“I could never.” I kissed her again.
She pushed against my chest before breaking off the kiss. “Klaus… I -I have something to tell you.”
I stared at her, confused by her seriousness. “Will I need pants for this?”
She laughed softly, but there wasn’t a lot of humor in it. More like sadness. “Do you want pants?”
“Not when I’m with you. I like feeling your warmth against me.” I trailed my lips along her jaw, making her shiver. “Tell me, sweet girl. I can take it.”
“If I tell you, will you promise to take the second chance?”
I crinkled my brows at her, worry taking hold of my chest. “What is it?”
“Promise me,” she murmured, an urgency in her voice. “You have to cross your heart promise. No takebacks. They aren’t allowed when you promise me.”
I made an X over my heart for her. “Cross my heart. I would keep any promise to you I made.”
She licked her lips. “I-I know something. A-About Stefan.”
I frowned at her words and shifted us a bit on the couch.“What is it?”
“H-He’s not dead.”
I stared dumbly at her. He was dead. I’d seen his body. I’d wept over it. “What? I buried him. I know he’s dead?—”
She shook her head. “He’s not. He was at my house only months ago. With Levin.”
My hands trembled as I held her. I shook my head again, completely confused. She had to be mistaken. “I do not understand. How?”
She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. Fallon took Bianca. Stefan is the one who came to them. Because of Drake?” She frowned. “Stefan was off the grid, he said. He was working on taking people out. I think.”
I blinked several times before shifting her off my lap. This wasn’t right. But she seemed so sure. She knew too much for someone she’d never have met if he were dead. My stomach was twisted in a fierce knot, my heart pounding.
“Do you know where he is? Stefan?”
She shook her head, her curls bouncing. “I-I don’t. With his girlfriend? Natalia?”
I let out a snarl. Fucking Natalia Vasiliev. A Russian. The daughter of an enforcer. They’d made my life hell for years. Matteo’s, too. I’d done all I could to keep Stefan away from it all. I never completely trusted that she wasn’t sent in to lure him to their side. Stefan was a smart boy, and his death nearly killed me. To know he may still be alive. That he’d run from me….
Fuck.
I was going to be sick.
Rosalie sat forward. “Klaus?”
I’d gotten to my feet and was already dressed. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. Did Levin know?
It slammed into me that maybe I’d done too good a job on making my boys hate me because they’d kept secrets from me. It hurt, but I knew I deserved it and more.
“I need to go. I-I have… fuck.” I pushed my feet into my shoes, then grabbed my jacket and shrugged it on.
Rosalie stood, the blanket wrapped tightly around her. “I-I’m sorry?—”
I couldn’t look at her. I wasn’t mad at her, but I didn’t want her to see me lose it. She’d kept this from me. She didn’t owe me any loyalty, but it hurt nonetheless.
I gave her a look that made her pale. It wasn’t my intention, but I couldn’t school the pain I was in.
If I opened my mouth to speak, I might scream and fall to my knees. So instead, I walked out the door and didn’t look back, leaving her behind so I could breathe and sort through the new mess I was in.
