He just shook his head silently, not having the willpower or strength to keep arguing with her. She was too stubborn to realize the truth in his words, and as much as he loved her for it... she was just going to end up hurt in the end. Even if he didn't push her away now, eventually Ileana would see that it wasn't going to get better and something even worse than the emotional pain of heartbreak might happen. Cole flinched again when she grabbed his arm, and he tried in vain to shake her off. "Don't."
Her question made him hesitate, because he'd been trying so hard to avoid the issue instead of being blunt about it - but maybe this was the only way to get through to her. "No. I can't, because... because of him. Jacob." Just saying his name reminded him of those dark days spent handcuffed to the chair, and the voice that had driven him to nearly kill Ileana and told him that he'd never be free, not anymore. For a few days near the end he'd actually been Jacob - he knew it because there were gaps of time he'd lost and couldn't remember, but he was too terrified to let himself really think about it. "He's a part of me, and he wants you dead. So I can't just go lay down with you and rest." He couldn't look at her expression, pulling away and turning so his back was half towards her. She'd wanted the truth, hadn't she? Now she had it.