Page 111 of Collateral Love
“Because I was afraid. Because if you chose him, everything I built to protect you would collapse.Because loving Xavier meant war would eventually find you.”
I looked her straight in the eye.
“Because I love you more than I trust the world.”
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
“And Zayden?” she asked.
“He lied to you about Xavier seeing other women because of me.”
She frowned.
“He told me that he had kids on the way.”
“I asked him to.”
“You asked him to lie?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he loves me,” I said quietly. “And he knew I would burn the world down before I let you get hurt.”
Channy leaned back slowly.
For the first time since the conversation started, some of the anger in her face softened.
“You really thought you were helping me.”
“I did.”
“And now?”
“Now I finally understand the damage and I’m so glad that nothing could keep Xavier from loving you Baby Bear.”
For a long moment neither of us spoke.
The silence wasn’t as sharp as before. It was still heavy but softer. Channy rubbed at her face, wiping away the tears she hadn’t realized were still falling.
“You always did think you could fix everything,” she muttered.
I gave a weak smile.
“Systems engineering does that to you.”
She huffed out a small laugh, the sound shaky but real.Then she stood.For a second I thought she was leaving.Instead she kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed beside me like we were kids again.
“Move,” she said.
I shifted over and she curled against my side, tucking her head against my shoulder. The same way she used to after nightmares when we were little. Neither of us tried to pretend we weren’t crying anymore.
“Zayden told me everything. About you making money at college to support me and Jared. I hate that you went through all of that alone,” she whispered.
“I wasn’t alone,” I said quietly. “I had you.”
“You didn’t let me help you.”
