Page 85 of The Deception You Weave

"Just leave, Kane. I don't want or need you to walk me to class. And—" she adds quickly. "If I find out your fists look like that because Luca or Leon were at the other end then—"

"Then what, Princess?" Closing the space between us once more.

"Then… then…" she stutters.

Reaching out, I grip her chin and force her to look up at me.

"They don't deserve you, Letty."

"And you do?" she whispers, already cracking under my hold.

"Hell no, but I'll fight fucking harder."

My lips slam down on hers before she has a chance to move.

I'm desperate to deepen it, to force her to submit to me, but if that happens then we'll both miss class, and I can't afford to do that. So instead, I pull back long before I'm ready to and release her.

"I'll see you later. Don't do anything stupid."

16

Letty

The second my door slams shut, I breathe for what feels like the first time since I found Kane sitting on my bed.

I don't need to ask to know who let him in here. It has Little Miss Romantic Ella's name written all over it. Hell knows the guys never would have let him in here without a fight. A fight I already know he would win, damn it.

He's right about what he just said, he does fight harder, dirtier too.

My body flushes hot as I think about the dirty side. And fuck if I didn't want to say to hell to it all when he grabbed me and pinned me against him.

But I can't. I can't lose myself to him and his wicked mouth and rough touch because of what… his pity and guilt about me losing our baby.

No, not happening.

We are not happening.

I'm glad he listened to me. I'm glad he believed me. At no point did he question how sure I was it was his baby or revert to his usual insult of calling me a whore and suggest that I'd slept with half of the guys at Columbia in the lead up to being with him. He just took my words as what they were, the truth.

Hell, I even believe him when he said he'd have been there. Right now, learning about it a year later, I really believe that he thinks he would have been there to support me. I think the reality might have been very different but it's a little too late to worry about that now.

A crash at the door startles me and when I look up, I find Ella stumbling through like a whirlwind.

"Are you okay?" she asks in a rush.

Putting on a brave face, I stuff everything with Kane back into the box it belongs in and turn to her.

"Yep, I'm fine. Ready to head to class?" I ask, glancing at the time.

"You're sure?" she asks curiously.

"I really am."

She falls silent as I gather up my stuff and together we head out of the building.

"What did he want?"

"Honestly, I think he's just trying to placate his guilt by being nice."