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“No, Baby Doll. Look at me,” he pleaded. “You misunderstood that. She made sure you took that the wrong way.”
I opened my eyes and stared into his. The desperation there was going to shatter me all over again. If that were even possible.
“The shirt smells like her perfume. You wore it the last time I worked at the shop.”
Kye leaned his face closer to mine. “Liam called me to his office that day. They had information on Chyna—or Leslie. She was arrested in New Orleans for breaking and entering. He wanted me to be aware of her whereabouts in case she was released and tried to come back here and cause trouble.” He stopped and wiped the tears that had rolled down my face with the pad of his thumbs. His gaze seemed to be battling with pain, fear, and anger, all at the same time. “I had to feed Jag while I was there. He woke up, raising hell. I never left Liam’s office. But Jag did blow out a diaper, and shit got all over my shirt. It was funny at the time. I took off my shirt, and Liam gave me one of his, then sent mine to be washed. As for the alligator, I forgot that I’d put that in the car seat with Jag that day. It must have fallen out at some point. After getting cleaned up, I just wanted to get out of there and back here to you.”
There was nothing on this earth I wanted more than to believe him. The sincerity in his voice and the way he was looking at me soothed the torturous emotions that had flooded me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you worried about Chyna. I have her being monitored, and if she gets out of jail and comes anywhere near Ocala, I will know.” Kye ran his hands down my arms until they reached mine, and he threaded our fingers together. “Baby Doll, I swear to you that I don’t see other women. I don’t want them. It’s only you.”
Drawing in a deep breath that no longer hurt, I nodded. “I’m sorry. I tried to think of an explanation for it, but I couldn’t. And when she said her name, I knew she’d texted you those things. My thoughts went dark, and I couldn’t pull them out.”
Kye bent his head and brushed his lips over mine. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I replied before his tongue slipped into my mouth.
My world began to slowly right itself as Kye held me against him, tasting me, making all else fade away. I clung to him, wanting to be lost in the moment. Knowing he was mine.
When he pulled back, he ran a hand through my hair. “I’ve got to go handle something.”
I didn’t want him to leave. He’d just gotten here. I shook my head.
He smiled and pressed one more kiss to my lips. “Baby Doll, if I don’t go put that bitch in her place and make sure she leaves what’s mine alone, my anger is going to simmer until I explode. The image of your eyes looking up at me with pure agony in them is going to haunt me. No one hurts you and gets away with it.” He buried his face in my hair, pulling me against his chest. “My fucking chest felt as if someone had sliced me open when I saw you like that.”
I ran my hands up his back and held him. “I’m okay now. Stay with me. Don’t worry about her.”
“If I don’t go to the source, my fury is going to manifest with my fist through a wall. The only thing keeping my rage at bay right now is you. Why don’t you take Jag to visit your parents? Let me do what has to be done.”
I wanted to beg him to stay and argue that there was no point. Kye’s body was strung so tight, and even though he was gentle and loving with me, the violent gleam in his eyes told me he was serious about needing to go do this.
Thirty
Kye
I finished cleaning up the kitchen after dinner while Genesis put Jagger to bed. He’d started sleeping all night—or at least eight-hour stretches, which felt like all night. The fajita soup that Genesis had made tonight was fucking delicious, and the way she’d blushed when I raved about it made me want to praise her for more shit.
Genesis had always been my center. But now, it seemed that she and Jagger were the sun and I orbited around them. They were the bright moments of my day. When I wasn’t with them, I was thinking about them.
One day, I would make sure Jagger understood that he’d saved me from myself. Not only would I have not gotten to be the dad of the best little boy in the world, but I’d have lost Genesis too. She’d have married Bowie before I could realize all those things I felt for her. All that power she had over me was because I worshipped her. She was my one. My only one. I had just been in a denial so damn deep that I was blind.
