“Stop it!” I cried, shoving at his chest. I’d taken him off guard and he stumbled back a few steps. “Stop saying things like that! You can’t… tell me all of that and then walk off like it’s no big deal! You’re killing me.”
He stared at me, silent.
I took a breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Offer me something or offer me nothing, but stop trying to play both sides.” Because that’s what he was doing. Pushing me at Blane, telling me we should reconcile, then getting upset when he saw the ring on my finger. Kissing me, touching me, then saying it could lead nowhere.
Yes, he’d told me he loved me in Vegas, but he’d been drunk at the time and didn’t remember saying it. Unless it was an emotion he was willing to own up to sober, it didn’t really matter, did it?
I searched his eyes, not breathing, and hoped for… I didn’t know what. To my disappointment, Kade turned away without a word. I watched his form be absorbed by the darkness as he walked to the house.
Two steps forward, three steps back.
I remained outside, unable to bear the thought of going inside just yet. I slumped down on the grass and watched the fireworks. I could hear the people laughing and talking as they shot off rockets. The frugal part of me cringed at every explosion, adding up the dollars in my head. I’d never seen the point of buying fireworks—it was literally like setting your money on fire. But I liked watching them, and if other people wanted to blow their money in that fashion, who was I to judge?
I thought about Kandi. She’d been having sex with Blane… and James. Why? Had she been hoping to make one of them jealous? Had she known how much James hated Blane? What if she hadn’t told James and he’d found out she was sleeping with Blane, too? Could he have flipped out enough to kill her? Maybe accidentally?
My eyelids were heavy when I finally decided to call it a night. I brushed the grass off my jeans and went inside. I showered and wrapped myself in a towel, my wet hair clinging to my shoulders. I hoped I was tired enough to sleep. Part of me ached for my own apartment, but another part of me was glad to be here, glad to be with Blane and Kade, despite the tension between the three of us.
I walked out of the bathroom and froze.
Blane was sitting on my bed, the dim glow of the bedside lamp casting pools of light and shadow on his body.
He was silent, his gaze steady on mine before it dropped lower, taking in the damp towel I wore. Memories of our kiss earlier tonight assaulted me. My breath caught in my chest and I had to swallow before I could speak.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just… need to talk to you.”
I shifted my weight from one bare foot to the other, acutely conscious of my nakedness. Was this about Kade, or about us? I didn’t know if I was ready for either conversation.
Yet, if it was important enough to make him invade my room at this hour, then I should probably hear him out. “It’s okay. What is it?”
He approached me, stopping when he was close. “I wanted to tell you that you were right about my uncle. I confronted him with what you told me while you were in Vegas, that he had tried to pay you off. He admitted it quite openly.”
Vindication. It was a good feeling.
“I’m so sorry, Kat,” Blane said, his voice a husky whisper. “I had no idea, never thought for a moment that he would do something like that. Which also explains why, when you didn’t take the bribe, he resorted to lying to me about you.”
Yes, I could have told Blane all that months ago. Too bad he wouldn’t have listened.
“But how could you do that to me, Blane?” I asked, unable to stop the question from tumbling out. “How could you believe I’d cheat on you? The man I was supposed to marry?” It was a question I’d wanted an answer to for months. “You risked your life to track me down and rescue me from Summers. How could you think I’d betray you?”
“I have no excuse, Kat,” Blane said. “I could stand here and tell you I’ve never loved a woman before, not like I love you, and it terrified me. I could tell you that I was too afraid to believe we could be happy, that it all wouldn’t disappear in smoke and lies. So when I saw those photos, it was almost a relief after waiting for my dreams to shatter, when they finally did.”
His voice was choked, his eyes too bright and vividly green, but he kept talking.
“But those are just excuses,” he said. “I believed the wrong thing. I made a horrible mistake. I thought the two people I loved the most had betrayed me in the worst possible way, and I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t see or hear anything but what I thought was the truth. I sabotaged our happiness. My uncle had never lied to me before. Why would I doubt him?”
“Neither had I, but you doubted me,” I said.
My stomach churned and my chest ached. I hadn’t felt this much pain since the day it had gone so wrong between us.
“Can you forgive me?” he asked.
I looked at him. Who was I to withhold forgiveness? Everyone made mistakes, hurt the ones they loved, and I was no exception. If the situation were reversed, I’d want absolution, too.
“Yes,” I said. “I forgive you.”
Relief swept his features, and it felt like something inside me had echoed that feeling, like a knot tied too tight finally loosened. Forgiveness was good for the soul, my soul.
Blane took my hand in his, glancing down at the ring on my finger.
“How do you live with a regret so deep it cuts through every part of you?” he murmured.
I didn’t know what to say, and perhaps wouldn’t have been able to speak even if the right words had come. The lump in my throat felt as though it would strangle me.
Blane leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead for a long moment, then he was gone.
Somehow, I knew sleep wouldn’t come easy tonight after all.
The doorbell rang as I came downstairs the next morning, and I swung by to answer it. A man stood on the doorstep with a large manila envelope in his hand.
“Can I help you?”
“Is Mr. Kirk available?”
“Hey, Jared, come in.”
Blane had come up behind me. Apparently, he knew the guy. I stepped back to let him in.
“Jared, this is Kathleen, my… fiancée.”
That was like a punch to the gut.
“Kathleen, this is Detective Jared Jones.”
Ah. Blane’s friend in the department. We shook hands.
“Let’s meet in the den,” Blane said, gesturing to the door. Jared headed that direction. Blane turned toward me.
“You don’t have to come,” he said. “The photographs… I’m sure they won’t be pretty.”
“I want to,” I said simply.
He searched my eyes, then nodded and took my hand, following Jared into the den. Kade was already in there. Blane introduced Kade, mentioning that he was a private investigator rather than his brother.
“What do you have?” Blane asked.
Jared handed him the envelope. “It looks bad,” he said.
Blane dumped the pile of papers and photos onto the table. Kade picked up a few and started reading.
The photos were what jumped out at me. I picked one up. Kandi’s eyes were open, staring sightlessly. I’d never seen her without makeup and she looked softer, younger without it.
The livid marks on her neck drew my eye as Jared spoke.
“Initially, we thought the cause of death was strangling,” he said. “Turns out she was smothered.”
I glanced up at him, then back at the photographs, choosing another that showed bruises on her upper arms, like someone had grabbed her. I was more interested in a close-up of her neck, visible in one corner of the photo.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing.