"Now wait a damn minute. I can..."
"You will heed me on this." His face was set and determined, eyes a brilliant blue. "For my peace of mind, you will listen anddo what I bloody well tell you to do. It's not about taking away your independence..."
The stress on the word, did not escape Margo. "It's about being careful. Like it or not, you've become a target and it's not just you, I'm protecting the babies you're carrying as well."
He shot a laser like glance at Margo. "Try and talk some sense into her. I have to go and take care of something."
Kiara watched Oscar leave, tension still thrumming through her veins. The silence following his departure was heavy, edged with uncertainty. She turned toward Margo, searching her face for some kind of reassurance, but found only a thoughtful frown.
For a brief moment, Kiara wondered if she had truly underestimated the seriousness of what had been happening. The reality, now pressed upon her by both Oscar and Margo's concern, felt uncomfortably sharp.
"Well," she lowered herself into a comfortably plush sofa facing the fireplace. "He's royally pissed."
Margo had to laugh at that. "I'd say he's more than that." She sat across from Kiara. "And I'd also say he has a right to be."
"That bad, huh?"
"Mmm." She looked at the letters again. "Why didn't you tell him?"
Kiara shrugged. "I'm not used to this relationship deal. Every time I think I have it nailed, I go and do something that's not in the damn rules."
Margo laughed, feeling a certain kinship to the younger woman. "I met Merrick when I started investigating his pharmaceutical company." She settled back against the cushion and stretched out her legs, crossing one scuffed ankle boot over the other. "I had just come out of doing an undercover stint that almost cost my life."
She shook her head. "I was determined to prove that his company was involved in supplying illicit drugs to teenagers. It went horribly wrong, because from the very beginning we felt something for each other."
She laughed again. "We fell in love with each other and before I could confess, he found out. Christ! Was he mad. He looked like he wanted to murder me. Before Merrick, I never had a real relationship."
Her expression softened. "And I have to say he's the best thing that ever happened to me." Her eyes met Kiara's. "Cut your man some slack. He loves you."
He was seated behind his desk when she went to find him. He had come back from making his calls or doing whatever he had been doing to politely see Margo out after discussing the necessary steps. After which, he had excused himself and left Kiara alone.
She had fumed and paced downstairs in the living room and very nearly marched up to her office to continue her writing. But Margo had been right. He loved her.
She had never known someone to love her the way he did. He was concerned and she had been wrong to keep something like this from him. So, that had convinced her to eat crow and apologize.
His head was leaned back on the headrest of his leather chair, and it looked like his eyes were closed. The weariness and lines of strain stamped around his eyes and mouth sent guilt coursing through her. She felt like an ungrateful bitch.
She lingered in the doorway for a moment, uncertain of how to begin. The words she had rehearsed seemed to tangle on her tongue, reluctant to be spoken aloud. Summoning her courage, she quietly crossed the room, her footsteps muffled by the thick carpet, and paused beside his chair.
The silence stretched between them, filled with everything left unsaid. Finally, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "Oscar, I'm sorry."
His eyes stayed closed for a few seconds. He had known the exact time she stood inside the doorway. Her scent and his innate sense of her had alerted him to her presence.
He was always aware of her and not for the first time, it irritated him that he was so in love with her. Blindly, unreasonably and helplessly in love with her. It pissed him off that she treated it so carelessly.
He finally opened his eyes and the blistering tirade he had been about to deliver died inside his throat at the penitent look on her beautiful face.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The weight of her apology hung in the air, bridging the gap that had grown between them. Oscar let out a slow breath, his expression gentling as he regarded her.
"Thank you for telling me," he said quietly, his voice carrying both relief and lingering concern. "I just need to know you're safe, Kiara. That's all that matters to me."
Relief was like a river spreading inside her chest at his gentle expression. With a sigh of gratitude, she stepped forward and onto his lap.
"I know." She snuggled, inhaling his familiar expensive scent and solid warmth. He was her rock. Deborah had called her foolish and more than a little ungrateful for not realizing what she had. She wanted to appreciate him, the love she always sees in his eyes and the reassurance of his presence.
Lifting her head, she studied his face, fingers moving over the growth on his strong jaw. "I love you."
Emotions stormed through him, more at the look on her face than the words.
