But now, I was glad we’d had that moment together. I loved Kes. I couldn’t admit it before as I didn’t fully understand it, but I loved him more than a friend but less than Jethro. A friend who would always have my heart.
Jethro sighed, knowing where my thoughts were without me having to vocalize.
His condition truly took any secrecy out of our relationship. I would never be able to hide anything, and in some ways, it annoyed me. I would never be able to sulk behind white lies or indulge in a cold shoulder if we ever had a fight.
But at the same time, it was refreshing to know there would never be anything between us because his gift worked both ways. Yes, he could feel what I felt, but at the same time, I could read him better than he knew. His eyes, his face, his body—they all told me what I needed to know.
Jethro cupped the back of my nape, running his fingers along my throat and collar. “I know what Kes did to you that night. At the time, I fucking hated him for it, but now...I’m actually glad you had that with him. You deserved to know how much he cared for you.”
I nodded. “Me too. It was wrong in a way but right as well. It doesn’t mean I love you any less, but there’ll always be space for Kes in my heart.”
Jethro smiled sadly. “As it should. He was part of me, my only trueconfidant. I’m glad you’ll miss him as much as me.” His head tilted, lips coming to meet mine.
We stood still as we kissed softly.
His tongue licked my bottom lip, and I opened for him. Inhaling his soul and taste, I slipped into bone-sated happiness knowing I belonged to this man and he belonged to me.
I was no longer alone.
I would never be alone again.
We’d bound ourselves together and become family.
Chapter Three
Vaughn
I WON’T SAY it was easy. Because it wasn’t.
I won’t say everything became fucking puppies and rainbows. Because it didn’t.
The pain was still there.
The knowledge my father was broken, my mother murdered, and an unknown sister given away at birth.
But things did get easier.
Tex slowly grew used to Threads and Jethro together. He’d watch them touch and whisper and even he couldn’t deny their love was pure.
Jethro had been a cocksucker; he’d hurt my sister and almost destroyed my family, but he’d done everything in his power to fix his wrongs and ensure he earned the right to forgiveness. It helped that he loved Threads so fucking much. He lit up around her. He becamemorearound her. He breathed because of her.
In a way, I was fucking jealous. He’d stolen her from me completely. They shone around each other, and when I caught him watching her, the aching adoration in his gaze made me admit Nila was lucky.
She would never be alone or unloved again. She’d met the one who would be there for her through night and day, happy and sad, bad and good.
He would be there for her even when death came for them.
I, on the other hand, grew restless living on someone else’s turf. I loved patching my family back together and enjoyed the night chats I had with Jasmine. But I missed the magic of London, the thrill of running the company—the real world.
I returned to my apartment in the city a couple of weeks after Kestrel’s funeral. Tex moved back to the family home, returning to the factory as if nothing life-changing had happened. Jethro had given me an open invitation to come and stay at the Hall as often as I liked. And Nila said she’d miss me but her place was now with her Hawk.
I was fine with all of it.
However, it was Jasmine who shocked everyone.
She admitted she wanted to leave Hawksridge and explore a new life.
Jethro had almost fucking passed out hearing his baby sister, a self-confessed recluse, wanted to leave the estate.
