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My throat closed with tears. I hated being on the receiving end of his disappointment like this. “How many times do I have to say I’m sorry?” I asked him, my voice trembling.
He heaved a tired, worried sigh. “I don’t want to hear sorry, Ally,” he snapped at me. “I want to see you taking your anxiety seriously. The moment she walked into that restaurant, you should have walked right out, not even sparing her a second of your time. You could have crashed and died on the way home. Do you realize that?” he asked me. “Is that settling into your fucking brain?”
I flinched, a tear running down my cheek.
“Caiden,” Christian snapped at his brother. Caiden swung his now angry eyes to Christian. “Go outside and take a fucking breather.”
Caiden pushed off the wall and stormed out of the bedroom. I closed my eyes and turned away from Christian, trying not to cry. “I panicked that day,” I whispered, knowing Christian would hear me. His arms slid around my waist from behind, and he pulled me back against him. “I wasn’t—couldn’t—fucking think,” I blurted. “All I knew was that I had to get the fuck away. I couldn’t stay there after she told everyone in that restaurant what happened to me—”
“Easy, baby,” Christian soothed. He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Don’t get worked up, okay?” He smoothed his hand over my belly. “Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. You scared the hell out of Caiden that day. I know you’ve apologized profusely, but see it from his point of view as well. Caiden has his own shit he suffers through. He went through hell overseas, and he came back home a different man because of it. You triggered something in him, too, beautiful.” He pressed a kiss to the shell of my ear. “I’ll talk to him, too, but what happened wasn’t as easy for him as it was for me to move past.”
“Okay,” I whispered. I really hadn’t thought of that. Caiden was never open with me about what he went through, and I respected his privacy enough to not dig. I knew he was on medication just like I was, and I knew that he saw a therapist twice a week. Other than that, no one touched on his mental health.
He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Finish getting ready.”
Christian walked out of the bathroom, most likely in search of his brother. Drawing in a steadying breath, I finished doing my make-up.
Caiden was waiting for me in the bedroom when I came out of the bathroom. I hadn’t expected him, so I jumped in shock, my hand flying up to my chest to cover my racing heart.
“Um, hi,” I squeaked in surprise.
He stood up from the bed and moved over to me. Cupping my face in his hands, he smoothed his lips over mine, taking my lips slowly at first before he deepened it, his tongue dancing with mine so erotically that every part of my body tingled, craving to be touched by him.
“I’m sorry,” he told me when he pulled back. His eyes met mine, and he brushed his thumbs over my cheeks. “I shouldn’t have been a dick. I should have been open with you from the very beginning about how much that shit scared me. So, I’m sorry.” He pressed his lips to the tip of my nose. “I’ll do my best to communicate better; I promise.”
“Oh, Caiden,” I whispered. I wrapped my arms around him. His arms fell around me as he squeezed me to him, burying his face in my hair. “It’s okay. I’m sorry, too. I get so lost in my own misery that I forget that other people suffer through shit, too. So, I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how badly it would affect you.”
“It’s alright, baby. Just please remember to call one of us if you have another attack again. Just please, for the love of God, do not fucking drive home.”
“I won’t. I promise,” I assured him.
He tipped my chin up and kissed me again. “I have to go. Christian is waiting on you in the kitchen for breakfast. I love you.”
I smiled up at him, the anxiety in my chest easing. “And I love you.”
I nervously bounced my leg up and down as the attorney took a seat across from me in his huge conference room. Nerves made it hard to breathe, to think.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, so why did I feel like I was the one in trouble?
“Okay. I’m going to break the worst news to you first,” Mr. Taylor spoke. I jerkily nodded my head at him. “Randall pleaded not guilty at his court hearing. The trial is in a week. The judge in this town doesn’t like sitting on cases like this.”
