My good hand flattens on his chest. “You know I’m not going to do that. Why would you even say such a thing?”
His lips press together, consternation in the firm line that tells me he’s quite serious. “You could start doubting me as soon as I leave.”
My fingers wrap in his T-shirt, my chin tilting up, my eyes meeting his. “No.”
He stares down at me, his lashes half-veiled, the lines of his handsome face pulled hard. “Are you sure about that?” he challenges.
“Yes. Very. I am very sure about that.”
“Then stay with me tonight. Or hell, I’ll stay with you again. I don’t care where we stay.”
That location being a control thing is back in play, but after his remark about being locked out, and all the intimate secrets of his life he’s shared, I decide he needs it more than me. And I want to know more about his world. “I’d love to stay with you.”
I can feel the tension slide from his body and his hand settles on the side of my head, a dominant and yet somehow tender gesture. “I have to take the donor to lunch which wasn’t my initial plan. Between this and our unexpected challenges, I put the meeting with Walker on hold until I knew you’d still agree to the meeting. We’ll reschedule it right away and find your brother. Yes?”
“Yes. Please.”
“I’ll handle it. It could be late afternoon when I get done. I’ll come back and get you.”
“That’s perfect. I have some work to do anyway.”
He squeezes my backside. “I really do not want to leave you right now.”
His voice is low, rough, affected. My body is aching, breasts heavy. “I don’t want you to leave, but I know why you have to.”
“You do.” He strokes my hair and then catches my fingers in his. “I want to see your hand before I leave.” He’s already leading me into my tiny bathroom, where he grabs my robe from behind the door and holds it out for me.
“If you stand there naked much longer, I’m not leaving.”
A smile on my lips, I quickly slide into the robe and then turn to face him. He quickly ties the sash at my waist. “Let me see your hand.”
“You need to go.”
“I need to know you’re okay.”
“It doesn’t even hurt all that badly this morning.”
He backs me up and sets me on the toilet, going down on a knee beside me. There’s a shower at his elbow now. It’s a tiny space and he’s a big man. He’s also a rich man in my very humble space but if he notices, he doesn’t show it at all. He reaches for my bandage. I pull my hand back. “You have to go. And I don’t want to unwrap it yet. I’m fine.”
His hands settle on my knees. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
He studies me, his blue eyes probing, something ticking in the air around him.
“What?” I ask, suddenly nervous about what he wants to say and has not.
“In defiance of a highly public life, I am a private person. The things I shared with you, the things I share with you in the future are for your ears only.”
“Are you serious, Kace? I’m Aria Stradivari. I’m not going to burn you. And you have insurance. I know how badly you could burn me.”
“You see,” he says, “that is just one more of the reasons I didn’t want to tell you I knew who you were. I don’t want your loyalty because I hold something over your head. I will never use that against you. Ever.”
I can feel the blood drain from my face. He’s been betrayed. He’s told me that. He’s now showed me as well. “And now,” I say, going where these realizations lead me, “because I said that, because I know you know who I am, you think I’m only loyal because of that.” I don’t give him time to reply. I cover his hands with mine. “It’s not true. That isn’t who I am. You sharing all you shared with me, matters to me, it matters deeply. I would never betray your trust.”
He strokes my hair. “I believe you. And I’m glad that it does. This isn’t about you proving yourself to me. Not at all. I just need you to understand why I made the decision I made and that it was not out of malice.”
“I know that. We’ve talked about this, Kace.”
“I come with the baggage that is my past, Aria. That past is a part of me even if I don’t want it to be. It guides my decisions.”
“Like not telling me you knew who I was.”
“Yes. Among other things. Some of that past you won’t like. In fact, I’m certain you’ll want to run away.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’m not ready to find out now.”