His eyes meet mine. “That night of the fire, I was waiting for you,” he explains, desperation lacing each syllable. “I was sick of you hating me so much and wanted you to just shut up and listen for once. So I came over and started a fire just below your window, expecting you to come out.”
I frown, shifting my weight.
“I waited and waited, feeding the fire so it wouldn’t be dead by the time you came out. So you’d be warm.” He sucks in a staggered breath and runs his hand over his mouth like he’s recounting one of the worst moments of his life. “ I was going to go inside, but I was trying not to piss you off even more than usual because I… I wanted to impress you. I wanted you to see how serious I was and that I could be the type of man you want. Instead, I got pissed off waiting around for you to come down, so I went inside to find the place empty. The first thing I saw when I pulled out my phone was a picture of you sitting on Duke’s lap, and I just…” He rolls his neck side to side, trying to ease the tension in his muscles as his lips pull into a thin line. “I went back outside and kicked the firepit,” he continues. “I thoughtI put it out. There was just… the leaves were so dry, and the breeze was…”
Nothing but the flames outside and the fire alarm can be heard as the air sizzles between us. “Let me make this clear,” I say slowly, pushing off the window to force Kohen to look dead into my eyes. “You burned my house down because you were jealous?Fucking jealous?” I shriek.
Kohen explodes too, lurching up to grab my throat, jaw ticking and shoulders tight beneath his leather jacket. “I’m here because of you!”
I roll my eyes and hit his chest. “Not this shit again—”
“Who do you think I sent into a coma just to get here—toyou?” The question hangs between us as he stares at me so intently it feels like he’s unpacking every inch of who I am so he can figure out how to make me understand him.
A stone lodges in the center of my chest. “You mean Elijah?”
“Duke.”
My lips part.
He touched something that didn’t belong to him. That’s what he told me the first day he was here.
I stare at him for a moment, waiting for the punchline. My eyes drop to the fist curled at his side, and for the first time tonight, I notice the red outlining the fresh black ink etched into crooked dashes that goes in a semicircle on the side of his pointer finger.
Teeth marks.
Myteeth marks from yesterday.
I’d stagger back if he weren’t holding me. This… none of the emotions he’s been showing me is new to him—thislustor infatuation or whatever it is he’s had for me and never communicated before.Did it start right before I was sent here, or around when I went out with other guys? He’s never said anything nice to me, flirted, or did anything an average person would do if they were interested in someone. Why is he suddenly showing his interest in me?
Kohen permanently ingrainedmy teeth marksinto his skin before telling me the truth about the biggest sin I hold against him. More than that, he did it knowing I could spend the rest of my life hating him even after discovering the truth.
“I’m sorry.”
My gaze cuts to his hazel eyes. “What?”
I know what those two words mean—I’ve heard them plenty of times, read them, spelled them, but not once have they ever been directed to me.
“I’m sorry for hurting you.” He lowers his forehead to mine, speaking just loud enough for me to hear. “Let me make it up to you.”
My heart pinches. Kohen can’t say that either. He isn’t allowed to. But I didn’t realize how badly I wanted to hear it.
Softly, he says, “Let me show you how important you are.”
I swallow. “You let them believe it was me.”
Even if he didn’t mean to do it, he still committed the crime I was sentenced for. Because of him, I lost the place I called home. I lost the useless things that brought shape to my meaningless life. And I… I can’t find it in me to hate him for it.
His forehead wrinkles as he tries to make me understand just by the look on his face. “I can get to you if you’re here. I can’t risk losing you forever if I go to prison.”
I want to scream at him. I want to riot. I want him to explain why he never said anything before. I want to hurt him for hurting me. I want all of it because there’s one thing I know with absolutecertainty: he’s telling the truth.
He says it was an accident, and I believe him.
He says he wants to take care of me, and I believe him. I just don’t think he knows how to—I don’t know either. Nobody has ever taken care of me. Hell, I’ve barely taken care of myself. My stomach turns as I watch the way the blacks of his pupils consume the golden hues of his irises when our gazes collide. Don’t they say your pupils dilate when you see someone you care about? Whatever it is he thinks he feels, it’s wrong. I’ll never get the prince because I don’t deserve it.
“I wanted you before I even knew your name.” Kohen runs his thumb along my cheek, and the one simple touch feels unlike anything I could imagine. “It’s always been you.”
His voice comes out low, like he’s found the words somewhere beneath all the darkness in his heart. It’s louder than the sirens and the pulse racing in my ears as he kisses a path up my neck.
