Page 54 of Kylan

He put his hand to my cheek, his eyes dark and sorrowful. “Please forgive me, Kylan. And Marek, I need you both to forgive me. I’m so sorry. We can work this out. We can get through this, I promise. I’ll do anything.”

Marek put his hand to Leon’s heart. “I know you’re sorry, my darling.”

I tried to get up and they helped me sit on the bed. Leon took one of my hands and Marek took the other. And I tried to get my thoughts in order.

I was so tired. So empty. My chest was aching, raw and rough. “I... I don’t know what you’re saying. I can’t think straight. I want to believe you, but I don’t know what’s real. I think I broke something. In my head. I used to be able to block the bad stuff out, but I can’t. I tried but I couldn’t do it.”

Marek sobbed, bringing my hand to his face, his neck. And Leon put his arm around me. “Oh, Kylan, sweet boy.We’re here, this is real. We want you in our lives, in our home. We need you.”

“But you said?—”

“I was wrong. I was so wrong. Marek was right; we’re not us without you. You changed us, and that scared me so much. I thought letting you go was the right thing to do, but it almost broke us. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Leon? Scared?

He seemed to read the questions in my eyes because he nodded. “Terrified. I fell in love with you, Kylan.”

My heart thudded to a stop, squeezing painfully. I felt dizzy.

He fell in love with me?

Leon squeezed my hand. “And it scared me to think I was taking something away from Marek. But he taught me that’s not how it works, because he loves you too. And that doesn’t mean we love each other any less.”

They both love me?

Wait . . .

“It means we love each other more,” Marek said. Then he put his forehead on my shoulder. “You said you wanted more. You said you needed us more than you thought we could need you, but Kylan my darling, we need you too. So much.”

“Please say you’ll come back to us,” Leon murmured. “We’ll work everything out. Everything you need, anything you want. We’ll make it work, whatever it takes.”

I sobbed out a cry. “Am I dreaming? Did my mind really snap? I think I’ve lost my mind.”

“No, no,” Leon replied. “You’re not dreaming. We’re here. We mean everything we’ve said. We love you, Kylan. And I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

I cried harder, my shoulders shaking. “Everyone I ever loved hurt me. I tried to lock it away; I tried to lessen the pain.” I pulled my hand free from Marek so I could push against my temple and then my sternum. I ached all over, inside and out. “And you say you love me, but if love feels like this, I don’t know if I can stand it. I can’t bear this. My heart and my head, everything hurts. I don’t feel... right.” I felt like crying but I was all out of tears. “I don’t feel so good.”

Leon felt my forehead, my cheeks, my neck. “You’re hot.”

“Of course he is,” Fitch said from the door. He came in and knelt before me. “Kysie? Everything okay?”

I tried to smile for him. “Did you call them?”

“I had to do something. I’m sorry if it breached whatever clause in your whatever contract. But you were scaring me.” He put his hand to my face and stopped, concerned.

“He has a temperature,” Leon said.

“I’m just tired,” I tried.

“He hasn’t eaten or drunk anything in two days,” Fitch told them. Then he glared at each of them. “Why do you think I called you?”

“We’re indebted to you,” Marek said gently. “I can never thank you enough.”

“The contract is over,” Leon said. “There are no clauses to breach.”

I shot him a look. “What?” Panic began to bubble in my chest, squeezing my lungs. “But I?—”

Leon smiled, his hand clasping mine. “I thought we could try dating. The three of us. And we don’t need an NDA if there’s nothing to hide.”

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