Page 29 of Even if It Hurts

“I’m aware,” he said through clenched teeth. “You got her to stop.”

My eyes rolled when he turned and stalked through his apartment, leaving me to follow. But my steps faltered and a hollow of guilt settled in my stomach when I saw the large, open space.

It was immaculate.

There wasn’t a trace of the things I’d purchased and hadn’t had time to finish putting away. Then again, there wasn’t even a hint that a baby lived there at all. Nothing but hard, cold lines and the two-story view of the city that was even more incredible at night.

But before I could apologize again for not having things tidied before he got home, I watched as Asher continued through the apartment until he was stalking up the nearly hidden set of stairs Aunt Ada had briefly pointed out earlier.

On one side of the apartment, above Asher’s office, was a large at-home gym that she’d waved off with a roll of her eyes. But above the hallway that held the downstairs bedrooms and bathroom was Asher’s glass-enclosed bedroom that I’d been warned from entering.

I hadn’t planned on going near there in the first place, but after the office incident this morning? I had no intention of even setting foot on the stairs.

“Okay then,” I whispered as I dropped my bag onto one of the barstools before turning for the hallway, rubbing soothing circles into Kaia’s back as I went.

Once we were standing in the dark of her room, I swayed lightly with her in my arms and murmured gentle understandings and assurances as I studied her exhausted face. Letting her see me and giving her that comfort of peace in this otherwise confusing and heartbreaking time for her.

Soon after, she was struggling to keep her eyes open, her cries nothing more than hushed whimpers. Within just a handful of minutes, she was asleep. But I didn’t move toward her crib just yet. I just studied her precious, relaxed face and wondered what exactly she thought of all this change—what all she understood at even such a young age.

“Tell me how.”

A sharp gasp ripped from me as I whirled around to find Asher leaning against the doorway, arms folded across his chest, intently studying me as if I infuriated him.

“I thought you went to your room,” I said, the accusation snapping from me before I could control my tone.

“To change,” he said as if that should’ve been obvious, his voice barely a whisper and a clear warning for me to keep mine soft.

I drew in a deep, shaky breath as I waited for my heart to fall back into a steady rhythm, but when it continued beating all out of sorts, I nodded to where his niece was undisturbed in my arms and said, “You need to make noise when she’s asleep. Otherwise, she’ll never be able to sleep through anything.”

“She hasn’t been sleeping as it is,” he reminded me, his voice still soft.

“Because she’s overly exhausted and doesn’t know how to let herself justsleepwith all these changes. She’s confused. Her parents aren’t here, and she’s been thrust into a new place with people she doesn’t know—people who were incredibly overwhelming in the way they were crowding her. And then there’s?—”

I pressed my lips together before the rest of what I’d been about to say could come pouring out, mentally kicking myself for the rant I’d started unleashing on him due to my own emotional and physical exhaustion.

Asher slanted his head, the action subtle but somehow so imposing, and had my pulse kicking into overdrive.

Odd how he was so similar and different to the man I’d met last summer.

Then again, the man I’d met last summer had been putting on an act for everyone to see up until the last few moments he was in my presence, and then I’d gottenthisside of him. The uncaring, gruff man who spoke in harsh tones and still managedto steal my breath and invade my thoughts as if I should be thinking about anyone who wasn’t Jackson.

“There’s what?” he asked, a whisper of dull amusement weaving through the caution in those short words.

“Nothing. I’m sorry.”

“Say it, Miss Pearson.”

I took an unsteady step back as if I might be able to escape the rage clinging to him the deeper I was in the room, but still tipped up my chin and whispered, “You radiate anger and animosity. And if I can feel that, Kaia can too.”

Asher stared at me for so long that I started trembling. Or maybe I had been ever since I’d realized he was there—maybe my shaking was just getting worse the longer I stood there under his gaze.

“I’m sorry about your brother,” I said just as he began pushing away from the doorframe.

He stilled, his hand reaching out to grip the frame as if for support. “Me too,” he finally muttered before turning and disappearing as silently as he’d come.

I released a shaky breath once he was gone, my heart hammering against my ribs so painfully loud in the otherwise silent room. And yet, as I readjusted Kaia’s weight in my arms, I had a feeling it had nothing to do with how terrifying Asher Briggs could be.

Guilt swept through me and knotted in my throat as unbidden thoughts of Asher Briggs tore through my mind the way they always seemed to. Only now, he was no longerthat guy from the wildest encounter of my life.

---