Despite all my faults and downfalls, she welcomed me.
She gave me a sanctuary deep enough and pure enough to hide in.
My eyes burned with thanks. I wanted to shower her with gifts and promises. I relived the intoxicating joy of finding something so treasured.
You came inside her.
My heart skipped at the thought. It was stupid of me to be so reckless, but in that moment, I couldn’t care less.
It was perfect. I had to come inside her. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Being with Nila today had allowed me to demolish my walls—be strong enough to drop my guard and take her with nothing bared.
I gave her thetruth.
The truth of who I was.
And in return, she gave me the strength to believe there might be a way after all.
I might not have to continue hiding.
I might finally be free.
Chapter Twelve
Nila
––––––––
MY OLD HEART was broken.
It’d been replaced with something not of flesh and blood but diamond and immortality.
I’d fallen for a smuggler, a biker—a fiend.
I’d fallen for a boy from my past, a man from my future—a friend.
For four days after the polo match, I didn’t see Jethro. I didn’t try to find him or turn on my phone to message him. We had things to talk about, but I liked the newly blossomed connection too much to overthink it.
I missed him but understood him.
Understood what he’d be going through.
For four days, I spent most of my time sewing and cutting out patterns for a sequence of gowns that would be the headline pieces of my new design. On a daily basis, my mind hurled profanities at me; reminding me that I lived on borrowed time. That the Hawks were not to be trusted. That I should run and never look back.
But my heart argued just as loudly. Encouraging me to believe in what I’d found with Jethro. To trust that I had the power to change our fate. To give us a bit more time.
I didn’t know how yet, but there could be a happy ending.
There has to be.
Hawksridge Hall was quiet—more so than normal. Most of the Black Diamond brothers, including the Hawks, were busy with a large shipment that I’d heard held a pink diamond weighing in excess of eighteen carats.
I’d lingered in the dining room long enough to know that such a stone was almost priceless and would fetch untold millions on the black market.
At night, I slept in my luxurious bed and pondered all things Jethro. I became self-absorbed—completely wrapped up in my feelings for him.
A small part of me hated the woman I’d become. The old Nila would never have removed herself so completely from her family—especially Vaughn.
