Page 76 of Shattered Throne
Then she softened.
It happened slowly, like ice melting. The tension drained out of her shoulders. Her hands stopped pushing and started gripping, fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt.
She turned her face into my chest, and I felt her exhale—a shaky, uneven breath that seemed to carry the weight of six years.
I held her tighter.
I didn't know what Cole had done to her. Didn't know what their history was, what he'd broken, what he wanted to fix. I didn't know if he was Zoe's father, didn't know if Kim still had feelings for him, didn't know where I fit into any of this.
But I knew this: she was in my arms. She was letting me hold her. And for now, that was enough.
"I'm not going to ask," I said quietly, my lips close to her hair. She smelled like vanilla. Like something warm and sweet and entirely too good for me. "Whatever it is, whatever happened—you don't have to tell me. Not until you're ready."
Kim didn't respond. But her grip on my shirt tightened.
"I'll wait," I continued. "However long it takes. I'll wait until you trust me enough to tell me your story."
She pulled back just enough to look at me. Her eyes were wet, but she wasn't crying. Not quite. She studied my face like she was searching for something—the lie, maybe. The angle. The hidden motive.
I let her look. Let her see whatever she needed to see.
"Why?" she asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Why do you care?"
Because somewhere along the way, this stopped being fake.
But I didn't say that. Couldn't. Some truths were too fragile to survive being spoken out loud.
Instead, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Because you're my favorite secretary. Obviously."
A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. Small. Reluctant. But there.
"I'm your only secretary."
"Details." I let my hand drop, but I didn't step back. Didn't put distance between us. "Come on. I'll drive you home."
"I have work to?—"
"It can wait." I caught her hand. Squeezed it once. "Let me take you home, Kim. Please."
She looked at our joined hands. Then at my face. Then back at our hands.
"Okay," she said finally. "Okay."
We walked out of the break room together. I kept hold of her hand, and she let me, and neither of us said a word about Cole Matthews or the contract I'd just signed or the questions still hanging in the air between us.
There would be time for answers later.
Right now, I just wanted to be the person she leaned on.
Even if I didn't deserve it yet.
13KIM
My phone buzzed again.
I didn't have to look to know who it was. The unknown number had been lighting up my screen all week—calls I let go to voicemail, texts I deleted without reading. But not before I saw the first few words.
Hey babygirl
