Page 53 of Vengeance

Kimberly doesn’t know Lex personally, but she’s heard about her. “Because Colt pushed her away?”

“Because he lost himself and did some fucked up shit. Never cheated, but he was in a bad place. But that bad place put her in a position to almost get killed. That was the true wake-up call for those of us who fucked up, telling us that things needed to change. I wasn’t the man I believed I was. Not when I let my pride get in the way of saving her life.”

Walking around the counter, she places her hand on his bicep and tugs gently until he turns and faces her. Her hands cup his face, forcing him to look into her eyes. “This, right here, is the man I’ve been trying to find. The man I want back and pray for every night. I never wanted to leave you. I never wanted a divorce. But I also knew there was nothing I could do but move out of the destructive path you were on before you took me down with you. I prayed you’d come to your senses when you hit rock bottom and come back to me.”

“It’s safe to say I hit rock bottom,” Dallas says with a humorless chuckle.

“If you don’t want to marry me again, I understand. Part of me hoped getting the papers would snap you out of whatever was going on and bring you back. That it would’ve made you realize the error of your ways and fight for us, but you just signed them like it was easy. That made me the angriest. It also hurt the worst.”

“I thought it’s what you wanted.”

Shaking her head, she never breaks eye contact. “All I wanted was you. You left me long before I left you, but you never saw it.”

“Why would you want a failure?”

“What are you talking about?”

Pulling from her grasp, he leans against the wall. “I was the President of my own club. Then we got patched over, and I lost my seat at the head of that table. The table I bought. I’m not even an officer anymore, and starting the club means nothing now. We wear a different logo, and it’s like it never existed. By all accounts, I’m a failure.”

She sighs and leans her hip against the counter. “Oh, baby, you’re not a failure. You patched over because you wanted to save your men. You put the lives of your brothers ahead of the idea of having your own club. Deep down, you had to know it was a possibility that things would turn out this way, and you did it to save them.”

“It was the start of my decline.”

“I disagree. You saved your people, and that’s all that mattered. If you hadn’t, you’d be President of your club, and everyone would be dead. You saw that, and you did something. And then you stepped down as President when you could have walked and told them to fuck themselves. But you’re still wearing the kutte.”

“I didn’t exactly step down with grace. In fact, I got my ass thrown out of that seat, and then I walked and told them to fuck themselves. It’s a miracle they took me back.”

Needing to close the distance, she stands in front of him and runs her hand along the stubble on his face. “But you came back. Why was that?”

Licking his lips, Dallas sighs before tilting his cheek into her palm, his whiskers tickling it. “Because I realized how far off the path I’d fallen. I almost got someone killed, and it was all because of my pride. That’s not a leader, Kimmy.”

“The man I left would have never seen that. He would have looked at the decision the club made as a slight against him and continued to ignore his shortcomings. That’s how I know you’re not a failure. Failures don’t see where they can do better.”

His arms wrap around her and pull her close, his head buried in her neck. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’m here, Dallas. If you want me, I’m here.”

Picking her up, he carries her to the bedroom and sets her on the bed. Instead of hiking up her skirt and stripping out of his jeans like earlier, he stares down at her with tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Kimmy.”

Her heart drops to her stomach. “For what?”

“For not fighting for you. And making you believe I didn’t want you. All I’ve ever wanted since we were fifteen was you. I need you. I need you more than food and water.”

Reaching up, she pulls him to her level and kisses him. “I need you, too.”

A husky growl sounds in his throat, and they quickly strip out of their clothes, tossing them across the room. She can’t help but laugh at the frenzy. It feels like it did when they first got together as teenagers.

Kimberly lies in Dallas’s arms, sated and sleepy. For so many years, she never felt content. That she could just be. In his arms, she understands why. She isn’t meant to live without him.

His lips touch her temple, and he whispers, “I love you.”

Tears fill her eyes, and she looks up at him, willing them to go away. She’s cried more than enough tonight. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you to say that.”

“I said it all the time.”

Shaking her head, she looks away before the tears fall. “You stopped saying it the last year we were married. I couldn’t help but worry that we’d run our course. If that was why you changed and didn’t come home anymore. I was scared that maybe we were only meant to be together for a short while, and because we found each other so young, it was over before I was ready to let you go. In my heart, I don’t think I could ever let you go.”

“Jesus, no, baby. No. We’re meant forever. I’ll love you even after I’m six feet in the ground.”

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