Page 102 of King of Temptation

“Not completely. We spent a lot of time together, and even when we found our stride, I spent a lot of time at Killian and Reagan’s house.”

“It’s not the same, though. I don’t know exactly what it’s like, but I do understand, as much as I can. When my mom died, my dad… I can’t say he abandoned me, because he didn’t. He was present as much as he was able. But we never talked about it. We still don’t. I tried to, a lot, especially in the beginning. But I could see how much it hurt him to even think about her, so after a while I just stopped. So yeah, he was there physically but⁠—”

“But not the way you needed him to be. Not the way that mattered.”

Her own grief rose up, lodging in her throat as she nodded. “Yeah. Exactly that.”

Cupping her cheek, he ran his thumb over her cheekbone, a gesture so devastatingly gentle she thought it might shatter her. “You deserved better.”

“So did you.”

“Aye. But now I have you. The universe has its way of balancing the scales.”

The heart he already held in his hands trembled. “I suppose it does.”

Still cradling her face, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You need your sleep if you’re going to have the energy to continue being a pain in my ass, menace.”

Taking that as his signal he was done talking about his parents at least for the time being, she let him pull her into his chest, her cheek pressed against the steady beat of his heart.

And she slept.

Chapter 36

Brody

He woke before her, for which he was grateful. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy early-morning Goldie, with her wild hair and sleep-dazed eyes. That version of her was easily one of his favorites, and not only because she was usually too out of it to give him hell.

But their conversation from the night before still weighed heavy on his chest when he woke, and he was feeling a bit too… raw to face her just then.

Moving around his kitchen in silence, he played it over and over in his mind. He’d never talked to a woman about his parents before. That subject had always been very firmly off the table with anyone he’d dated.

Before Goldie.

Then again, they weren’t exactly dating, were they? Pretty much skipped that step and went straight to living together and “I love you”.

Another thing he’d never said to any woman but her.

That knowledge should settle him. Goldie was his, that was fact. He had no intention of letting her go, even once he decided it was safe for her to leave his house on her own.

And yet, knowing he’d shared so much of himself with her was an itch under his skin, for reasons even he couldn’t name.

God, what he wouldn’t give to talk to his dad about her. That old, familiar grief slammed into him, knocking the air clean from his lungs as he gripped the counter and tried to breathe through it. Most days, he could forget the grief was there, could go an entire day without thinking about his parents.

Then there were moments like this, when it was all he could think about, and he could barely breathe under the weight of it.

“Brody? Are you okay?”

Fuck. Of course she’d walk in on him when he was fighting for his life against the sorrow threatening to drag him down. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” A small hand came to rest on his back, rubbing slow, soothing circles over his t-shirt. “What’s wrong?”

“I said I’m fine, Marigold.”

His words were too sharp, and he didn’t have to look at her to feel the hurt he’d inflicted. Fucking hell, he was an asshole.

“Don’t do that.”

Closing his eyes, he focused on dragging in enough air to quell the burning in his lungs. “Do what?”