Page 44 of Forgotten Promise

Both men held the gaze a second longer then turned their attention to Kailani, her lids heavy with recognition…and need.

Sexual tension crackled in the air between them, and for the first time, John felt a flare of hope.

Time to finish this.

Time to make them understand.

“When I was invited to join the Trinity Masters,” John continued, “there were obviously key points that were meant to be the selling factors. I was told I would be introduced to influential people who could help me advance in my career, and that has happened. They promised doors would be opened, that I’d have the power of the secret society behind me, guiding me, helping me achieve great things. They even helped me get the house. And all of it sounded good, but none of that was why I joined.”

“Why did you join?” Kailani asked, her voice still thick with emotion.

“Because of the arranged menage marriage. The Trinity Masters were offering to give me a family. One that would never leave.”

* * *

Kailani had thought her heart couldn’t ache any more for John after hearing about his childhood. But his reason for joining the Trinity Masters?

It shattered her, shook her, left her feeling like…God…the world’s worst person. John had no doubt been looking forward to the day he’d be called to the altar, the day he’d meet his forever family.

And she’d…

She looked out the window, her fingers pressed tightly against her mouth as she blinked hard, trying not to cry.

John didn’t want her tears, told her they weren’t necessary, so she would try.

“Thank you for telling us, John,” Benjamin said, and Kailani was grateful that at least one of them had managed to pull themselves together. Because she’d seen the same horror she’d felt listening to John’s story, reflected on Benjamin’s face.

Out of the three of them, she and Benjamin had the most in common. Living parallel lives, both from loving, wealthy parents and homes where they wanted for nothing—no, where they got everything they wanted—and legacies of the society.

Placing the two of them in a trinity together should have felt like a no-brainer because they had shared experiences and lifestyles. It was John who must have felt like the odd man out this entire time.

Here he was…a man who’d grown up essentially alone, never truly receiving unconditional love, never knowing from day to day where he’d be sleeping or if he’d have food to eat. And yet, he’d had the courage to open up his heart to them, to risk even more rejection after a lifetime of it.

Guilt suffused her.

“John,” she finally whispered, facing him, hating the tear that slid down her cheek before she could swipe it away. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kailani,” John asked after a moment. “I didn’t tell you that story as a way of comparing pain or mitigating yours. We all feel what we feel.”

“Yes, but—”

John shook his head. “No. I don’t want your apology. But maybe…maybe you could help me understand you too?”

She knew what he wanted, what he needed, and there was no way she could deny him. “Ask me.”

“Why do you hate Benjamin?”

She blew out a long, slow breath and gave John—and Benjamin—the truth. “I don’t hate him,” she admitted because it was the truth. She didn’t hate him. He infuriated her.

“It’s just sometimes…” She glanced over at Benjamin, whose expression was unreadable. When it had been John speaking and sharing, she’d been able to tell exactly how Benjamin felt because she could read it on his face.

When it came to her—to them—it was as if she suddenly went blind.

“Sometimes,” Benjamin prompted, his tone neutral, even.

“Sometimes, you’re an ass,” she said, only half serious.

Fortunately, Benjamin heard the joke half and he smirked. “Only sometimes? Damn. I’m doing better than I thought.”

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