Chapter Twenty-Two
Kaitlyn
Aric looked lost for a moment, and in that instant his external defenses dropped away. Kaitlyn was afforded a full glimpse into his soul. She saw the trepidation and insecurity, and the worry that he might lose her forever. All of it was written on his face and conveyed with his eyes. It was the most vulnerable she’d seen him yet, and it actually swung her in his favor, despite his likely worries to the contrary.
“You can’t deny that there’s something between us,” he said, trying to sound confident. “I know that much at least. You have feelings for me, just like I do for you. Whether you’ll act on them or not, I don’t know, but do me the favor of telling the truth.”
Kaitlyn relaxed into her metal folding chair. “You’re right, Aric. I do have feelings for you. This you.”
His face scrunched up. “Huh?
“But what you am I going to get? The one I’ve seen since we boarded the plane? Happy, easygoing and quick to crack a joke? Or the hard-nosed asshole that the entire office both fears and loathes all at once? Or the penny-pinching dick from earlier today who postponed the entire negotiations just so he could make a quick extra dollar?”
“This money thing is a big deal for you, isn’t it?” he asked. “And the negotiation delay isn’t what you thought.”
Kaitlyn looked away, biting her lip while she formed her sentence. “Yes. I…when I was younger, I had roles in some commercials. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was a good amount of money, and it covered several years. It was, by most normal people’s lives, enough to change their life in a good way, though not enough to retire and say screw the world.”
“I understand.”
She doubted he did. He came from money, breathed money, bled money. But his attempt to understand was nice enough. “My parents were in charge of the money, because I was a child. When I turned eighteen I was supposed to gain access to it.”
Aric’s face dawned with understanding, and then anger. “It wasn’t there, was it?”
“No,” she said weakly. “My parents gambled it all away within the first two years, I found out. What should have sat there gathering interest was instead squandered by the two people who were supposed to raise me. It destroyed my family, and has left me a bit touchy about money issues since.” She looked down. “I don’t normally tell people that. It hurts so much.”
“I don’t blame you,” Aric said, reaching out to rest his hand on hers.
She didn’t pull away. The warmth of his touch was nice in a moment like this.
“If it’s about the money, let me just settle that right now.” He pulled out his phone, sent several texts, and then waited for a minute.
Kaitlyn stared, wondering what he was doing, and what he was waiting for. About four minutes passed before his phone buzzed again.
“Check your bank account,” he insisted, pointing to her pocket with her phone in it.
“What do you mean?” But she did as he asked, logging in to her banking account and—
“ARE YOU NUTS?” she shouted as the balance registered with her. “Aric, that’s a lot of money.”
“A quarter of a million. Or at least it had better be.”
“It is,” she breathed, stunned. “But…I don’t understand?”
He smiled. “I was trying to cover something up by saying the negotiations are delayed,” he admitted. “Not trying to screw you out of money. I wanted to show you how serious I take my commitment to you.”
Kaitlyn was silent. That was a pretty serious sign, in her eyes at least. Would he take everything about her as seriously? Including a child? She hoped the answer was yes, that the person she was seeing now was the real one, the real Aric, but she just didn’t know.
“You said you were covering something up?” she asked.
“We were attacked,” he said. “You saw it in the cavern.”
“I don’t understand.”
Aric made her understand. She learned all about the horrors of the Outsiders, and how some of them were now on the run, out in the world putting people in danger. All the other dragons were being tasked to go after them, while Aric was going to stay here and help guard the base.
“That sounds dangerous.” She wrung her hands. “You aren’t mated, so you don’t have protection from them. You could die, Aric.”
“I could. But if one of them makes it back with word of our defenses, our strengths, or about the existence of dragons, then it could screw everything up. They need to be stopped, no matter what, Kaitlyn. If that means putting my life on the line for millions or even billions of other people? I can’t do anything else. It’s not who I am.”
She frowned. “Who are you Aric? Which one of the men I’ve met are you?”
“The one you see before you,” he said, spreading his hands open, just like he was doing with his heart. “The office Aric, that’s a guise. It keeps people away, and stops them from asking too many questions.”
“It sounds lonely.”
“It was, until I met you.”
It was cheesy. Dammit it was cheesy, but he meant it, and that just made her heart ache. She could be with this man. This version of Aric. That was a man she could spend time with. A lot of time.
First though, she would have to tell him her secret, the one that had haunted her every night they’d been here, and most waking hours as well. It was past time he knew that he was going to be a father. That his mate was pregnant with his child.
“Aric,” she said, opening her mouth.
The door burst open without warning. Aric leapt to his feet, moving like a blur to interpose himself between her and whoever was at the door.
“Aric, I’m sorry to bother you.” It was the voice of the first guard who had apprehended her. “But we’ve been breached. One of them is heading for the tunnel now, and all of our ready suits just left to pursue the others. We’re low on personnel and—”
“I understand,” he said, his voice filling with command and calm, the aura swallowing Kaitlyn as well, making her feel more at ease. “I’ll be there.”
He turned to Kaitlyn. “Kaitlyn Harver. I love you. But I need to go.”