Page 332 of Kentrell

And the second I saw his face…

Everything in me shifted.

He looked wrecked.

Not polished. Not powerful. Not the untouchable attorney I’d worked under for the last two years.

No.

This man… sitting here in front of me… was broken open in a way I’d never seen.

Eyes bloodshot. Face drawn. Mouth tight like he’d been fighting emotion all morning and losing.

But it wasn’t just that.

There was something else in his eyes.

Something I’d never seen from him before.

Regret.

Pain.

And love.

A deep, aching kind of love that made my throat close up before a single word could leave it.

Kentrell’s hand rubbed slow circles at my waist… steady… grounding… reminding me I didn’t have to handle this moment alone.

I swallowed hard, blinking back the sting already building behind my eyes.

Still… nobody said anything.

The air hung thick and heavy, like the whole room was holding its breath… waiting for me to speak first.

Waiting for me to process the fact that the man I’d calledMr. Anderson… the man I’d worked late nights for… defended clients with… spent years impressing in conference rooms and courtrooms…

Was sitting on my mother’s couch.

Looking at me like I was the single biggest heartbreak and blessing of his life.

Kentrell’s hand shifted at my waist, giving me just enough of a nudge to get my feet moving.

Not a push. Not a command.

Just a quiet, steady…I’m right here with you.

He walked me toward the couch like we were glued together, keeping me close as we eased down. I sat first… stiff and barely breathing… and he sat right beside me, thigh pressed to mine, one hand still resting on my leg like an anchor.

The air was thick with silence.

Nobody said a word.

Not at first.

Zora kept wringing her hands in her lap like she was holding on to every ounce of composure she had left.

Darius sat forward on his knees again, rubbing both palms down his face like he wanted to disappear and rebuild himself before my eyes.

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