Page 62

KLAUS

“ D ude, you need to cleanse your aura,” Alaric says, glancing over at me from the driver’s seat. “I can feel your negativity from all the way here, and it’saffecting my aura too.”

“Leave me alone, man,” I say,keeping my eyes on the car ahead of ours. Emma was discharged from the hospital an hour ago, and we’re all heading to Alaric’s house now.

“She’s not going to vanish into thin air,” Alaric says. “You can relax.”

“It’s not that,” I say. “For once, I’m actually not worried about her safety.”

Emma’s stalker was killed in the fire that he started. He’ll never be a problem ever again.

But it feels like my life is an endless cycle of challenges. Just when one ends, another one begins. She was the only one who ever brought me any semblance of peace, but all of that is ruined now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Alaric says.

I look over at him. I know he’ll be thrilled to hear the news.

“Emma is pregnant with my child,” I say.

“Wait, are you serious?” Alaric’s eyes widen like a cartoon creature. “That’sthe best news ever.”

He pulls me in for a one-arm hug. And because he’s unable to contain his excitement, he then slaps my thigh three times.

“I know,” I say.

Something light and bubbly forms in my heart at the thought of this child. I didn’t think that it was in the cards for me, but fate had other plans.

“And yes, I would love to be the godfather,” Alaric says delightedly, slapping my thigh two more times. “You just made my day. My aura is restored to its former glory.”

It’s hard to remain in a bad mood when I’m around Alaric. His joy is contagious.

“So did you two patch things up?” Alaric asks.

“She wants nothing to do with me,” I say.

“Because?” he prods.

“She didn’t like it when I asked if the baby was mine,” I say.

Alaric gasps. “Please tell me you didn’t actually say that.”

“She worked at Elysium,” I say. “I’m not a stranger to what goes on at that club.”

“Dude, what even possessed you to say something like that?” he asks. “You know she wasn’t with anyone else. I evengave you the receipts.”

I look over at him. He looks appalled and incredulous at the same time.

“I fucked up, didn’t I?” I ask.

“You think ?”

“I don’t know why I always say the wrong things.”

“Maybe it’s because deep down, you still hold the belief that you’re not good enough for her.So before she can reject you, you self-sabotage. Sound familiar?”

“Everyone’s a psychologist these days,” I mutter.

“Am I wrong, though?” he says.

Self-sabotage.It’s not a concept that’s completely unfamiliar to me. Alaric has pointed it out before. Multiple times.

But I really don’t think that’s the problem here.

“I think I’m just bad with words sometimes,” I say. “I’m not charming like you.”

“Write her a letter then,” he says. “Tell her how you really feel. Because I saw the way you were with her when she was unconscious. You’re crazy about her, dude.

She deserves to know that. Because right now, all she remembers is the man who asked for a paternity test instead of giving her a forehead kiss. ”

“A love letter?” I ask.

“Yeah, the old-fashioned way,” he says. “Girls love that.”

“I’ll consider it,” I say.

“Or a nice gesture would do as well,” he says. “Flowers or jewelry or even chocolates. You want the girl back, don’t you?”

It would mean swallowing my ego. It would mean apologizing to her and telling her everything that’s in my heart. It would mean laying myself bare.

I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’lldo it for her.

She’s too important to lose.

Alaric clears his throat. “So no one was hurt in the fire, right?”

I shake my head. “Everyone is safe, thank God.”

“Good,” he says, nodding. “That’s good.”

I glance over at him. There are deep grooves of worry etched into his face.

“Speaking of which, Emmasaw something at the house last night. She asked me who the girl in the white wedding dress was.”

Alaric’s hands tighten around the wheel.

“What did you tell her?” he asks, his voice cold and strange.

“I couldn’t tell her the truth,” I say.

“You’re going to have to eventually,” he says.

“I don’t even know where to start. It’s all so fucking messy.”

“You’ll figure it out,” he says.

We pass through the gates of the residential area. Alaric flashes a bright smile at the security stationed outside.

“I don’t know how you do it,” I say.

“Do what?” he asks.

“Switch between emotions like that,” I say.

“Are you calling me fake?” he says.

“Your words, not mine.” I look at him. “No, I just meant that you don’t hold on to things for too long. Even when you have so much bothering you, you still find reasons to be happy.”

“What can I say? Our relationship would be so boring if both of us were mean grumps,” he says.

We enter hisdriveway. Slices ofsunlight break through the clouds, making the whole world glow.

“What about Richard?” I ask.

“He’s awake,” Alaric says. “You can come play with him after you settle in.”

“You make it sound like I’m some type of psychopath,” I say.

Alaric grins at me. “Do you want to know what I really think?”

“You’re not qualified to give me a diagnosis, man,” I say.

I step out of the car and head toward the vehicle parked in front. Emma is about to get out of the car. Everything Alaric said about love letters and flowers is still fresh in my mind, but I act on instinct.

Before Emma can step foot on the ground, I reach inside the car and scoop her into my arms. Shelets out a surprised yelp.

“Klaus, what are you doing?” she asks.

“The doctor said that you should rest for the next twenty-four hours,” I say.

She’s so soft and sweet in my arms.I don’t ever want to let her go.

“I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to walk,” she says. “This is mildly mortifying.”

“Get used to it,” I tell her.

I ignore the stares of Alaric’s staff and head straight toward the guest bedroom I usually stay in when I visit.

“Klaus, put me down,” she says.

“In a minute,” I say.

Her arms are wrapped around my neck. Her fingers accidentally twist in my hair, sending a bolt of desire down my spine.

“I know that look,” she says. “You have only one thing in your mind. And I...want no part of it.”

“You don’t sound so sure,” I say, opening the door to the guest bedroom and closing it behind me.

The second we’re alone in the room again, everything is charged. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for weeks now, and she’s finally in my arms. Where she belongs.

I lay her down on the bed.She sits up quickly, scrambling away from me.

“I don’t want this,” she says, blinking rapidly. Her eyes are glassy now, and her cheeks are flushed.

I see the desire in her eyes, but there’s so much more. There’s so much raw hurt and rage.

“I owe you an apology,” I say. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did in the morning. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

The tears hit her cheeks. She quickly wipes them away.

“No,” she says. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I can understand if you want nothing to do with me,” I say.

“I want nothing to do with you,” she says, pulling her knees to her chest and looking away. “Please leave.”

“Hear me out first,” I say, taking a deep breath and hoping my words come out right this time. “I was an idiot for letting you go. I was an idiot for not telling you the truth when I knew that you misunderstood everything that happened.”

“Why are you doing this?” she whispers.

“Because I need to tell my side of the story,” I say.

“I can’t unhear the words you said that night, Klaus,” she says. “You said that it was nothing more than a fling to you. You said I was just a convenience in your life.”

“There was a reason I said those things.” I sit on the edge of the bed. I look away from her because I always get a little tongue-tied when I’m looking at her. “I should have explained it to you earlier, but I was just so angry after seeing you dancing with another man.”

“ You made me do it ,” she screams. “When I heard you say those nasty things about me, I wanted to break down. I wanted to scream and cry and rage. Because for the second time in my life, I let myself be completely fooled by a man. You can’t possibly know what that feels like.”

I let her rant.

I know that she needs it.

Both of us have been carrying too much inside us. After the fire last night, all I know is that I don’t want to lose her a second time. And this love between us, it’s worth fighting for.

“I told you about my Dad,” she whispers.

“All my life, I just told myself that I would avoid ending up with a man like him. He treated people like they were disposable. He valued money over relationships. He abandoned us when we needed him most. That’s why I was so cautious with you, because you were like him in many ways.

You had too much wealth, too much power.

And I know how that can corrupt a man’s soul. ”

She’s not wrong about that.

Once people get a taste of power and riches, they often want more. Nothing is ever enough. Greed can destroy a man’s whole life.

“I thought we were equals in the relationship, but you just saw me as someone lesser than you,” she says. “You saw me as something replaceable.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth, Emma,” I say.

“You can stop lying to me now. There’s nothing to save in this relationship.”

“I disagree,” I say.

“You’re just trying to sleep with me,” she whispers. “And I’ll let you do it, and then I’ll hate myself for it. Because none of this means anything to you. I don’t mean anything to you.But I fucking loved you, Klaus. Damn it, I still love you.”

She launches off the bed, running toward the door. I catch up with her easily. Right before she can open the door, I place my palm over it, trapping her beneath my body.

“I let you talk,” I say. “I let you say what you had to say. Will you let me do the same?”

She turns around to look up at me.

Her eyes are frantic now. Her breathing has gone haywire.

There’s only one way to calm her down. I need to tell her the complete truth.

“Put your hand inside my pocket,” I say.

A look of disgust falls over her face. “Fuck you.”

“It’s not that.” I shift my hand over the door as I reach into my pocket. I pull out the ring box I’ve been carrying with me since I fell in love with her.

“It was real for me too,” I say.

“What is that?” she whispers.

“I wanted to give it to you on our date night,” I say, opening it to show her the ring. “I wanted you to be my wife. I wanted everything with you.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asks, blinking away tears. “What sort of sick game is this?”

“It was never a game for me, Emma,” I say. “I thought I knew love before, but I knew nothing until I met you. It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”

“I heard you talking to Mrs. Hendricks,” she says, shaking her head.

“None of that was true,” I say. “I only said those things because Adam was at the club that night. He was eavesdropping on my conversation with Victoria. I couldn’t let him know that I had feelings for you, so I lied. Everything I said to Victoria was a lie.”

She looks into my eyes, trying to read my very soul like always.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she says. “Why would you lie just to spare Adam’s feelings?”

“Because I learned just how dangerous he was that night,” I say.

“He was the one who tried to attack me when I was coming back from New Orleans. He showed up again at that ice rink in Chicago.And on the night we broke up, Alaric told me Adam was involved in other nefarious activities. He was implicated in a dark web crime ring we’ve been trying to track down.

I wanted to kill him, but I knew I had to be methodical about it.

He was an impulsive, insecure maniac, so I had to be careful with my words. ”

“The night before Halloween, you came back with knife cuts all over your body,” Emma says.“Adam did that to you?”

I nod.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was him?” she asks.

“I didn’t want you to worry about it until the problem was resolved,” I say. “I didn’t want to ruin your peace for no reason.”

She searches my eyes for a moment. And then she glances down at the ring I’m still holding.

“There’s something I need to give you,” she says. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a wallet and a phone. “They belonged to Adam. I grabbed them after he was killed by the chandelier. You said he waspart of some crime ring, right? Maybe you’ll find something on his phone.”

I take them from her.

The phone is locked, of course, but I know a guy who can open it.

“Thank you,” I say. “This could be really helpful for us.”

She stares up at me. I see the forgiveness in her eyes. She’s so quick to forgive me, but I will make sure that I never hurt her again, even if it’s unintentional.

“I’m sorry I didn’t explain it all earlier,” I say. “Iknow my words were hurtful, and I let you believe that I meant them.”

“I’m sorry, too,” she says. “I should have confronted you directly that night.I was just really, really hurt, and I was too heartbroken to even think straight. My insecurity got the best of me.”

She lowers her gaze.

“Emma, look at me,” I say.

She lifts those pretty eyes. My heart fractures at the sight of her tears.

“I lost it when I saw you slumped on the ground last night,” I say. “I thought I lost you, and even the thought of that gutted me. I don’t want to live in a world without you, Emma. I loved you then, and I love you now.”

I drop down to one knee and hold the ring up.

It’s not how I planned it, but I don’t want to waste another precious second.

“Will you marry me?” I ask.