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The air was thick with words unsaid. Emotions unnamed. Fates unknown. If Grayson didn’t already have her heart . . .
But he did.
That didn’t ease the pang in her chest as she faced Tyrell. “I’m sorry,” she breathed.
His entire body jerked. “Don’t.” He sounded strangled.
Her breath caught. “Why can’t I apologize?”
“Because saying you’re sorry feels like you’re really just telling me goodbye.”
Fates, he didn’t know how right he was. Her eyes stung. “I’m not saying goodbye, I just . . . I need to apologize. I’m sorry for the way I reacted that night. For the things I said to you. I didn’t mean them. I was just hurt and angry.”
Tyrell looked away. A muscle feathered along his clenched jaw. “I deserved everything you said.”
“No. You didn’t. I was cruel.”
He still didn’t look at her. “I betrayed your trust. It’s my deepest regret.” He huffed, the sound dark and heavy. “And I have a fates-blasted mountain of regrets, so that’s saying something. But what I did hurt you, and it pushed you away.” His hands clenched. “I don’t know why I break everything I touch, but I suppose you’re right. I’m incapable of love.”
“I never should have said that—it was wrong. You have a beautiful heart, Tyrell.”
He laughed once, the sound hard and edged. “Nothing about me is beautiful, Mia. Or good, or redeemable.”
“I disagree.”
His shoulders tensed. “If I’m so good, then why did I ruin what was between us?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer before he muttered, “I hate myself for what I’ve done to you—to us.”
“Don’t,” she begged softly. “I don’t hate you. I forgive you.”
He flinched, and tension coiled in his shoulders. His breath rattled out of him as he cursed. “Fates, I wasn’t prepared for this. For you. I ran up here because I’d been told Grayson was skulking at my door . . .” Finally, he looked at her, and his eyes burned with a fire so intense her breath stalled. “I came ready to fight him, and now you’re standing here telling me you’re sorry and you forgive me, and all I want to do right now is kiss you. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for so long ithurts.”
A fracture tore through her heart. “Tyrell . . .”
“Don’t worry, I won’t. I know you don’t want me to—and that kills me.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry for ever hurting you. That first time, and that last time. I lied about your letter to Grayson because I’m a selfish coward, but I swear I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know.” Her voice cracked, along with something inside her.
She had never seen Tyrell look so vulnerable. Lost. Shattered. And for the first time, she realized what her leaving would do to him, and that broke her heart.
She crossed the space between them in long, rapid strides. His eyes widened, but that’s all she saw before she wrapped her arms around his waist.
The embrace clearly surprised him, but he didn’t hesitate to hold her in return. He crushed her to him, his arms trembling as his head ducked beside hers. He held her like she was the only thing that mattered in his world.
She held him tighter, burying her face against the hollow of his throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice wavering as her first tear fell.
He couldn’t know what she was apologizing for. Not really. But his arms clenched around her, bringing her impossibly closer.
For a long moment, they simply held each other. A desperate embrace that gradually eased into one of comfort.
He broke the silence when he whispered, “I don’t want you to go.”
She froze. Her heart tripped. Fates, had he guessed—?
“I don’t want you to go back to him,” Tyrell continued, his warm breath teasing the sensitive skin behind her ear. “He’s going to keep you away from me. I won’t know if you’re safe.”
She sighed, pressing her forehead against his chest. “I’m safe with him.”
His head shifted; his chin grazed her temple before settling on top of her head, and his arms tightened across her shoulder blades. “There’s an empty room just down the corridor. You’d be close enough to both of us, but you’d have your own room. You don’t have to stay with him, Mia. Especially now, when our father is still so angry with him.”
