Kian

“Yes.”

It was so quick, so instant, and there was no inflection from him. He meant it.

Kian was staring right back at me, letting me see inside him. I saw love there. It was powerful and consuming. I felt it come into me, and it swept over me. Tears slipped down my face, he wiped one away.

If he were lying…

If he were, then I’d deal with it. I loved him so damn much.

He asked in a whisper, “Do you love me, too?”

“Yes.” A thousand times yes.

His eyes darkened. The corner of his mouth lifted before falling flat again. “I know what my sister told you. It was all a lie.”

My knees really did buckle then. Kian caught me. His hand grabbed my arm and steadied me. I clasped on to him.

“There were some investors who didn’t approve of me, but they left the company. They were bought out, and the proposal that my dad congratulated me on is for a new foster care building. I want to build an entirely new building, just for the foster-care headquarters, and I want your input. It’s something I wish you’d had. I want it to be a place where foster kids can go if they want. It’ll be their constant over the years, like you should have had.”

He tugged me closer to him, so I was standing between his legs. One hand rested on my hip, and the other cupped the side of my face. “That was why I came here, or that was the first reason. I wanted to get your help. I want you to help me with raising awareness about the building, letting everyone know about it.”

My hand closed over his on my face, and my fingers sank in between his fingers. Our hands laced together.

“Why didn’t you just say something in the beginning?”

“Because you were hiding. How could I ask you to leave your normal life?”

I closed my eyes, drawing in a breath. My God. I’d almost left him. Hearing this…an ache tunneled its way below my chest. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Jordan.” He leaned forward, his forehead resting on mine. “I didn’t tell you, and I should’ve. I should’ve prepared you for my sister, too. She’s somewhat apologized to me.”

A slight laugh left me. I looked back up to him. “Your sister’s a bitch.”

He grinned. “That’s an understatement.”

My hand tightened around his. This, right here, was mine now.

His thumb caressed over my cheek, tenderly moving up and down. “Jordan, I have some things I have to come clean about.”

I sucked in my breath, but I waited.

He started so quietly, “When I saved you, it wasn’t all about you. Some of it was about saving my sister, or at least that was why I went to your house. I saw you in that window, and something came over me. I didn’t know what it was then, and to be honest, I didn’t ever analyze it. I just knew that I had to protect you. If I didn’t, I knew I’d be losing something integral to me. It was like I’d be losing a part of me. When I went to your room, I stopped thinking, and I only felt. I was acting on a deep primal level in me.

“The trial happened then, and you came to watch. You were there most of the days. I never told you how much I appreciated you coming, but I did. You never said anything to me, but I knew you were supporting me.”

I was. He’d saved me.

He kept going, his chest rising as he drew in a pocket of air, “I was watching you when they gave the verdict. You started crying when they said I was guilty.”

More tears fell down my face.

He wiped them away and smiled up to me. “That meant more than anything to me. Honestly.”

“You gave me a life,” I whispered to him, looking away. “And they were taking yours.”

His hand tightened on my head. He tilted me back to see him. There was nothing—no resentment, no anger, no bitterness. Nothing. Only warmth. Only love. I was becoming a blubbering idiot because of it.

His eyes roamed over me. “Going to prison sucked. I can’t say otherwise. When I was in prison, I never blamed you. I stabbed him seventeen times. A part of me should’ve been there in prison. Seventeen times is excessive. The verdict was right. I’m not saying I wanted to be there, but I understood it.

“Getting released early was a gift, and it’s not one I’m taking lightly. I have bad stuff inside of me. What I did was bad. That was dark and maybe even evil, but I want to do right. I have to. That’s what the foster care building is for me. It’s my way of giving back. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I want to build a place where it’s better, where foster kids can go any time. It’ll be their constant when they move from home to home. I wanted your input on the building, and I was going to ask if you’d help me raise awareness for it, but then I found you and I knew I’d be asking you to ‘come out.’ I would be ruining your life again.”