He just tilted his jaw toward the windshield. “We’re already here.” My stomach lurched. My heart plunged with it. The sight of the building ahead—the place where my mother waited—hit me like a tidal wave. I took a deep breath, fingers trembling as they brushed the pepper spray again inside my bag. “Here goes nothing.” Only I wasn’t sure which I dreaded more… Facing my mother after everything I’d learned… or being trapped in this car one more second with Dean.