Page 92 of Forgotten Promise

Oscar stiffened at the obvious anger in her voice. “Yeah, but, um…” He pointed at himself. “I’m just the fucking messenger, remember?” he said as he took one step back.

She might have laughed at the absurdity of a big guy like Oscar being intimidated by her, but she was too…fuck…hurt and pissed off.

Kailani spun away from Oscar without another word, storming toward the back door of the main hotel, the one that led to the courtyard gardens.

She hit the bar to open the door too hard, the loud banging noise echoing through the wide foyer. Kailani kept going, storming across the grass until she reached the seawall. There was a bench there that faced southeast, with a perfect view of Diamond Head and well-shaded by the loulu palms that also formed a curving privacy wall.

Whenever she was stressed out or upset, she came here, to her special spot. Dropping heavily on the bench, she bent forward, her elbows resting on her knees, her eyes cast downward at the stone walkway.

Last night, when she’d discovered Benjamin gone, she’d been too tired to think straight, too upset over the fact that he’d left without a word.

Now she’d had some sleep. She could see his departure for what it was.

Cowardice.

It was an easy thing to recognize because she’d been a coward too.

Selene had dissolved their trinity and she’d said nothing. And rather than stay to face her and John, Benjamin had left without a backward glance. He’d done the same damn thing to her a decade earlier. Back then, she’d cried about it, but this time…

She sat up, staring at the bright blue sky.

Not this time.

Benjamin’s departure she could deal with. She would deal with it, and him.

But she never—not in a million years—would have expected John to do the same. He’d been angry last night, and rightfully so. Because she and Benjamin had been wrong not to speak up in that meeting.

Kailani had no problem owning up to that. It had been a mistake, one that she regretted. One that she’d intended to apologize for again this morning.

She drew in a long, deep breath, the floral scent of pikake and gardenia tickling her nose and calming her. She took another breath. Then another.

It had been thirty-two days since her trip to Boston, since she’d led with her emotions rather than her head and sent her trinity into a downward spiral.

For four weeks, she’d stuck her head in the sand, praying the Grand Master would dissolve the union.

She hadn’t given them a chance, hadn’t spent time with them. Then this crisis forced them together and…and they became a trinity. Somewhere over the past few days, her feelings had changed. She’d realized it last night when talking to Preston. Might have recognized and acknowledged that sooner, if she hadn’t been stressed as fuck about getting the other keyholders and existing on next to no sleep.

God, she had a hard time believing the three of them had only been together for four days.

Just four.

It felt as if a lifetime had passed. They’d embarked on a crazy, insane, stressful, whirlwind of an adventure, and all she could think was she’d do it all again, every sleepless second of it, if it meant she could be with them.

Yes. She’d fucked up. A lot.

But now, her head was as clear as the gorgeous, cloudless sky above her, and she knew exactly what she wanted.

She was going to go get it.

Go get them.

* * *

“Selene.” Kailani burst into the little conference room in the old hotel. Bringing everyone here yesterday had been a matter of availability and proximity. Today, the chairs that had been stored here had been cleared out, and there was now an elegant desk set at an angle in the corner.

Selene sat behind the desk, the handset of a landline phone sandwiched between her ear and shoulder.

Kailani pulled up short when she saw that, switching to look at the people gathered around the conference table—Rose, Lachlan, and Preston.

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