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“If you want to call the police right now, I won’t stop you.”
“You won’t?” I shake my head, trying to understand.
“I would never hurt you, Chloe. Never. It’s not a promise, it’s a vow. You could burn me to the ground, and I’d still give you everything.”
“What does that mean?” But some of my shaking subsides at his calm reassurance. There is not an ounce of hesitation in his body, his words, his demeanor.
“For starters, you need a better place to live. If I die, you become the executor of my will and the beneficiary too. My loft, my petty cash, it’s yours.”
“You…your loft? You’re giving me your loft?” I pull back to stare at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I meant what I said, Chloe. You are my forever. It doesn’t matter if you never speak to me again after tonight. You could curse my name. You could turn me into the police and leave me to rot in prison. You’re imprinted inside me, and I will be yours until my last breath.”
I stare at him, at a loss for words, overwhelmed by the sincerity I hear in his voice. “Killian.” His name comes out broken and teary.
He puts his arms around my shoulders and pulls me into his chest. I wrap my arms around his middle, knowing a few truths.
Killian’s feelings, in some ways, are far purer than mine. His dedication and commitment have been there, I just couldn’t see past my own issues.
I rub my nose in his side. “You’re my forever too.”
“Don’t say that…not yet.”
I look up at him, my brows knitted in confusion. We’ve reached the garage under his building, and he pulls in, parking the car in his usual spot.
He slides out of the SUV and comes around to the other side to open my door. I hesitate for a second, nothing but tatters of clothes on my bottom half, but Killian holds out his arms to me. I slide into them as he lifts me out and then wraps his coat around my waist, before lifting me off the ground again.
I burrow into him as we make our way to the elevator and then up to the loft.
Once we’re in his place, he heads straight for the bedroom, not setting me down until we’re in the bathroom.
Finally lowering me to my feet, he turns to the tub, opening the taps. I watch as the water fills the tub, and I let out a sigh. Soaking in the tub would make me feel a million times better.
My eyes meet Killian’s as he steps toward me again. He pulls off the tattered leggings and then my tank top, handing me into the tub. I sink down into the hot water, a groan escaping my lips, it feels so good.
He starts shucking off his clothes too and lowers himself down in the other end of the tub. Shutting off the taps, his legs tangle with mine under the water.
I rest my head on the lip of the tub, letting my eyes slide closed. “I would never go to the police.”
“Chloe.”
“First, I don’t trust them.”
“Stepfather,” he says his voice dropping so low, it would frighten me if it were any other man.
“Yeah,” I open my eyes again to meet his. “If I had the chance, I think I could do it. I could put his head in a bucket of water and…”
Killian shakes his head. “Some are born into violence, others are made. You are not the first, I would never want you to become the latter. That’s my job.”
“But some things in life hurt so much, they need to be exorcised.” The way Alexander tried to hurt me was awful. And maybe I should be disturbed by what I know Killian did to him in return, but I’m not. Alexander killed that other man first, and he would have killed me too. I know it. Knowing that he’s dead now, I feel safer.
Killian’s eyes hold a darkness that makes my breath catch as he shakes his head again. “I need you to understand.”
I feel the emotion that bunches his muscles. I reach out to touch his knee. “Understand what?”
“I want to tell you about my past.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR