parked cars, as puddles pulled at her feet and darkened the hem of her gray pants. She wished she
could simply wash herself away, float on to an easier place and forget these aches that added up to the sum of her.
The prattling engine of the truck came to life after the slide of a door. It grumbled as the driver
pulled away from the curb and, as if the clouds parted to give way to the only spot of hope in her life, there stood Lucian before the sleek length of the black limo.
Separated by wet puddles upon pavement, the thread that tied him to her heart tugged as she met his
gaze. There was no pity in those onyx eyes. Only clouded understanding that drew her in faster than
gravity takes hold of a falling soul. Her knees flexed as she pressed her weight off the ground.
His expression was blank, an intrepid mask that lured her in. One foot moved in front of the other as
she crossed the lot. His arms opened and she fell into his strength, drawing breath from his warmth
and solitude from his unshakable stature.
She asked him to come for her and he came. No questions asked. He simply was there because she
needed him.
“I love you.” The words fell out of her mouth and nothing inside of her wanted to draw them back.
It was the simple truth, she loved him and she would always love him, because beyond his flaws and
after his stubbornness, before his need to serve himself, he would always put her first. That was
something no one in her life had ever done.
Her breath hung suspended like fragile icicles in her lungs as she waited for his reply. Perhaps it
was her new knowledge of how she came to exist that insisted she hear his reassurance. Always less
and now a bit lesser, her tattered dignity required the words. She needed his vow of love. It was the
only bond that could possibly forgive and accept the shame of her conception.
“I love you too.” His arms sheltered her from the rain as he escorted her to the car. A thousand
weighted worries eased with his easily given reply. She shivered in the cool interior as he settled in
beside her.
It all made sense now. He would move hell and high water to protect her. It was an unfathomable
awareness that nothing she could ever do would change that. There was no distance he would not cross
to reach her if she called to him. Even when it came to what he’d done in the past, he merely let her go only to bring her home, surrendering everything he desired just to ensure she was safe.
The limo eased away from the rehab facility and she breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled her close.
“Tell me why you came here in the middle of the day?” Lucian asked in a soft voice as he peeled a
strand of damp hair back from her temple.
“I quit my job at Clemons.”
His shoulder tensed under the weight of her cheek. “How come?”
“A woman in my line started taking pictures of me. I think she was from the press. I chased after
her and apparently we aren’t supposed to accost the customers. My boss was pissed and I overreacted
because he wanted to change my shifts so I walked out and basically told him where he could stick the
job.”
“Do you want your job back?”
She smirked. If she said yes, she had no doubt he’d somehow manage to resolve the situation for
her. “No. I wouldn’t have stayed there forever. Maybe this is for the best.”
“So you left work and came to visit Pearl?”
“Yeah.”
“I assume it didn’t go well.” His large palm coasted over her damp clothing, pressing heat into her
chilled skin.
“She recognized me for a change. It actually started out as an okay visit. I mean, I was upset, but . . .
she . . . listened and made me feel better.”
“But that’s not how she was when you left?” He knew enough about Pearl and the way she treated
her to know nurturing was not her mother’s strong suit.
“No.” She had the urge to let it all out, bare all, and hope he could catch all the broken pieces and
mend her back together. “I don’t know who my dad is. I never did, but the amalgam of a man I
concocted in my head, the image I carried around like a kind of a talisman since I was a little girl,
that’s not him.”
She wasn’t making much sense. He waited for more of an explanation so she went on. Shame laced
her confession. She never imagined her station in life could grow farther from Lucian’s, but it had. All within the span of a few moments with Pearl. She needed to tell him.
“The people who killed the man I believed to be my dad . . . they raped my mom. I think that’s