Trust Me
      Chapter 17
 

"Trust me..."

Two simple words. All Michelle had to do was say yes, and yet she held back. Taking a deep breath, she walked away from Danny. She stood before the bedroom window. The day was coming to an end. The sky was bluer than ever with a tint of red, that promised tomorrow would be another beautiful day.

She sighed.

"Michelle?," he asked tentatively.

She slowly turned to face him and with sadness in her voice said, "I'm sorry...I--Danny, loving you shouldn't have to be so hard-..." She rushed past him and into the living room.

"Honey-,"he interrupted. He followed her.

"No. Let me finish. I can't..., " she tried again. He waited.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm tired, so tired of it all. I don't want to always be wondering about what you're thinking or what you are going to do. I can't. It hurts so much... I have this perpetual ache in my heart. You--you are the one person I thought would complete me. I had this dream that no matter what we could just love each other and the rest would fall into place. I think about how much it meant for me to be able to say that I loved you and then I think about how much it's cost me--us. Do you realize that there's rarely been a minute of peace for us? Have you ever sat down to really contemplate our life? It's magical and wonderful in certain moments and then it's nightmarish and horrible. That's the part I can't do anymore. I don't want that."

He sat on the sofa holding his face in his hands.

She watched and waited for his interruption. He remained with his face covered. She continued,

"Danny, I can face it now..."

"Why are you doing this?," he clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back. His tongue clicked against his teeth. "You talk about magical and wonderful...are you saying that is what you expect from us always? Is that the condition? We have to be this perfect couple? That's not realistic. "

"No. I don't want perfect. I want us to be good for each other. I want to be able to come home knowing that its been an average day.," she finished.

"Michelle, stop thinking of reasons we shouldn't be together. Stop it!," he yelled as he stood up.

"I can't!," she shouted back. "I can't stop thinking about the things that make us so...so wrong.," she finished her voice tapering off.

"Wrong? How can you use the words "wrong" and "us" in the same sentence?"

"There's the secrets and the lies and the fact that you can't share with me everything that goes on in your life."

"Michelle. I've kept things from you. I admit that. Everything I've kept from you has been related to my family. The things that are ugly...the things you shouldn't have to live with. It might not have been the right thing to do, but how was I supposed to come home to you and tell you these things? I can't do that to you."

"Married people don't lead separate lives. They don't... " She said quietly.

"Don't do this..." He was standing now. His hands on his hips and then he was walking towards her. In front of her he stopped and then one strong hand caressed her face lightly.

The sun was now almost completely set the room was dark.

"Danny? Where do you see us going from here? I wonder about that sometimes. I wonder where we'll be and how we'll grow and then I see the things happening around us and I see you responding to it all...Your mother, the family, me? How do we fit together in your life?"

He gave a snort and looked away from her. Then he faced her inquisitive brown eyes again. "Michelle, what family? My mother destroyed any semblance of a family I might have had. Before it was about my father and his dreams for all of us. Now...now I don't know. I hate everything she's done. I hate that she's brought all of this...", he spread his arms out, "this..to our lives, but then I remember the person she used to be...," his voice cracked and she saw that his eyes were beginning to brim with tears.



"Michelle...," he whispered. He hugged her to him and inhaled the smell of her hair, pressing kisses to her forehead.

She melted into his arms. She felt safe and comforted.

He let out a frustrated sigh and then in a voice that broke her heart said, "You regret us." Defeat?

She choked back the sobs. He let her go then and before she knew it he was tugging on his dark blue shirt and then picking up his wallet from the floor.

"I regret..." She began.

He waited.

"I...." She tried again.

He stood up straight and stared at the city lights through the sliding glass door of the terrace. His eyes closed.

He felt her arms come around him and her cheek pressed to his back. He shook his head slowly.

"I regret saying that we are over."

His arms came around behind him to hold her. Her tears soaked through his shirt wetting his back. He turned in her arms and pulled her chin up to stare into her brown eyes.

"I regret allowing us get to this place in our lives.," He said.

They stood in each others arms. Darkness enveloped the room. The sound of glass breaking startled broke the peaceful quiet. He immediately placed his body in front of hers, protecting her.

"What was that?", she asked fearfully.

"Shhhhhh." He reached down for his gun and realized the holster was empty. "Shit!,"

"Danny?,"

In the darkness he searched the room, seeking the intruder. He looked towards the front door and debated if he should let her out of the apartment. He pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear. "Stay close to me and be quiet."

"But-"

He covered her mouth and gently pulled her along with him towards the sofa. In his mind he calculated how many steps they would have to take to get to the couch. Quietly they moved and then suddenly he felt her being jerked from his arm and Michelle was screaming. He dove for the couch and found his weapon, turning he aimed at the person holding his wife.

In the darkness he heard the raspy voice, "Danny boy, you're too slow."

Dietz was holding a gun to Michelle's head.