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“It’s okay to be afraid.”
“I am not afraid. I just hate my inability to do anything about it.”
I feel her struggle. God, how I feel her.
“I can’t believe your father would have sold you.”
“I can’t believe your father allowed you to stay here with me tonight.”
“I lied. I’m scared now. Cato convinced my father somehow. No one ever could.”
The silence falls around us, thick as the shackles we can’t escape.
“Tamara said something today. Do you think we’ll end up miserable?”
“I’d rather be my own woman.”
I turn onto my side and when she falls asleep, I tiptoe out of the room. Downstairs, in the hallway, I come face-to-face with Kieran.
“Still trying to escape?” He tries for a teasing tone but fails.
I roll my eyes and walk to the greenhouse, where flowers bloom under the glass ceiling before the moon’s light.
His steps halt as I bend down and smell their sweet scent.
“Thank you.”
“It was Cato’s doing.”
“That is not the only thing I’m thanking you for.”
My head drops, accepting the truth. His finger brushes my cheek, and I lift my gaze to his to find a need that consumes me.
“I will wait for you to come to me, and I will relish that day.”
Through a big swallow, I say, “That will never happen.”
“So sure of yourself, sweetheart?”
I gulp, trying to reinforce my strength. I can’t let him get to me.
“I married you. That’s as far as I am willing to compromise.”
He frames my face with his palms, his lips almost touching mine. My lips quiver in anticipation. His nearness drives my senses wild.
“Let me in, sweetheart.”
“I can’t.”
He offers a curt nod. “I have a wedding gift for you. It’s on the nightstand in our bedroom.”
Just like that, he’s gone, and I am left with an ache I have no idea what to make of or ease. When I see a new phone waiting for me, my feelings take a deeper dive into the unknown.
What a vision, her face illuminated by the moon and surrounded by blooming white flowers. An apparition of divinity for the greatest sinner alive. Every day, I knock down at her walls. But she gives me a peek before building new ones.
I am imploding with need. For that ease only she can give me. That connection tethering me to something I can’t fucking understand yet can’t stop. I want this woman and I am going mad for her.
I step inside my office. My two best friends look at me cautiously. I am on edge.
