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“I’m sorry,” I whispered, voice wet. “I’m sorry he hurt you because of me.”
He grabbed my face and pulled me in, pressing our foreheads tightly together. “He didn’t hurt me, baby.”
“But your eyes are sad.”
“Because you think loving you is a punishable offense.”
Those tears pressing behind my eyes won the battle and fell consecutively from each eye. Arsen leaned forward and kissed them away, then met me in the middle, kissing my lips.
“I know it’s hard to believe, baby, but my father isn’t like him. If you let him, he will be good to you. My mother too.”
“I’m a liability.”
“No.” His voice was firm. “You aren’t. Those people are the liability. The people who hurt you. If I could go back and change it, I’d give away everything I own to do it. But I can’t. And if being around my father is too much for you, then we won’t be.”
My brows furrowed. “I’d never ask you to choose between me and your family.”
“You don’t have to. I choose you. I love you. Today, tomorrow, always,” he promised. “I can’t change my DNA any more than you can change yours. It doesn’t matter. It might have built my body, but it will never rule my heart.”
More tears fell, and he swiped them away. I cried for the little boy who sat afraid and locked in an unlit closet and believed when he was told no one would ever love him. I cried for the boy who went to live with his gram who wasn’t really his gram at all and spent years with a suitcase packed beneath his bed because he was waiting for the day she’d abandon him too. More tears fell for the teen who’d found a brother, then later a sister, and realized the woman raising him couldn’t be pushed away. That boy told himself it was enough to have those three people and he didn’t need more.
And now, I cried for the man who found the love he thought he’d never have… but did.
“I don’t want to love you.” The words were heavy just like my heart.
“But you do?” Arsen asked, the hope in his voice light.
“This is the part where I’d text you a heart emoji.”
“What color?”
I groaned. Why was he so perfect? So willing to accept me as I was?
“Red,” I whispered.
“Red’s the color of love,” he murmured. “So it must be yes.”
How could I fucking not love him? My heart never stood a chance.
“I do,” I confessed. “Love you.”
Groaning, he grabbed my face once more to kiss me fiercely. I pulled back, dropping my gaze. “Did your father really fire Niles?”
“I fired him first,” Arsen muttered. “Punched him too.”
He seemed rather disgruntled that he wasn’t getting the credit. Such an alpha.
Slipping my hand across his thigh, I patted him. “Thank you for protecting me, bear.”
His eyes lit up. It was predictable but fucking charming as hell. Guess he liked praise too. “I won’t tolerate anyone hurting you, princess,” he vowed, covering my hand with his.
I then noticed his red knuckles. I made a sound, lifting them for inspection. “How hard did you hit him?”
“Not hard enough,” he grumped.
Such a bear. “Does it hurt?”
“Yes. You should kiss it.”
