Page 124 of Forgotten Promise

Those were probably some of the hardest words he’d ever had to say.

Kailani pressed her fingers to her lips, her lashes wet with tears. “Oh God.”

“No. Please, Kailani. Don’t cry,” John said. “I’m not saying that to hurt you. Only to explain why I left the way I did.”

“Never again,” Benjamin said, steel in his voice. “You will never feel like that again.”

John breathed out a soft laugh, despite the heaviness of the moment, the seriousness of their conversation. Because only Benjamin Dara could make a statement like that and believe it so completely that he almost convinced John.

He shook his head, letting go of his anger. It served no purpose, and besides, they were hard people to stay mad at.

“John.” Kailani took his hands. “Please forgive me. Us.”

John sighed but didn’t say anything. Mainly because he didn’t know what to say. His past and present were waging a major battle. The scared, abandoned, street-smart kid was telling him to run fast and far, while this man—the one who longed for a family more than anything—desperately wanted to believe in this…in them.

“I need you to tell me what we’re doing here,” John said. “I need to know exactly what you’re hoping to achieve.”

Benjamin leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Kailani chased me down in Seattle, and you want to know the first thing she said? ‘We have a problem’.”

“I should have said crisis,” Kailani countered. “Because, John, losing you…it’s a crisis.”

Benjamin smiled. “Want to know something? I’m great in a crisis.”

“He really is.” Kailani nodded.

John felt a smile twitch his mouth.

“You want to know something else?” Benjamin leaned in, conspiratorially. “I usually get what I want.”

“Except for me,” Kailani said.

Benjamin raised a brow. “Did I or did I not fuck you last night?”

“Asshole,” Kailani breathed, but there was no real heat behind it.

Benjamin’s attention shifted to John. “As you know, I’m a betting man. I take big risks, for big rewards, and I go after what I want.”

“And what do you want?” John asked, but he knew the answer.

“Us,” Benjamin said.

“What we have, it’s special,” Kailani said. “Like the song says, sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”

“Yeah, well. I may not be a legacy like you two, but I read the fine print when joining the society. Our trinity doesn’t exist anymore,” John said. “Do you think Selene will change her mind?”

Once again, Benjamin and Kailani spoke over each other. “We’ll convince her,” Benjamin insisted. While Kailani said, “She won’t.”

Benjamin scowled as he looked at Kailani. “What do you mean, she won’t?”

“I asked her to reinstate our trinity before I left Hawaii. She refused.”

“And you don’t think that information might have been something you should have shared with me in Seattle?” Benjamin asked hotly.

Kailani’s shoulders stiffened, her eyelids narrowed. “Would it have changed anything? Would we still be here?”

Benjamin scowled, and John closed his eyes wearily. “Here we go again.”

But then Benjamin switched gears, his voice calmer. “It wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. We’d all still be here. Besides, it doesn’t matter if Selene changes her mind or not.”

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