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Tears ran down Kelly’s face.
“But Linnea was getting married, and she wanted her brother to give her away. So, I came back.” Swiping beneath her eyes, Kodiak touched his lips to her brow. He couldn’t take seeing Kelly cry either. “And then, on New Year’s Eve, I kissed the most beautiful girl in the world, and for the first time in my life, I felt something real for a woman who wasn’t my sister.”
She licked her lips. “Is that it?”
“Christ, wasn’t that enough? There isn’t anything else. I swore to myself I’d take it to the grave. I didn’t want you, or Linnea, or anyone to ever know…”
…my darkest parts. The wrongness inside me.
He waited and waited for Kelly to speak, but she just sat there. Her hand, limp in his, she didn’t utter a word.
“Say something.”
She swiped at her eyes, and after a moment that seemed to go on forever, she spoke, “Back in college, there was this professor. Good looking for an older man—forty was old to me then. Dark hair, graying at the temples. Glasses. Your typical academic type. He was imposing and authoritative like Brendan, flirty like Dillon—thought he was God’s gift to women too.” Biting her lip, she looked down at her lap. “I sort of had a crush on him. Anyway, I was at a bar over in Wrigleyville—Cubby Bear, you ever been there?”
“No, but I know the place.”
College kids. Baseball fans. Plenty of booze. Acid churning in his gut, Kodiak had a feeling he knew where this was going.
“I don’t know how he found me there, but he did. This 80s hair band was playing that night.” With a toss of her head, blonde hair curtained her face. Kelly wouldn’t look at him. “I was already wasted, but he bought me a drink. Next thing I know, we’re in a cab. I don’t remember anything after that. When I woke up, I was alone, naked in my bed. Torn clothes lying on the floor. His…his semen, crusted between my thighs. It was noon on a Sunday. I went to his office and confronted him on Monday. You know what he did?”
His throat went dry. And with his airway constricting, Kodiak couldn’t answer.
“He laughed and said no one would ever believe me. I had no proof, and besides, I wanted it anyway.”
I’ll kill the motherfucker. Feed him his own dick.
He knew right then it was over.
After what happened to her, how could she love him knowing what he’d done? It all made sense now. Kelly became the ice queen to protect herself. And Stacy, that fucking bitch, she knew. She took advantage of a broken, vulnerable girl, and when things didn’t go how she wanted them to, she left her.
If anything, Kodiak was glad he at least removed that vile woman from her life.
Surprising him, Kelly cupped his cheek in her hand. He held it there, tracing his fingers on her warm, soft skin, memorizing how wonderful it felt, while he still could.
“Yes, what you did was horrible and wrong. I know first-hand how those missing moments in time must be haunting her. But oddly enough, I understand why you did the things you did. You wanted her to see you, didn’t you?”
As her husband, the man who’d always loved her.
“Your father was cruel—and sick. He put you in that position. Not. You.” Digging her fingers into his biceps, she shook him. “I never thought I could ever be with a man again, but then came you. You are not the terrible things you’ve done. I see your heart, Seth Black. I see it and it’s beautiful.”
Not what he was expecting to hear, saline burned in his eyes.
“How do you learn to unlove someone? You don’t. You can’t. It’s impossible. And I know that because there’s nothing in this world that could ever make me stop loving you.”
This woman.
His queen.
God knows, he didn’t deserve her.
“I love you.”
Her arms wound tightly about his neck. “Good, because you’re stuck with me.”
Gladly.
And with fireworks going off all around them, he kissed her.
