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His grip on my hand tightens as he leads us away from the dumpster and back in the direction of his Rover. Like he can’t bear standing there any longer. “I watched them kill her in cold blood, and I was powerless to stop it. I wanted them to take me too. I prayed for them to take me too.”
The men. The blood. The SUV.It was all real.Oh, God.
There is so much pain in his words. He wanted to die that night. The night I left him alone. Pain slices my heart, and guilt bleeds out. The love I thought I felt for him last night is nothing compared to what I feel now.
I knew he was strong. Fierce. Reserved. Now I know why.
He continues, “And then there you were, the most beautiful thing I had ever seen—an angel in the middle of my hell—and you offered to stay and help me. A man you’d never met. A man you knew nothing about. You saw something in me that night. You felt something. I know you did because I felt it too.”
I did feel it. All this time I thought I had imagined that night, those eyes,him. That was the first night I ever stayed with Reid. That was the night that started it all. What if I had chosen to stay and help Callisto? Would we have ended up exactly where we are now? Would Reid still be alive? I have so many things I want to say. Then, I remember the night in his office—the night of our first kiss—when he sat in his chair and listened while my emotions spilled out. Callisto needs me to be that for him right now. I need to be that for him.
He stops around the corner, leans his back against the brick wall and tugs me closer. “When I saw you working at our restaurant, I knew my mother had sent you to save me.” He reaches up, brushing his thumb over my lips.
The dots connect. This. Us. It’s more than chance. More than two people finding each other. It’s so much more than that.
“Save you? From what?”
“From myself.” He drops his hand. “But you had someone, and he was your world. So, I stood back and waited my turn.”
Oh my God. All this time. My heartbeat thunders in my ears, in my temples. I take him in, every inch from head-to-toe,seeinghim—the man in the shadows. My insides tighten, squeeze, curl into a ball. It hurts. God, it hurts. I left him alone. He was in pain that night. Immeasurable, inexplicable pain. The kind that transcends the physical and sinks its talons into your heart. And I left him. Ikeptleaving him. Yet, he’s still here.
A sob rips from my chest, and I slap my hand over my mouth, holding it in. Tears spill down my cheeks, sliding over my hand, dripping onto my shirt.
His hands grip the sides of my face. His thumbs sweeping under my eyes, smearing my tears. “I never wanted it to happen the way it did. I never wanted to see you in any pain. You have to believe that.” His voice is so ragged. So raw. It steals my breath.
I drop my hand, swallowing another cry. His intense stare and the heat of his touch on my skin calms me. The tears stop. My throat loosens and I nod.
He leans in, his breath whispering across my lips. My body seeks him out, pushing forward until my chest is against his. The pull between us is magnified by the emotions swimming in the air.
His hands fall to my hips. “When you told me that you love me, I didn’t know what to say.I love you, toodidn’t seem to cut it.” He pulls me closer. “Do you see now? It’s always been you. Everything I’ve ever done has been for you. To protect you. I fell in love with you that night, then spent the next four years loving you from a distance. And over the last few months, being with you,knowingyou, touching you, feeling you—Fucking you.” He growls around those last words. His chest heaves. “Love doesn’t even begin to describe what I feel.”
Love.
He loves me.
No.
He beyond loves me.
He pried his chest open and handed me his heart. My own heart is screaming. Rejoicing. I feel weightless.
Callisto lets me go and steps back, as if he’s allowing me to make the next move. To decide if I’m going to accept his explanation and move forward or reject it. Rejecthim.
There’s no way in hell I would ever do that. Especially not now. The man I love, loves me back. My heart has never felt so completely full, yet so entirely broken at the same time.
“You were so quiet last night when I said it. I thought—” My words stick in my throat.I thought I’d pushed you away.
He traces the curve of my jaw, then trails the front of his finger down my throat, stopping at my collarbone. “I live in a world of darkness. Everything about you is beautiful. Light. I don’t deserve you. You don’t deserve to be here, in the darkness.” He draws in a breath. “My mother was a beautiful woman, just like you, and I watched two men murder her because of who my father is.”There are things about Cal that you don’t know.“She died because my father let his enemies know his weakness. I can’t let that happen to you. Iwon’tlet that happen to you.” He cups the back of my neck. “But I can’t seem to let you go.”
I watched two men murder her because of who my father is…
Eva’s words. His overprotective nature. The secret door. The whispers. All the questions he leaves unanswered. Everything rushes in, slamming into my chest, crashing over me in understanding.
I look up at him, my eyes locked on his. “I don’t want to be your weakness. I want to be your strength. Just like you are mine. I need you, Callisto. And you need me.”I’m not afraid of you.
He swallows. His grip tightens on my neck. “There’s still so much you don’t know.”
“There’s a world out there full of secrets and sins, Makenna. Those sins come to life at night in this city.”My grandmother’s words from years ago are a hushed whisper in my mind. Her warnings about men who wore three-piece suits and called themselves gods. How they were the ones who decided who lived and who died.
