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He lets out a heavy breath filled with remorse. “I know what I said, how I even made myself believe I don’t care about you. That you’re none of my business. But in the end, I would have never allowed it if it came to that. I guess your brother wasted his favor for something I would have done, regardless.”
“You should tell him that.”
“Cameron knew. He just wanted to make sure.”
I lean my head on his chest, and he scoops me up and carries me into our bedroom. He places me in the bed. When I don’t feel him at my back, I open my eyes and find him at the door.
“Kieran?”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
I’m raw with emotions and pat the spot next to me. He gets behind me, pulling me so close to him, something sets free in my chest. In his arms, no one can get to me. I am safe with him, but not safe at all from him.
I wake up and the thought that today is the day I’m getting married sobers me up quickly. Kieran is not in bed next to me, but I hear the shower running. I sigh and stand up, placing my hand on the window. The sun shines bright in the sky, birds chirp in the thick trees surrounding this mansion like protective shields.
I feel him more than anything else, as if his presence is connected to a visceral part of me that reacts to him.
I turn to him and water still drips from his chest. He closes his eyes.
“Can’t we just not do it?”
“No.”
His answer deflates me. I nod despite the mix of sadness and anger stirring inside of me. I wish I’d fought more, but I doubt the result would have been any different.
He walks out of the room. A sigh wrenches from my throat. This marriage, the vows, even the certificate are not real. The moment I can escape, I will. I tell myself to fortify the walls he’s torn from my chest so expertly.
But do I want to do it? There is something about him that just makes me want to dig deeper and find out what has me so entrapped by him.
I lose my train of thought when Tamara knocks and slips inside.
“Let’s get you ready.”
Her smile is so bright that you would think she was oblivious to this. I nod, words still eluding me. No one listens to me anyway.
After the shower, two women arrive to get me ready.
“Do you have something in mind?”
“No, whatever you’d like.”
Their eyes sparkle at that and I slump in the chair while the girls do their magic. My hair falls down my back in curls, and the makeup is just as glamorous. Will Kieran like it? I shake off the thought and stand up. Tamara helps me with the dress when they leave, barely containing her tears.
“You look beyond beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’ll let yourself, you could be happy with Kieran. I know he’d like that.”
What about what I would like?
In the hallway, I grip the banister, the stairs in front of me dizzying me. But the moment I catch his eyes on me, completely transfixed, it gives me the strength to take the remaining steps toward him.
Kieran takes my hand and gives it a squeeze, his lips finding the shell of my ear.
“You take my breath away. You’re so damn beautiful,” he says, his voice breaking with emotion. I allow my eyes to take him in: the dark blue suit fitting his powerful body, the impeccable shirt only intensifying those eyes that hold me captive.
The moment is interrupted when Cameron steps into the house, reminding me what this is. I bite my tongue so hard, blood floods my mouth.
