“Miss Emory, I’m going to have to insist that we go back to my car.” The officer was beside me now.

He was moving forward, and I felt him closing in. He was going to try to stop me. At the same time, his hand lifted for his radio. Then I rounded the corner.

There he was.

There was no car. Instead, he wore a leather jacket, and he was waiting on a motorcycle. The kickstand was out, his bike resting on it. His face was hidden underneath a helmet, but it was him.

I started for him, not thinking anymore. I was done thinking.

“Miss Emory,” the cop started again.

I went to Kian. As I walked toward him, I felt it in me. I didn’t know when it happened. I didn’t know what would happen in the future, but he was there. A helmet was in his hand and I knew it was for me. I reached for it, starting to pull it on. He stopped me. His hand fell onto mine, and he turned my face up to his. He stared at my eyes and after a moment, a soft grin tugged the corner of his lips up. A look of pride filled his gaze, and it swelled in me too. I really was done hiding.

His hand fell from mine and as I pulled on the helmet, the cop sighed. “We’re supposed to keep you safe all day today. We’ll follow you then?”

I swung my leg up and climbed behind Kian. My arms wrapped around him.

He spoke for me, “We’ll be at my hotel.”

I stopped listening. He told the cop where we would be. They would come. They’d do their job, be around me so the public couldn’t hurt me. They did it before, and they’d do it again. Until things settled down, they would continue doing so, but I wasn’t considering them anymore. After the interview, saying my side, and having Kian waiting for me, everything would be okay.

It had to be.

He had come for me, and when I went to him, I knew right then and there… I was in love with Kian Maston.

If someone told me three years ago, as I was covered in blood and sitting in the back of an ambulance while watching Edmund’s covered body being wheeled past me on a gurney, that I would be riding on the back of a motorcycle with Kian Maston, I would’ve laughed my ass off. From the hysteria, the absolute perplexity of it, that both of us would be infamous, that we’d be hiding under black motorcycle helmets, and that I would’ve just realized I was in love with him—I would’ve laughed, cried, and punched whoever told me that.

But here I was.

Kian’s hand would cover mine whenever we stopped at a stoplight, waiting at an intersection. It was completely ludicrous, what we were both doing, but I didn’t care. If we were together, the media would never stop. If we went our separate ways, maybe we would have a chance for a normal life, but I couldn’t walk away from him. That was all I knew. It’d been this way for a while, ever since he came back into my life. I hadn’t been able to stay away, much less walk away.

We went back to his hotel. I was tense going in, but no one was there.

Seeing my look, Kian chuckled. He still held my hand, and he tugged me farther inside. “When I saw the interview, I asked everyone to leave. They went to their own rooms for the night.”

“The whole night?”

He nodded. A shadow fell over his face. He asked almost tenderly, “Is that okay?”

I couldn’t talk. My throat closed up, but I moved my head up and down. It was more than okay.

Feeling his gaze on me, I felt shy for some reason. My cheeks warmed, and I glanced to the floor, fingering the bottom of my shirt and tugging it down. This was ridiculous. We had sex. I just went on national television and bared my soul, but now, after realizing I was in love with him…

I eyed the floor beneath my feet. Could it swallow me up? Was it too ludicrous for me to wish for that?

“Jordan?” Kian moved closer, his voice dipping low.

I mustered up a smile, looking up. God, he was gorgeous.

His eyes were intense and focused on me. His lips were pressed together. I remembered how they’d felt and tasted before, how his hands had caressed me and trailed over my body, how his body had felt on top of mine. Every little caress, ministration, kiss, tender touch from him—I was remembering all of it in one overwhelming moment. Had I loved him this whole time? Had I not known it?

“I did that interview today.”

“I saw.” His finger touched beside my eye. It was the slightest of touches. “You took your contacts out.”

“I needed to be all of me. I felt it was the right thing to do.” Even more emotion swept up and lodged in my throat. “I didn’t do it just for me. I did it for you, too.”

His voice dipped even lower, so soft. “How so?”

“People think I seduced you. That’s always bothered me. It wasn’t just that they blamed me. It was that they were putting the wrong spin on it. You didn’t go in my house because you were mindless or brainwashed, like you were under my spell or something. That’s beneath what you did. You went in and saved me. That was it. There was nothing else to it.”

“Jordan.” His hand lifted back to me, but he held it still.

I sucked in my breath, knowing he was going to touch me. I was ready for it. I almost closed my eyes, waiting to relish the feel of his hand on me again, but he pulled back at the last second. I looked up to find him staring at me with a wondering look on his face.

“What?” Had I said something wrong?

His head gave the slightest shake, but he still moved back another step. “Nothing. I…my parents hate what I did. My sister, too. Justin raped her, but when she heard what I did and the real reason behind it, she was angry. How could I save you and not her? She’s been resentful ever since, but just now, hearing you…thank you.”