Page 28 of Tempting the President (Oro Nero MC)

Dear Ashton,

If anyone ever hurts you, you gotta tell me, okay?

I’ll kick their ass for you.

Love, Your Big Sis

P.S. I know you’d do the same for me, but don’t worry about me. I’m very strong. Also, you’re too cute to scare anyone.

KELLION

KELLION WAS SEATED on a fur-covered nook next to the windows, the city of Athens glowing like a jewel underneath him. A jewel of another kind was on his lap, curled up against his chest, a girl who was just as beautiful and precious as any gem.

He didn’t say a word as Jacqueline cried in his arms, simply stroking her hair. The sound of her tears hurt like it always did. She didn’t have to be in this much pain, would never have experienced this much hurt if only she had chosen to see him.

“I’m so scared, Kel.” Her words were a shaky whisper, her voice so fragile it made Kellion instinctively tighten his arms around her.

He murmured comforting words in Greek, willing her to relax. “Don’t be. I’m here for you. I won’t let him do anything to hurt you.”

A long time passed before she spoke again, her voice slurred. “I wish...I wish I had fallen for you instead.”

Only when Kellion was sure she was sleeping did he answer. “I wish the same thing, too, Jack.” Lifting her into his arms to carry her back to her bed, he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Looking down at her, his voice was toneless as he said, “Always did.” After tucking her in, Kellion closed the lights before leaving the room.

Dinah, Jack’s nanny since childhood, was outside, an anxious look on her face as she asked, “Has she settled down?”

He nodded. “For now.”

The older woman sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. The past week has truly been hard for her.” With her hair neatly tied back and dressed in a stark white uniform, Dinah still looked almost exactly like she did the first time he had met her decades ago, if not for a few white strands of hair.

When Dinah caught him looking at her, she smiled.

“In our mutual worries, we have both neglected proper niceties, have we not, Master Kellion?” She spoke in a very stiff tone, her upper lip curling.

It had been her way of disciplining Kellion and Jack when they had been kids and unwilling to attend English lessons with her during the weekends.

Returning the smile, Kellion gave her a brief, warm hug. “It’s good seeing you again, Dinah.”

“You, too, Master Kellion. Life seems to agree with you in the States.”

He nodded. “It...does.” And for some reason, instead of the Afxisi coming to mind, he found himself thinking of a curvy girl with blue-violet eyes.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Dinah murmured. “Sometimes, I wish my little Jacqueline could do the same.”

Kellion’s jaw hardened. “She could have.” In fact, he had asked her to come study with him in the States before leaving. But she had turned him down, like she always did.

Dinah sighed. “She could...and she couldn’t. You know how it is with her. She feels like she can’t live without him.”

His lips tightened, Kellion not trusting himself to say a thing.

“I know,” Dinah said quietly. “If it were only up to me, or even her parents, we would have chosen you. But it’s not.”

“Why?” Kellion burst out. “All these years, that’s what I couldn’t ever figure out. Why did she have to fall in love with someone like that guy when—-” He managed to stop himself.

“When my mistress could have you?”

He didn’t answer.

“When a heart chooses to love, it’s because it sees something special in another person, something that probably no one else can see. Jacqueline saw that in Eugene, and even after all these years, it’s remained special, and that’s what keeps her coming back to him, forgiving him.”

Remembering how thinner and frailer Jack felt in his arms, he said tightly, “I don’t see anything damn special about that jerk.”

“Because you don’t love him. You’ll know when you find yourself someone to love. Even when she’s at her worst, she’ll still look special to you.” Her tone gentled. “The same way you’ll always be special to her.”

Dinah pushed him towards the balcony. “Now, go have some fresh air while I prepare coffee for you.”

Crossing the balcony, Kellion leaned against the rails, Dinah’s words remaining with him. Someone special...

He had always thought Jack was special, but the problem was, she had never felt the same about him.

Unbidden, the thought of Aria came once more, and unease stirred inside him. When he had been with Jack, it had felt absolutely right that he had come to help her pick up the pieces. But now that he was apart from her—-

A fresh crisp wind wafted through him, making Kellion feel colder inside.

Why did it feel so goddamn wrong to be here for Jack?

Without realizing what he was doing, he was already pulling his phone out, and it was only then that he saw Aria’s message for him.

Aria: Thank you for the flowers. They were bloody perfect. Thank you for the media coverage. More than anything, I’m happy at how it would help the other artists. Thank you for everything.

Kellion’s heart started beating hard. They were all beautiful words, but why did they feel so damn final?

He scrolled down, and that was when he saw it.

Aria: But I don’t think I can see you again after this.

He called her. Again and again, and he only stopped when Aria had sent him another message.

Aria: I still want to see you smile. I will always see you. But I’ve become selfish. You made me selfish. You make me want more than your smile, and I hate myself for it.

The last words almost had him dropping his phone. He could practically see Aria breaking in front of him, and he only had himself to blame.

Kellion: Answer the phone. PLEASE.

Aria: I think I’m in love with you, and I don’t want to be in love with you. So please, please just stay away because I know you don’t love me back.

In his mind, he saw Aria with the shattered pieces of her glass house surrounding her. She was looking at Kellion. She was the only one who had ever seen him, but he had left her all alone, left her drowning, and he was too damn far away to save her.

Kellion slowly lowered his head.

Aria, I’m sorry.

KELLION WAS ALREADY thousands of feet above ground by the time he was free to call his security, needing to make sure that Aria was at least properly looked after.

He thought about the note he left for Jack.

Hopefully she’d understand why he had to leave so suddenly. He had never done it before, but-—

“Mr. Argyros.” Rio had answered at the first ring, but the way he sounded out of breath immediately had alarm bells ringing in Kellion’s head.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded tightly.

When Rio answered in Greek, Kellion knew it was even worse, that his security was about to say something he didn’t want Aria to understand.

Ms. Redfield had been subjected to an attack...she was accosted, but we managed to apprehend her attacker before anything serious—-

Kellion cut him off, needing only to know one thing. “Who is he?” A name was all he needed, so he would know who he had to kill for daring to hurt Aria.

“A reporter under the influence and who appears to know about Ms. Redfield’s past...” When Rio repeated the reporter’s slurs verbatim, Kellion had to force his fingers to loosen up, the only way he could prevent himself from crushing his phone into pieces.

He said tautly afterwards, “Let me talk to her.” Guilt flayed him as he waited for Aria to come on the phone. If he had been there, she wouldn’t have been hurt, wouldn’t have felt alone—-

Kellion froze as he heard Aria’s voice on the other end of the line.

Please say thank you for me.

She sounded so defeated, so lifeless—-

But please tell him I don’t want to talk to him again.

She sounded like she no longer believed in him.