Beautiful Surrender (The Surrender Series Book Three) by Priscilla West

rock. I can’t keep going on without
knowing if my only chance at happiness is still out there for me. Can’t you see
how much I care about you?”
    I began
to play with my necklace as if I’d just discovered I was wearing it. “This
isn’t right, Marty.”
    “Let me
see your hand.”
    The
image of Marty twisting my finger flashed through my mind. “W-What are you
going to do?” I dropped my hand back down and began to hug my knees again
instinctively.
    He
shifted his seat closer to me, backing me against the armrest of the couch.
Leaning over, he reached for my hand and gently pulled my arm away my knees. He
brought my pinky up to his lips and kissed it tenderly. I felt like I was going
to throw up.
    Vincent
struggled against his cuffs. “Good lord man, what are you doing? Kristen, he’s
manipulating you. You have nothing to feel guilty about. He’s the one who
should feel guilty.”
    “Stay
out of this,” Marty spat.
    “You
make me sick,” Vincent said. “Look at yourself, using a sob story to keep
Kristen attached to you.”
    Marty
picked up the gun and aimed it at Vincent. “I said stay out of this.”
    “Marty
don’t! Put the gun down!”
    Marty
huffed a few times then relaxed. “He’s trying to brainwash you, Kristen. Can’t
you see that? I don’t blame you for what happened, and I’m not trying to guilt
trip you. It’s not your fault. You’re just like me.”
    “What
are you talking about?” I asked, frustrated and scared.
    “Think
about it, Kris. You ran away from me. From us. You have to admit that’s not
normal. You should’ve talked to me. We could’ve worked things out like we
always do. That’s what couples do. They work things out together.” He kissed my
hand again. “I have a theory. And please bear with me on this. Remember how we found
out I had borderline personality disorder? Well, I did a lot of research and
even talked to Dr. Perkins about this. We think you might have an anxiety
disorder.”
    My head
swirled. “What?”
    “You’re
afraid of the unknown, of taking risks, of failing. Remember the anxiety you
would get before tests?” Marty chuckled brightly. “I would massage your
shoulders for half an hour before the exam then hold you after you finished
because you thought you bombed it.”
    “I
don’t have an anxiety disorder.”
    Marty
rubbed the back of my shoulder. His eyes were warm and his voice was
light-hearted. “Come on, Kris. Don’t be so stubborn. It’s better if you admit
it because then we can do something about it.”
    I
remembered how I had suffered from test anxiety numerous times back in college.
Marty had been there to comfort me. Maybe I did have a problem. I ran away from
Marty. I ran away from Vincent at the restaurant. I basically ran away from my
parents. I was thinking about running away from having my baby. I was afraid of
taking risks, afraid of the consequences, afraid of getting hurt, of failing.
Riley had said so. Vincent had made me aware of it as well. Now Marty was
saying the same thing.
    Even
with all that, he had no right to try and diagnose me. “No, Marty. Don’t tell
me I have a problem.”
    “Shh,
shh. I know it’s hard to admit. I had trouble admitting I had a problem myself.
But it’s okay, Kris. I get it now. I understand why you ran away. I just want
to help you.”
    “You
seem to be forgetting you invaded your her apartment with a gun,” Vincent said,
struggling against his restraints.
    “You
don’t understand!” Marty cried. He turned to me. “How can you be falling for
this guy, Kristen?”
    “You
don’t know anything about him,” I said.
    Marty
threw his hands up in frustration. “I know he’s a smooth-talking player who
thinks you’re the flavor of the month.”
    His
words hurt me. Although Vincent and I had resolved the miscommunication over
Ariel Diamond, the issue had still been lingering on my mind. “Why do you keep
saying that?”
    “‘I have
some ideas for some new positions we could