Many moments go by, and only when she leans away do I dare release her. The tension in my chest fades a little at her more honest smile now. “Thanks,” she says, softly. “I needed that.”
She goes to walk by me, but I reach out, gently grabbing her wrist. Her head swings around to mine, and for a second I fear touching her was a mistake, until I see the way her eyes dilate and her breath hitches. “Don’t run from me just yet,” I murmur.
“Who says I’m running,” she whispers, holding my stare.
This woman owns me in a way no one ever has. One look, one statement, I’m putty in her hands. “You’re running from something.” I slide my finger above her bruise and beneath her eye, seeing pain in its depths. Pain that I’m sure she’s trying very hard to hide. But she can hide nothing from me. “Don’t be too strong, too brave, or too proud. I’m here, if you need me.”
“Yes, I know that you are, but I don’t need you to be my hero.” She steps back, putting space between us. “This is my problem, not yours. Please let me deal with it.”
I clench my jaw, fighting off what I want to do, and that’s keep her in my arms. “Just tell me that you’re okay and safe. Give me that at least.”
“I’m okay and safe.”
Before I can call her on her lie, she’s exiting the bedroom. I shut my eyes, inhaling and exhaling, pulling in the emotion tightening my throat. It feels like no time has passed at all since I last held her. I still love her. I never won’t love her. But Taylor wanted a life that I couldn’t give her. She wanted the fairy tale, and unless the hero likes the darker delights of sex, power, and money, then I’m not the right type of knight in shining armor.
Hearing the conversation begin in the living room, I follow her, finding Taylor staring at the tabloid article on the coffee table. “What’s this?” She picks up the ripped-out piece of paper, reading the ink written on the shiny white page.
Can Micah Holt be forgiven for the ultimate betrayal?
Or will Allie Parker come between two billionaires?
Knowing Taylor’s changing the subject to keep the focus off her, I take a seat next to her on the couch and tell her, “This is our current problem.”
Taylor looks at Allie, who’s sitting across from us in the oversized chair, then at Micah, who’s resting next to my half-sister, on the armrest, finally turning to face me again. “Sorry, I’m confused. What exactly am I looking at here?”
“For the second time in a month…” Micah thrusts a hand through his jet-black hair; his dark brows pinched over his bluish-gray eyes. “You’re looking at the tabloids actually getting something right.”
“Wait. What?” Taylor narrows her eyes on me. “You were mad about them dating?”
The side of Micah’s mouth arches, as that’s not exactly how it played out. Micah proved himself worthy of my sister. That’s the only reason he’s still alive, so mad might be putting it lightly.
I shrug my answer, understanding Taylor’s surprise, considering Allie had no qualms about my dating her best friend. But I’m not Allie, or nearly as rational. Besides, Allie had been under my protection, given that I was tasked to raise her after her mother died in a plane crash when Allie was fifteen years old.
Taylor shakes her head at me in clear disappointment, then focuses back on the page in her hands. “Even if you were mad at first, why is that so bad? I mean, there could be worse things written about you in the tabloids.”
“While that’s very true,” I respond, not too happily, “few people knew that at first I wasn’t thrilled over the idea of Micah and Allison dating. So the fact that the tabloid knows something so personal is worrisome.”
Taylor pauses, beginning to frown. “Which I guess can only mean…”
“There’s a traitor among us.”