“So why did you leave me in the first place?”

“I started falling apart in Ekali. I was fine when we first got there, but after the first month, something happened to me. I began to cry when you were at work and I tried to hide it from you when you came home, but you must have known, because you changed, too. You became colder and distant, and maybe it wasn’t you … maybe it was all me … because I needed too much from you, and God knows, my needs weren’t healthy—”

“And who told you that you needs weren’t healthy?” he growled, trying desperately hard to hang on to his temper. “Your parents?”

“And the doctors. And the therapists.”

“Christ,” he muttered under his breath, dragging a hand through his hair. “That’s not true, you know,” he said, looking at her. “You were young and isolated and lonely and I wasn’t there for you. I know that now. I know I wasn’t fair to you. I worked ridiculous hours, and expected you to be able to entertain yourself, and I owe you an apology. Actually, I owe you many, many apologies.”

She managed a small, tight smile. “It’s hard to remember … hard to go back … because what we had was good, so good, and then it all became so bad….” She sighed and rubbed her head. “I wish we could go back, and do it all again, and make different decisions this time.”

“There’s no going back, though, only going forward.”

Morgan nodded. “I know, and I’m trying. And seeing Pompeii with you today made me realize that we have to go forward. We have to have hope and courage and build new lives.”

He came to her, crouched before her, his hands on either side of her knees, his gaze searching hers. “I know I failed you—”

“No more than I failed you, Drakon.”

“But you didn’t fail me. You were perfect … you were warm and real and hopeful and sensitive.”

“So why did you pull away? Why shut me out … because it felt like you did—”

“I did. I definitely shut you out, and you weren’t imagining that I pulled away, because I did that, too.”

“Why?”

He hesitated a moment and then drew a breath. “Because I loved you so much, and yet I was overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy … I couldn’t make you happy, I couldn’t meet your needs, I couldn’t be who or what you wanted, so I … pushed you away.”

Her eyes searched his. “It wasn’t my imagination?”

“No.”

“I wasn’t crazy when I left you then?”

“No.”

She made a soft, hoarse sound. “So I just went crazy when I left you.”

“You were never crazy, Morgan.”

She smiled, sadly. “But I was. Leaving you tore me apart. I felt my heart break when I left you. Everyone kept telling me I was developing this disorder or that disorder but they didn’t understand … just needed you. I just wanted you. And they wouldn’t let me have you.” Tears filled her eyes. “No one believed that I could love you that deeply … but why was it wrong to love you so much? Why did it make me bad … and mad … to miss you that much?”