Page 79 of Forgotten Promise

“What weapons I have at my disposal,” Selene said with a relish that was alarming.

There was a low groan from Oscar that might have been amusing under other circumstances.

“While I remember…Benjamin.”

Benjamin jerked when she said his name, his attention snapping to the Grand Master.

Selene looked directly at him. “I understand you made a formal request after your binding ceremony. Request granted. Your trinity is dissolved.”

Chapter Eighteen

Benjamin froze. With four fucking words, Selene had thrown his entire future out the window. He glanced across the table and found Kailani’s gaze.

She’d done it. Asked Selene to dissolve the trinity.

He wasn’t sure when, but she’d had plenty of moments alone with Selene, during the long flight back to Hawaii and even here, though they’d certainly hit the ground running since returning to the hotel.

They stared at each other for several long moments, as Benjamin waited.

For her to say something. Anything.

Maybe “thank you” to Selene?

Or “fuck you” to him?

Damn it, she owed him something.

Instead, she simply sat there, looking at him, giving him nothing.

So what the hell did he do now?

Reject Selene’s goddamn decree? How could he do that?

He’d been the one to request the trinity to be dissolved, even though that wasn’t really what he wanted. Not at all.

When the Grand Master had called out Kailani’s name at the binding ceremony, Benjamin’s immediate, split-second, unguarded response had been joy.

Unmitigated joy.

Because the thing he hadn’t said, the thing he hadn’t finished confessing on their flight from L.A., was that he’d never stopped loving her.

Then he’d seen her face, read the anger in her eyes, and that happiness had died.

When Kailani told him their marriage would be in name only, he’d gone with the knee-jerk reaction, asking Devon for a way out, because fuck if he was going to be shut out of his own marriage.

He’d done everything wrong that day, and he knew it. He’d done everything wrong a decade ago, more wrong than he’d known until a few days ago.

Kailani continued to hold his gaze, but he didn’t have a clue what she was thinking or how she was feeling.

He wished John was here.

John understood Kailani better. Understood him better.

No, it wasn’t understanding as much as a willingness to put in the hard work. John hadn’t shied away from their anger, but had faced it head-on. More than that, John had put his own pride on the line by offering them all of himself, sharing his painful past as well as his hopes for the future. He’d led them to bed, bridging what had seemed like an endless chasm between Benjamin and Kailani, and given Benjamin something he hadn’t expected.

Hope.

Hope that they could overcome their problems and become a true trinity.

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