Page 97 of Claim Me
Her exhale was even and finally her body tensed.
“And you said you were surprised by my actions. You are truly one formidable woman.” I moved closer, enjoying being able to crowd her space. She didn’t flinch, but her eyes were still filled with extreme uncertainty.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, but it felt right. He gave me the heebie-jeebies the moment he walked into the door.”
“You and me both. Trust your instincts, Marissa. They will never steer you wrong.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She studied me, the array of emotions crossing her face adding to her intense beauty. She was a flower opening before my eyes. As she moved to the piano, running her fingers across the keys, I was once again reminded she’d been forced into an impossible position. The melody was beautiful as usual, a little of what I’d heard before.
Another reminder of a damning moment in my past.
“Why the change of heart?” I asked a few seconds later.
“About?” She continued playing, her body swaying to the music.
I laughed. “About me.”
She turned to face me, curling her fingers. “Trust is vital.”
“Does that mean you now trust me?”
“Now that everything has started to sink in, Charlie’s last words remain in the forefront of my mind. Don’t trust anyone but you. It took me a little while to accept that. You’re so… larger than life. So vibrant and so dominating. I wanted to hate you. I also wanted to blame you for what happened, but I know now that I need to trust you. No, that’s not fair. I do trust you.”
My eyes drifted to the way she dragged her tongue across her bottom lip. “I’ll never intentionally hurt you, Marissa. I keep my promises.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Just do me a favor and don’t prove him wrong, Kazimir. That would honestly break my heart.” She hesitated, but I sensed she had more to say.
“What is it?”
She returned her gaze to the piano. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I care about you. Maybe more than I should. Maybe oneday I’ll wake up and this will be a dream or a nightmare. But I know you were hurt before. I can see it in your eyes. Whoever she was in your life lingers in your heart. Take it from me, grief is a terrible thing for anyone to experience, yet in a very strange way the deep emotions allow you to see what’s most important. It’s something Charlie reminded me of after the death of our parents. Whoever she was would want you to live your life and not just exist.”
“Is that what I’m doing, existing?” I walked closer, the longing to yank her into my arms extraordinarily intense.
Her smile was tight as she smoothed her hand down my shirt. “You’ve asked for my trust more than once. Now I’m freely giving it to you. At first, I believed you refused to trust me in return. That’s not the truth.”
“Then what is?” It was impossible to resist touching her. Every time I did, the simple action grounded me more than anyone else in my life.
“It’s that you can’t trust yourself. How very sad. I’m usually not wrong about people, but I was with you. You’re not a monster. You’re an amazing man who simply lost faith in yourself and whatever faith you once carried. I hope you can find that again because unless you do, you’ll never be happy.” She moved away from me, disappearing into one of the bedrooms.
Sighing, I shifted until I was able to look out the window at the beautiful afternoon.
Years before my father had shared something more valuable than I’d believed at the time. Trusting and loving the woman in your life was the greatest gift of all. During the same conversation, he’d also told me that loving anyone was a terribleweakness. The seeming contradiction had been a tremendous debate in my mind until Jasmine had come into my life.
Her death had left me with only one side: to never to feel anything for anyone ever again. That was very wrong. The truth was much deeper and more profound.
Love and trust were worth every danger, every ugly emotion.
How tragic I’d learned the sentiment too little too late.
CHAPTER 27
Kazimir
“Do rubies go with the color purple?” Marissa asked out of the blue.
I tossed her a look, able to smile for the first time since leaving the resort to head to the performance. She’d worn the necklace I’d purchased for her from months before. “Spectacular, although I will admit I’d prefer to see you in the jewels, heels, and nothing more than a pair of stockings.”
The tension had remained between us since meeting with the attorney. I’d felt her coolness since allowing me to know she cared for me. I should have told her doing so wasn’t in her best interest, but here I was, unable to stop thinking about her in the most inappropriate ways.
