Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Aria
Oh, fuck.
It was one thing to feel brave walking into the club, with visions of a showdown with her father playing through her mind. But standing in front of him, that icy fury rolling off him in waves as he stared down a mob boss, was another thing altogether.
She wasn’t even sure who she was more afraid for at that particular moment.
Desperate to alleviate some of the tension, she stepped forward, drawing Braden’s attention to her. “Hi, Dad.”
Like someone flipping a switch, the ice melted and he was her dad again, looking so damn relieved it made her chest burn with guilt. “Aria.”
And then she was in those achingly familiar arms, tight and secure around her, and she had to close her eyes against the threat of tears.
God, she’d missed him. She should hate Killian for that, for keeping her father from her, but seeing as how the past week had proven him right in his overprotectiveness, she couldn’t quite manage it.
Yanking backward, Braden ran his hands over her arms, up to cup her face, his eyes wild with worry. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did he… has he…”
“Killian has been a perfect gentleman, Dad.” Well, perhaps not a perfect gentleman, but her father didn’t need to know about the number of orgasms his former best friend had forced on her while she’d been in his care. “I’m more than okay. I’m safe and I’m happy.”
She’d only meant to assure him that she was safe. But as soon as she said the words, she realized how true they were.
Killian O’Rourke made her happy.
What the fuck?
“Happy?” Disbelief rang in Braden’s tone. “How can you be happy? You were kidnapped and you’re being held hostage by a man who threatened to have me killed if I took you home with me.”
“A possible overreaction on my part,” Killian said, and she could almost believe he meant it. “I only wanted to keep Aria safe, but threatening you was out of line, Braden. I’m sorry.”
It was a toss-up as to who was more stunned by the apology, her or her father. “You’ll let her come home, then?” Braden asked, clearly suspicious of this sudden change of heart.
Not that she could blame him, really, since she was rather suspicious of it herself.
She turned just in time to catch the flicker of regret across Killian’s face. “I’m sorry, but no. She’s safest with me, Braden, and deep down you know it’s true. You just don’t want to admit it.”
Laying a hand on her father’s arm, Aria offered up a weak smile. “He’s right. And I’m not just saying that so you’ll stay away and not get yourself killed. I know you want me to come home, but I belong with Killian.”
“You belong at home. And at the job you worked your ass off to get. You belong in school, getting the law degree you’ve been talking about since you were sixteen years old.”
“Which is where she’ll be in the fall, if she so desires.”
Again, it was fifty-fifty on who was more shocked by that news.
“Really?” Excitement bubbled up inside her, and it hit her then that she hadn’t even realized how much she’d been grieving the loss of that dream.
College had seemed almost frivolous in the face of getting shot at and the father of her child almost being poisoned. “I just assumed…”
Killian smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I have no intention of keeping you from your dreams, princess. If it’s within my power to give you, all you have to do is ask.”
“You really expect us to believe you’re just fine and dandy with her going to law school?
” Braden snarled. “It’s a ploy, Aria, to get you to fall in line.
He’ll keep dangling the carrot in front of you and ten years down the line you’ll realize you just gave up on all your hopes and dreams for some mythical ‘someday’. ”
It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, all things considered. After all, Killian made his living on the wrong side of the law.
And yet, when she looked in his eyes, all she saw was truth. Maybe it made her the worst kind of fool, maybe she was just desperate to have her cake and eat it too, but she believed him.
Stepping back, she positioned herself beside the father of her child. And watched the light leave her own father’s eyes as she did so.
“I’m smarter and stronger than you give me credit for, Dad,” she said softly, her throat tight with unshed tears.
“I want you to be a part of my life. I want my child to know her grandfather. So I hope you can understand when I tell you that this is my choice. I haven’t been bullied or coerced or forced into making it.
And I hope, someday, you can forgive me for it. ”
Tearing her gaze away from the stunned hurt on her father’s face, she looked up at Killian. “Didn’t you say we have a room reserved?”
“We do.”
“Absolutely the fuck not,” Braden snarled. “Aria hasn’t been properly vetted for a guest pass.”
Killian smiled, but it wasn’t as smug as it probably could have been. “We had a deal, Braden. The next woman I brought to the club gets immediate approval, no questions asked.”
A muscle jumped in her father’s cheek. “After she’s vetted.”
“You go ahead and run a background check on your own daughter. In the meantime, you know where to find us.”
It took every ounce of strength she had to turn with him, to allow him to guide her past the bar full of curious onlookers toward the private rooms. But when he stopped in front of a familiar door, any lingering doubts she’d had drained away.
Stepping into the room, she let her gaze roam, taking in the dual thrones, the heavy furniture.
And the bed where she’d given him her virginity.
Killian
It had been a gamble, not just bringing her to the club but bringing her back to the princess room.
But watching her now, the soft smile on her lips as she ran her hand lovingly over the comforter of the bed where they’d conceived their first child—because it was only the first of many, if he had his way about things—the rightness of it all settled in his gut.
Then she turned, her blue eyes shining even in the dimmed lights, and he was lost all over again.
“Why?”
One word, but it was all he needed. Crossing the room to stand in front of her, he brought his hands up to rest on her hips. Holding her, but not capturing her. Not keeping her pinned. She could escape if she wanted to.
He really hoped she wouldn’t want to.
“That first time, we didn’t even know each other’s names. I wanted…” He hesitated, suddenly uncertain of how much he should tell her. How vulnerable he could make himself.
If you want her to fall in love with you, then you need to show her that you trust her.
Reagan’s words once again echoed in his mind as he stared down into the wide, questioning blue of his princess’s eyes. “I suppose I wanted a chance to do this the right way. Eyes wide open, with all our cards on the table.”
I want you to choose me, even knowing exactly who I am. What I am.
“And are they?” When he didn’t answer immediately, she tilted her head to the side, studying him with that unnerving way she had. “Our cards, I mean. Are they all on the table?”
“Mine are. I’ve been more honest with you than I have with anyone who wasn’t related to me by blood.”
“I’m not sure that’s exactly a high bar, O’Rourke.”
Even though she was teasing, the words landed heavy in his stomach.
“You’re right. Who I am, what I do… It all requires a degree of discretion.
So no, I don’t make a habit of being entirely honest with the women I take to bed.
And I can’t promise there won’t be times I feel the need to keep you in the dark for your own safety.
But I am giving you as much openness, as much honesty as I possibly can, Aria. ”
“I know.” Her hands raised to rest on his face, her expression turning earnest. “And I know what it costs you to give me that. I’m doing my best not to take it for granted.”
“I suppose that’s all either of us can ask for. To do our best by each other.”
“And our child.”
A fierce wave of possessiveness washed over him, tightening his throat as he dipped his head to brush his lips over hers. “Yes. And our child.”
When he finally lifted his head again, her eyes were glazed over with need. “Cards on the table, right?” she asked, breathless.
Intuition pricked at the back of his mind. What was she about to confess? “Yes.”
“There’s something I haven’t told you. About that night. The first time we…” An adorable blush stole across her cheeks, making her look so much more innocent than he knew her to be.
“And what might that be, princess?”
“It wasn’t just our first time. It was my first time. Like. Ever.”
It took a moment for her words to register. And when they did, that wave of possessiveness turned to a tsunami. “I was your first.”
“My only, actually. I never… There was never anyone else, Killian. Just you. Only you.”
Emotion lodged in his throat. Fingers digging into her hips, he hauled her to him, crushing his lips to hers in a brutal claiming of a kiss.
He had been her first. Her only.
And he was damn well going to be her last.