“You don’t have to tell me, Kace. Just make love to me.”

The yearning in her eyes told me she needed this just as much as I did, so I gave us what we were both looking for, a way to forget.

I lowered my head to hers and took her lips with mine. I licked, nipped, and rolled them between my teeth. I made out with her, fucking old-school made out. Our tongues mingled. Our need was greedy as we both matched each thrust of our mouths.

With my cock ready to fucking blow, I grabbed it with one hand and found Lyla’s slick entrance. She parted her legs even farther, and I pushed in. I was welcomed in with a tightness that was almost too fucking pure. She sheathed my cock as if we were made for each other.

“You’re so perfect,” I said as my control started to slip.

“You’re perfect to me, too, Kace.”

It didn’t matter to her what I’d done, who I’d hurt. What mattered was the connection we couldn’t deny. For that, she would forever be fucking mine.

I pumped into her, her hips matching my demanding thrusts. We were one. We were connected in every intimate way possible. This woman, this was what I needed, to feel her love.

Lyla gripped my back tightly as she arched into me. A loud cry escaped her as her breathing picked up and her heat gripped my cock more firmly than I could imagine. In seconds, my toes went numb, my stomach coiled, and my balls tightened. I shook violently into her as I came. Lyla’s orgasm matched mine as we rode out our pleasure together, not letting go until we were completely spent.

Continuing to kiss her, I rested my body over hers, making sure not to crush her.

She forced me to look her in the eyes. “You may think you don’t deserve me, Kace, but the truth is, I don’t deserve you. I don’t know what you’ve done in the past, but what you’ve done present day at the center, helping the girls, and being a friend to Jett, you’re a good person. It’s about time you saw it.”

Deep down, I knew she was right. I’d been denying the acceptance of her truth for so long, I wasn’t sure how much it would take for me to finally believe it, to make it my truth.

“There is so much you don’t know,” I answered, burying my head in her shoulder.

She cradled me close. “Well, then, tell me. I won’t run, Kace. I told you, I’m here to stay.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why are you choosing to stay?”

She played with the short strands of my hair. “I had a conversation with Goldie. She told me not to give up, that you needed someone to believe in you, to be there for you other than Jett. You needed someone to save you. I couldn’t walk away. I want to be the one who erases the demons that haunt you. I want to be the one who brings you back from the dark and shows you the light of this world. I want to be the one who makes you laugh, makes you smile, makes you appreciate this wonderful gift we call life. I want it all, Kace.”

I gripped her tighter, letting my heart swell for the first time since I could remember, and I said, “I want you to be that person, Lyla. I want it so fucking badly.”

Chapter Thirty

My present…

I lingered impatiently on the sidewalk, pacing back and forth as I waited for Jett to show up. He hadn’t been very happy when he answered his phone after the fourth consecutive time I called, but what I had to do was urgent.

I’d left Lyla while she was sleeping, leaving a note that said there were some things I had to take care of. She wouldn’t be happy. She hadn’t been happy after I told her I didn’t want to talk about my past. I was probably destroying the chance of being with her with every brush-off I gave her, but before I could commit myself, I had to straighten my sanity out first.

If we were meant to be, then it would happen.

The door to Jett’s hotel opened, and Jett walked out looking freshly fucked and wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, a casual outfit not too many people saw on such a powerful man.

Jett rubbed his eyes and said, “This better be fucking good.”

I gestured to the car that was idling with the air conditioning blasting since it was already eighty degrees at five in the morning. New Orleans in the summer was almost unbearable at times.

We got in the car and buckled up. I pulled out onto the empty street that was lined with palm trees and started driving toward our destination.

“Where are we going?” Jett asked, sounding groggy.

“Linda came and talked to me.”

Jett became more alert. “What did she say?”

“She knows,” I stated simply.

“What? How?”

“She saw me at the funeral and then saw me dropping presents off all these years. I guess I’m not as stealthy as I thought I was.”

“Holy shit,” Jett breathed, wiping his hand over his mouth. “Did you confirm?”

“I didn’t have an option.”

“Fuck, Kace,” Jett said, sounding shaken. “What is she going to do? Is she pressing charges? Does she even have any evidence?”

“She’s not going to do anything,” I responded, trying to calm down my best friend.

“Why not?”

“Look in the glove compartment.” Jett studied me for a second and then opened it. “Pull those cards out.”

“What are these?” he asked while looking at them.

“They’re all from Madeline. They’re thank you cards for all the gifts I’ve given her over the years. Linda gave them to me.”

Jett was silent as he looked through the cards, reading each and every one of them, taking time to note the way her penmanship improved by running his hands over it, the way her sentence structure grew stronger and the use of bigger, more descriptive words.

By the time Jett finished, we’d arrived at our destination. He looked up at me, tears in his eyes.

“I can’t believe she’s kept these.”

“She said she wanted to give them to me at some point. They mean the world to me, to see even though I was suffering, Madeline was incredibly grateful and happy about the little presents I gave her. Linda also gave me this,” I said while handing Jett an envelope.

“What is it?”

“Take a look.”

Jett opened the envelope and pulled out a letter that provided access to a bank account for all the money I had given Linda and Madeline over the years.

“She didn’t use any of it,” I said softly.

“I don’t understand,” Jett said, confused. “Why are we at the cemetery?”

Gathering my will to speak the words that had only been spoken to me a few short hours ago, I took a deep breath and said, “Linda wanted to thank me. She was an abuse victim, Jett. Marshall used to beat the shit out of her; she had pictures to prove it. The love I thought I’d taken away from them was actually hate. That night, the night I killed Marshall, he hit Madeline for the first time.” Jett’s jaw tightened as his eyes narrowed. “Linda brought Madeline to Justice so she could learn how to defend herself if she was ever in a violent relationship. She doesn’t want Madeline to go through what she went through.”

I steadied my breathing and ran my hand over my eyes as tears threatened to fall. My throat constricted as I tried to speak. “She told me I saved her and Madeline. I saved them, Jett.” Tears fell as I cried into my hands. “I didn’t ruin them, I fucking saved them.”

The demons I’d been hiding for so long surfaced as I spoke the words out loud to the one man who’d been through it all with me. The guilt and remorse that had been woven into my soul started to release from my body as I continued to speak.

“She thanked me for changing her life, for giving her hope, for taking away an evil man. This whole time I thought I’d destroyed their lives when in fact, I bettered them. They were happy without him, Jett. At the park that day, when they looked so normal, it was because they were happy. They were relieved. I’d protected them from harm and ended a nightmare for Linda. All this time, they were breathing lighter while I was grasping for air.”