Page 91 of Kiss of Deceit

He didn’t ask a single question when we’d driven home from the clinic. I had no idea what to make of it. He knew what he was doing when he’d taken the knives from my pockets. How he was aware that I was hiding something was still a mystery. Maybe after all these years, I was getting rusty.

“So curious,” I murmured, tilting my head. “Yet you demanded I shower and sleep before we talk.”

“You needed it. You should have slept longer.”

“I have things to do today.”

“Things?” he echoed in disbelief. “It’s eight in the morning, Dani. You’ve had a night from hell. What could possibly be so important? You can barely walk without wincing from pain.”

He was right. My ribs were on fire with every move I made, and my face was still throbbing. I’d broken open the cut on my lip twice, forgetting it was there. None of that mattered.

“Are you going to tell Harry about this?” I asked, my eyes dropping to my bloodied knives.

“No.”

His firm answer filled me with shock. “I haven’t even told you what happened.”

He rounded the island, stopping in front of me. Bringing his knuckles under my chin, he tilted my face up, softly running his thumb over my bruised jaw.

“Who did this?” he asked, his voice rough.

“Mostly Tristin… Leon hit me once, I think.”

“Did you kill them?”

My heart leapt into my throat, my mouth growing dry. I wasn’t expecting him to be so outright with it. His knuckles remained under my jaw as if to make sure I couldn’t look away.

“Your silence reveals more than I think you know,” he said, searching my face.

I forced myself to frown as my heart pounded painfully. “Or maybe I’m just in shock you would ask me. You think I’m capable of something so gruesome?”

“I think you’re capable of protecting yourself.” He paused. “You can read people, Dani. The second Tristin lured you out of my bar, you knew he didn’t just want to ask questions. He’s already put his hands on you before. It was kill or be killed. There is nothing wrong with defending yourself—especially when you had sleeping pills in your system.”

I could deny it. Ishoulddeny it. Kole knew more about me than anyone else. This secret was too close to my true personality, my real truths.

“You trust me at your back when you sleep,” he murmured, “when you’re at your most vulnerable. And I don’t ask why you wake up in cold sweats. Or when you scream in pure terror. All I know is the small details about how you got those scars. I’m waiting until you want to tell me what else haunts you. But this? I want you to trust me enough with this truth.”

He already knew. The moment he took the knives from my pockets, he’d figured it out. Yet, here he was, asking me about it instead of handing over the murder weapons to Harry.

I swallowed over the lump in my throat, trying to calm my racing heart. What scared me more than him knowing this truth was that I wanted to tell him. To share a burden I didn’t have to keep all to myself.

“I didn’t have a choice,” I choked out, succeeding in sounding remorseful. “They weren’t going to let me live. Tristin didn’t believe that Lucas’s death was an accident. He was going to throw me over the cliff. I had to fight to survive.”

I swallowed my shock when he gently pulled me into a hug. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, keeping me tight to his chest while making sure not to put any pressure on my bruised ribs.

“Don’t be sorry,” he breathed, kissing my hair. “You did what you had to. If I’d been there? I would have done worse to them for hurting you.”

I remained frozen in his hold. He was…comforting me. He believed I was torn up over what I did. How would he react if he found out that I loved every damn second? Tristin and Leon were not innocents. My guilt over what I did was nonexistent.

“Those knives were in your pockets,” he continued, concern in his voice. “Their blood will be on your clothes.”

My heart panged. His worry for me wasn’t something I was used to. For years, I only relied on myself. Letting him in—even just a little—eased the never-ending weight that was on my chest.

“I was all over that bridge,” I said in a shaky voice. “Their blood was everywhere. And I checked to see if they were breathing.”

“Sounds like you’ll sell the story.” He pulled back, meeting my stare again. “But why not just tell the truth? You wouldn’t get in trouble for defending yourself.”

Again, he wasn’t accusing, he seemed only curious. My mind raced as I carefully decided what to say.