Page 100 of Tore Up

The flicker in Adalee’s eyes almost looked as if she’d rather him pull that trigger. I wasn’t going to let that happen if I could help it.

“That’s not necessary,” I told him.

“Yeah, it is, pretty girl. I need to hear it. I need her to say it. Because if she doesn’t, I can’t promise you I’m gonna be able toput this gun away.”

She let out a sob, then began, “I’m sorry for everything I said to you and the things I asked you to do—”

“MADE! Don’t paraphrase my fucking words,” Bane growled.

“Made. Made you do. And you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and I’m jealous of you. I want what you have. I want to be like you.” She stopped, sobbing again.

“FINISH IT!” Bane shouted.

She was shaking as she forced herself to look back at me. “I wish my smile lit up the room the way yours does.”

Grissele finally stepped forward and placed a hand on Bane’s arm, pushing it down until he lowered the gun. “We don’t need to make her take the Lord’s name in vain. Might as well not add to her sins,” she said gently.

“Please, can she go now?” I asked him.

He nodded his head once, his eyes not leaving mine.

She scrambled to get up, not making eye contact with anyone. We all stood there as she hurried toward the exit until Grissele turned to follow her, making sure she left.

“That was … a lot,” I said, not having the exact words for what had just happened.

“She deserved much worse.”

“No, she did not,” I replied, worried he was going to do something more.

He slipped his gun back into its holster and walked toward me. “She knew who she worked for. She’d signed the NDA. She knew how we handle business,” he told me.

“It was just some mean-girl bullying,” I said, shaking my head in exasperation.

He gripped my chin, and his eyes bored into me. “No, pretty girl, it wasn’t. It was disrespecting and abusing the woman I love. That’s a fucking death sentence.”

I blinked. There was so much wrong with that way of thinking,but none of it mattered. Not now. Not when he’d just said he loved me. I swallowed the lump rising in my throat.

“You love me.” My words came out breathlessly.

Deep down, I’d thought he did, but I had been so wired to believe that I imagined things I wanted to be true. I had been scared maybe he didn’t love me. Maybe it was just deep affection.

His lips slowly curled into a sexy smile. “Come on, sweet girl. Did you really not know that?”

I let out a shaky breath. “I … I thought you did—or I hoped you did. But you hadn’t said it.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly. “Ever think I was waiting on you? Maybe I wanted to be sure your heart had room for me too.” He caressed my face. “You loved my brother. My finding you, falling hard for you—there was no one else for me. Hell, I had never been in love. You are the first and only. I was waiting until you were ready to hear it.”

I hadn’t loved Crosby. I’d cared about him. I had needed the attention he gave me. I did love him as the father of this child he’d given me. But what I felt for Bane far exceeded anything I’d felt for his brother. I wasn’t sure I could say that though. Maybe he needed to believe his brother had been loved.

“I love you,” I told him. “I love you so much that it feels like I’m going to burst with it. You’re every fairy tale I never believed in. Every wish I didn’t know to make. I love you.”

His mouth covered mine hard as his arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly against him. I went up on my tiptoes, needing this. Him. Always needing him.

Forty-Three

Bane

I locked the office door behind me without taking my eyes off Halo. She loved me. I didn’t deserve it, but she seemed to continually give me things I wasn’t worthy of. Like her forgiveness.

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