He eyes Kace, but Kace is focused on me, waiting for my response. In that moment, I can almost feel the universe sewing the threads of our existence together with my father’s help. Kace and I are connected in ways we could never have understood the day we met. This is no longer a decision that affects only me and my brother. It affects Kace. “What do you think?”
His gaze shifts to Blake. “Let us talk.”
Blake gives a nod and then he’s gone, heading down the stairs.
Kace and I turn to face each other, each of us with a hand on the island. “What do you think?” I ask again.
“I think it’s a good plan. I think it’s the only move.”
“Me, too,” I say.
His fingers catch mine again. “Gio, baby—”
“I didn’t even tell him about the song. I didn’t tell him our plan for me to come out as myself, even before this broader vision, I didn’t tell him.”
“Why?”
“My instincts told me not to and I don’t think we can now. How did I go from trusting him more than anyone in the world to this?”
His hand settles on my hip and he walks me to him. “While you were changing I was thinking about what you said about your father trusting me and not him. My father had a protégé. Alan Denver. He wanted me to be him and as much as I came to hate my father, I hated Alan more.”
“Where is he now?”
“CEO of one of my father’s companies. That’s half the reason I didn’t sell off at first. Some part of me needed him to know who was in control. In other words, it wasn’t just a ‘fuck you’ to my father, but also for Alan. Gio already knew I had something to do with the formula, even before we knew. Imagine showing back up and finding out I’m in bed with his sister. He’s angry and I believe that from the outside looking in, he has reasons to want you away from me. Don’t doubt that he loves you.”
“I know he loves me and I know you’re right.” Tormented by where I am with Gio, I rotate and rest my elbows on the island, looking skyward and then back at him. “I still don’t trust him. He led a secret life for who knows how long.” I push off the island and face him again. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Start by going to Germany with me.”
I blink. “Germany?”
“I talked to Blake about getting you out of the city where all the heat seems to have focused. I have a home there. We have a home there.”
“We?” I ask softly, a rush of emotions washing over me and settling in my chest.
“What’s mine is yours, baby.”
My fingers curl on his jaw. “And what’s mine is yours.”
He kisses my hand and surprises me by saying, “Actually, no.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He walks to a drawer by the stove and returns with an envelope that he sets on the island. “That’s a contractual agreement that I will never profit from the formula.”
“No,” I say firmly. “No, you are sharing my life, too, Kace. If that formula somehow turns into a future for me, it’s your future, too. I won’t take and not give.”
“You give me everything, Aria.” The way he says everything is low and rough and yet somehow tender, so tender my chest flutters as he adds, “And I have more than I could ever spend in ten lifetimes. This will help your brother come around, but I don’t want you to accept it blindly either. Walker has several attorneys on staff. One of them is going to meet you tomorrow and talk about how to protect yourself. I’d have you meet my guy, but he has my interests in mind.”
“You do, too,” I argue.
“I do,” he agrees, “which is why I want you to meet the attorney and then talk to your brother again. Decide then what to tell him.”
His hand slides under my hair to my neck, warm and strong. “And then say yes to going to Germany with me.”
I have this sense of living in that storybook that once had blank pages, boring and cold, and now has become a colorful adventure of love, life, and laughter. My hand presses to his heart. “I am so in love with you, Kace August.”
A smile curves his lips. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” His lips lower to mine. “And I am so damn in love with you, Aria Stradivari, that it almost hurts.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
He loves me so much he damn near hurts.
Kace’s confession is as surreal as it gets.
The kiss that follows is as delicious as it gets, but when our lips part, I cannot escape that word: hurt.
“That’s been my fear from the beginning, Kace,” I say, meeting his curious stare.
His lips, such perfect lips, hint at a smile. “Me falling so damn in love with you that I won’t ever let you go?”
I don’t smile. I can’t. My fingers twist in his shirt, aware that I am selfishly in need of this man, aware that could be dangerous. “That someone will come at you to get to me.”
“Perhaps that’s the brilliance of your father. He made us two pieces of a puzzle. Anyone who wants the formula needs us both alive.” He releases me and snakes his phone from his pocket.
“I’m texting Blake our go ahead with everything, including Germany. Then we eat. After that, we make our travel plans.” He punches in a message. “Done.” He slides his phone back into his pocket. “You know what I haven’t had in forever, and I’m craving?”
“You’re blowing this off, Kace.”
“I’m not. There’s a reason we have Walker Security on retainer.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts to it.” He steps closer, his body heat already working me over, his fingers gently stroking my hair behind my ear. “I’m not a big destiny guy, baby, but in our case, the writing is on the wall. We were always going to end up finding each other again. Your father knew we would. And he knew that I was always going to have the means and willingness to protect you. That we fell in love was a bonus none of us could see coming.”
“He couldn’t have known we’d find each other.”
“Of course, he did. You were supposed to have a journal handed to you at age eighteen with his instructions. It might not have made it to your hands, but his absolute intention is what made someone, Sofia, I assume, leave that note on Gio’s desk for you to find. We were always going to find each other again and we’re here now. We can’t change that and I damn sure don’t want to.” He brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “Now,” he says, prompting me again, “you will never guess what I’m craving.”
I could push back and force the topic, but ultimately he’s right. This was all predestined by my father and we’re here now. And I feel like I belong with Kace. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be. And so, I smile and say, “Spaetzle.”
“That too, but we’ll save that for Germany. Right now, I want something we can’t get, at least not with the same taste in Europe: Taco Bell.”
“Taco Bell?” I laugh, and it’s these simple moments with Kace that I’m reminded of Sara’s words. He’s just a man. He is, I think. Human, flesh, and bone, flawed and damaged. Kace is a man with layers of damage and somehow they make him all the more perfect. “That was unexpected, but I’m all in. I love Taco Bell. It got me through many a tight month over the years.”
A scowl appears on his handsome face. “No Taco Bell.”
“Oh, please,” I say, and remembering my realization I’d had right before he spanked me, I lean in and settle my hands on his waist. “Being poor is about not having choices. You take what you can get. I have a choice now and Taco Bell with you sounds delicious.”