Page 126 of Reckless King

There’s no stopping the tears that overflow. Before I can wipe them away, he brushes his thumbs over my skin. The tender move only sharpens the pain. He watches me, his eyes swimming with so much emotion. Grief and regret and a pain of his own mingle in his gaze.

I grasp his wrists but don’t remove his hands from my face. “What are you doing here, Tate? Why did you come?” My voice wavers as I ask the questions.

“Isn’t it obvious? I never wanted to let you go, Violet. I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for Eric. Now that he’s out of the picture, and there’s no risk to you, I want you back. And not a fake relationship this time. I want it to be real. I want you in my apartment, in my bed. I want my ring back on your finger.”

My heart flip-flops, as if struggling to beat the way it should. “What are you saying?”

“I want you to be my fiancée. I want to marry you. Having you, loving you, it’s opened my eyes to all I’ve been missing.”

Those words should stitch this tattered mess inside my chest back together. I should be throwing myself into his arms right now, but I feel so bruised and so battered that I’m practically numb. “I don’t know what to do with that. You broke my heart, and now you’re telling me you love me, and it was all to protect me. This, all of this, has moved so fast. Nothing that’s happened between us has been normal.”

His brows draw down. “And is normal what you want?”

I pull his hands away from my face and press my fingers to my temple. “I don’t know. I just don’t want the rug pulled out from under me again. Dad, Eric, you.” Doubt and confusion churn in my mind. “How do you know you really wantmeandnot just the first woman you’ve let yourself get close to? What if we make this real, and you realize I’m not actually the right one, I’m just the right now? That it was just this situation that made you feel this way about me?”

He presses his lips together, but surprisingly, his eyes seem to dance with a hint of amusement. “You mean like Stockholm syndrome?”

“Yes, like that.”

He smiles softly. “It’s not Stockholm syndrome, I promise. And I’m more than happy to show that to you. I understand if it’s hard to forgive me. I understand if the idea of a relationship with me, a real one, is overwhelming. If you need time, take it. I’ll be here. I won’t leave you again, Violet. I won’t hide how I feel. Take the time, but I won’t let you convince yourself I don’t care, that I want anyone but you.”

With a brush of his fingers over my jaw, he’s gone, and I’m left alone with a heart full of too many emotions. I slump back against the couch and close my eyes. The room feels emptier, the silence louder. Tate’s words echo in my mind, a chaotic mix of questions I have no answers to.

Deep down, I know this isn’t about Tate. It’s about me. I love him, I do. Seeing him today, it felt like the first time I could take a deep breath since we ended. But I’m paralyzed. Frozen somewhere between hope and fear. In the last few weeks, I’ve done my best to rebuild the walls he tore down, and now he’s asking me to let them fall again.

I just need a moment, space to breathe and find my feet after being buffeted around.

I hope by taking time to think, I’m not making a terrible mistake.

I stepout of the front door of my apartment block, ready to head to work, but my feet stutter to a halt at the sight of the black town car waiting at the curb. Jeremy is propped against the passenger door, arms crossed and a smile on his face.

I peer into the back of the car. The windows are tinted dark, but it doesn’t look as if Tate is waiting inside. Even so, my pulse kicks into high gear as I approach. “It’s lovely to see you, Jeremy, but I’m not sure what you’re doing here.”

“Mr. King wants to make sure you get to and from work safely every day.”

“But if you’re driving me, then how is he going to get to work?”

The corners of his eyes crinkle. “He claims he was getting too lazy being driven around all the time and wants to drive himself from now on.”

My heart swells, and I blink back a sudden rush of tears. I’m honestly surprised I have any left by now. “Thank you. And thank Tate for me too. I’d tell you not to worry about driving me, but I have a feeling he won’t take no for an answer.”

“You know him well,” Jeremy says, opening the door for me.

Maybe I should be annoyed that Tate isn’t leaving me alone to think, but I’m not. After the last few weeks and after seeing reports of him with woman after woman, even if I know now it wasn’t real, I’ve been left shaken. But knowing he’s thinking about me floods my chest with warmth.

As I slide into the back seat, my hand brushes a folded note lying on the black leather. On top of it is a single violet.

I pick up the delicate little flower and twirl it between my fingers. For a moment, I close my eyes and let myself think backto the first time he showed up at my door. Back then, I never could have guessed how things would turn out. My lips tremble up into a smile, and I tuck the flower behind my ear like he did that night.

As Jeremy starts the car, I unfold the note.

Violet,

The very first time I saw you, you were eating Cheerios at the breakfast bar in the apartment Mark and I shared. You were wearing a blue tank top that matched the color of your eyes. Trying not to stare at my friend’s little sister was damn near impossible. I made a terrible impression on you that day, and you made a lasting one on me. I didn’t know then how much you’d change my life.

Always yours,

Tate

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