CHAPTER TWENTY–EIGHT
+25 BONUS
LIANA’S POV
“I’m waiting, Liana,” he said quietly, though there was nothing calm about the way he said it. It was the kind of quiet that came from trying to control too much anger.
I let out a shaky breath, my fingers trembling at my sides. Killian didn’t move. He stood there too, his jaw tight, his entire
body still.
I swallowed hard. “It started… that night. The night Killian came back. We were both home. One thing led to another and I–I slept with him.”
Dad’s face hardened immediately, but I continued.
“I didn’t plan for it to happen. I didn’t even know how to explain it to myself. But it wasn’t forced. He didn’t rape me, Dad.
Please don’t say that. It was… mutual.”
Dad’s eyes burned. “MUTUAL? YOU WERE NINETEEN! HE WAS TWENTY–FIVE. HE WAS ENGAGED!”
“I–I didn’t know,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
“I felt so low afterwards. I was scared. ashamed. Not because it happened but because I was afraid of how you’d see me. You
always used to tell people how proud you were of me. How your little girl was still a virgin. How she stayed pure and
focused even when the world was all over the place. Nineteen and untouched. I didn’t want to ruin that for you.”
I looked down.
“But I did. I ruined it, and then… I found out I was pregnant.”
A sound escaped him.
“I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t even look at myself. I felt like I’d failed you. Not just because I got pregnant, but because of who it was It wasn’t just any man. It was him. My stepbrother.”
Dad’s jaw ticked as he turned his full attention to Killian now, and it was as if I was watching a storm swell up behind his
eyes.
“YOU,” he said, voice low and filled with fury. “YOU ARE THE REASON I DIDN’T SEE MY DAUGHTER FOR SEVEN DAMN
YEARS.”
Killian didn’t speak.
Dad took a step forward.
“WHAT DID YOU TELL HER? WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HER THAT NIGHT? AFTER GETTING HER PREGNANT. WHAT MADE
HER RUN??! DID YOU DENY HER PREGNANCY? HUH??!”
“I didn’t know she was preg-” Killian began, but Dad raised a hand, cutting him off.
“DON’T TALK! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK IN THIS HOUSE.”
“Honey please-”
Dad, please-“I tried.
But he wouldn’t stop
“YOU HAD A FIANCEE! A WHOLE FIANCEE! AND YOU STILL WENT AFTER YOUR LITTLE STEPSISTER LIKE SOME KIND OF
1/2
28
+25 BONUS
TWISTED ANIMAL. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER. NOT RUIN HER! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM HER. HER
INNOCENCE, HER CONFIDENCE, HER DREAMS!”
“I love her!” Killian finally snapped, stepping forward.
My dad looked like he’d been slapped.
“Love? You love her? You ruin her, drive her away, destroy her innocence, and now you stand here in my house claiming love?”
Killian’s voice dropped. “I never wanted to hurt her. I swear to God I didn’t. But I can’t stop loving her. I’ve tried. For seven years I tried. I built a whole life without her, but I was never really living.”
Dad was trembling.
“YOU THINK I’M GOING TO LET YOU BE WITH HER NOW? AFTER All THIS? NEVER. NOT AS LONG AS I’M ALIVE. YOU MAY BE WHATEVER SHE THINKS YOU ARE–BUT TO ME, YOU’RE A DAMN PREDATOR.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Killian said. “She’s my soul. My other half. I don’t give a damn what anyone says. I won’t walk away from her again.“/
“YOU’LL STAY AWAY FROM HER, OR I’LL MAKE SURE YOU REGRET EVER WALKING INTO OUR LIVES.”
I stepped in, tears blurring my vision. “Please, stop. Both of you. Just stop.”
Dad turned to me, his face tight with betrayal. “And you. You’re really standing there, defending him? after everything he’s
done?”
I wiped my face. “He didn’t force me. I love him too. I always have.”
He closed his eyes for a second like the words were too heavy.
Mother finally stepped forward and faced Dad. “Honey, I get that you’re angry. I’m also angry and very much disappointed. But let’s not forget about Ryan? are you going to pretend like he doesn’t exist? He’s the product of their affair seven years
ago.”
Dad looked at her and took a deep breath.
“What do you want me to say? That I’m happy my daughter had a child with her stepbrother? That I’m proud of this family? If he’s the dad, fine. Keep telling Ryan whatever story you’ve been feeding him. The military lie or whatever else. I don’t care.
But Killian…”
His eyes locked on him. “YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER. THAT’S FINAL”
Suddenly, Killian growled. He took a step forward. The air in the house felt heavier as if an unusual energy rolled off of him.
His arm went around my waist, holding me close and tight and very possessive.
“No one-” he said, his voice now deep and filled with rage, “not you, not anyone else–will come between me and Liana Not
even Liana herself.”
