“The truth is, I always felt he blamed me for ruining her potential. I think beneath his coldness, my mother was his pride and joy before her fall. And I was a constant reminder of what he’d lost. As a kid, I was desperate to believe that her death had reminded him of what was important. That he’d want a relationship with me. But it was a trick. He abandoned me in Tokyo. I was twelve years old.”
Niamh sucked in a breath. “I was twelve, too, when Ronan and I went on the run. But I had my gifts. What did you have?”
“I had my determination to live.” Deciding he’d confided enough, he continued, “Suffice it to say I landed on my feet. And years later, I hunted down the men who raped my mother. I hunted them down one by one and killed them.” He looked Niamh deep in the eyes, searching for her horror and finding nothing but understanding. “I took my vengeance, Niamh. And it left me with nothing but emptiness. I will never get my mother back. I will never be able to protect her from what happened, and what happened to her happened because of my very existence. But it wasn’t my fault. It was those men who took what they wanted like savage animals. And in killing them … I not only lost my mother, I lost my soul. I won’t let that happen to you.”
Niamh pressed her hand more firmly against his chest. “You haven’t lost your soul, Kiyo. It’s just a little bashed up.”
“Niamh—”
“No. I won’t believe it of you.” She released him but only to push up on her elbow, her hair cascading onto the bed between them. “Thank you. For telling me about your mam. Knowing you understand, knowing that vengeance wouldn’t have helped anyway … I needed to hear that.”
He nodded. As vulnerable as he felt, he was glad it had been worth it. “I know.”
Her expression changed, fear creeping into her eyes. “Kiyo, things have changed. The vision … someone is alive that should be dead. Someone we really, really need to be afraid of.”15It was amazing how powerful words were.
How a confidence given could make a person lower their defenses, softened by the trust and kindness of someone confiding in them to make them feel better.
Niamh knew it had been hard for Kiyo to tell her about his mam. She knew because she’d felt the wolf’s heart pounding fast and hard beneath her palm; she’d seen the sweat bead on his forehead and detected the slight musky change in his natural scent.
But he’d told her his terrible, tragic story to help her move on.
And in that moment, Niamh felt herself falling.
It was unwise. She knew that.
Kiyo had high defenses and was unlikely to ever return her feelings, even if she sensed he was attracted to her.
Yet Niamh couldn’t help herself.
And she so desperately wanted someone by her side, in friendship at least, as they battled what was coming next.
“Who is alive that shouldn’t be?”
“Ms. Wainwright, Mr. Kaneshiro.” The female voice startled them, drawing their attention upward to the flight attendant who hovered over the suite. She gave them a patient smile. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask Mr. Kaneshiro to return to his own suite. It’s our policy to have only one person to a suite, for safety reasons.”
To Niamh’s delight, she felt the frustration emanating from Kiyo. She wanted him to stay with her too. Maybe not for the same reasons, but still … his reluctance to leave her felt nice.
“My fiancée had a nightmare. Can’t you let me stay with her for a bit?” He glanced at the seat-belt sign that wasn’t lit up. “If the seat-belt signs come on, I’ll go back to my suite, I promise.” He smiled at the attendant. It was the first real, big smile she’d ever seen from him. His right cheek creased into an almost dimple, his grin surprisingly boyish. Niamh’s belly fluttered and her pulse increased. Kiyo must have heard it because he flicked her a concerned look.
Ignoring his gaze and hoping he didn’t notice her flushed cheeks, Niamh looked at the flight attendant who clearly wanted to succumb to Kiyo’s gorgeous smile.
No wonder he didn’t smile often. It was lethal.
“I’m really sorry, but—” The attendant cut off as her and Niamh’s gazes connected.
“Please,” Niamh pleaded. Her gift was almost like hypnosis. She didn’t know how else to explain her ability to manipulate people into doing her bidding.
“All right. For a little while longer.” The flight attendant drifted away, dazed.
Kiyo turned back to Niamh, his elbow to the pillow, his head braced in his palm. He studied her face as if searching for something. Niamh tried to control her heartbeat as she bemoaned his beauty. Not that his gorgeous face mattered. Somehow Niamh knew that even if he didn’t look like an Armani model, she’d be attracted to him. It was the contradiction of his brooding standoffishness and the kindnesses he’d shown her, his jumping in front of that bloody dagger to save her, his air of mystery and detachment. All of that was enough to entice her … but he came wrapped up in a package that involved an unfair quantity of masculine beauty.