“I need a moment alone with Presley,” Kyler announced. “All right?”
Cora glanced at Presley, and once she saw Presley nod, she said, “Sure.” She rose from the couch and followed Aidan into the kitchen.
Kyler sat down next to Presley, his forearms resting on his thighs. “I’ve spoken to Dmitri,” he began.
Presley tried to say something, but the emotion flooding her wouldn’t allow her voice out.
Kyler looked at her. “I need you to listen to me. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Out of all of us, I have known Dmitri the longest.” He smiled gently, as if recalling happy memories, before tightness returned to the corners of his eyes. “I know him as well as I know my brothers. He is a good man—an honorable man.”
Presley didn’t need to hear that; she already knew those things. But the man she loved and admired wasn’t the one who had been with her lately. Dmitri used to be a strong man, not someone who’d send
his best friend to talk to her and not come himself.
“These past couple of days have been hard on Dmitri,” Kyler went on in a soft voice. “I’ve never seen him this unraveled.” He gazed down at his hands for a moment before looking at her again. “I’ll tell you this—as devastated as you are, he is equally so.”
She couldn’t hold back the bite in her voice. “If he’s so devastated, why isn’t he here?”
Tenderness filled Kyler’s expression. “I need you to trust me now. I need you to believe that what I tell you next is coming from a friend.”
She nodded, wringing her hands beneath the quilt and thinking the very worst. “Dmitri has asked me to tell you to give him a week.”
That wasn’t what she’d expected to hear, and she bristled. “Give him a week for what?”
“He needs to deal with something.”
A hot rush of anger fisted her hands, all traces of worry gone. “This is exactly why I left him, Kyler. I don’t want this type of relationship. I want to have a partnership. I deserve that.”
“You do deserve that, and so much more,” he replied instantly, his voice soothing. “And I know that’s the type of relationship that Dmitri wants, too.”
“Is it really?” Her cheeks warmed with rage. “If that’s true, then why isn’t he doing it? He’s a man, for cripe’s sake. He’s acting like a child.”
“Yes. You’re right. He’s not acting like himself.” Kyler considered her for a long moment and then sighed. “You know my friendship to Dmitri means a lot, yes?”
“Of course.”
“Then you know that I never share something that has been told to me in confidence.”
“Of course I know that.”
He turned to face her fully, and the emotion visible on his face was like a punch to the gut. “You are my friend, too, Presley. I hope you know this.”
“I do,” she whispered.
Pleased by her answer, he inclined his head. “I don’t like seeing you hurting. I don’t like seeing him hurting either. I…” He cursed, shaking his head. “I’m going to be honest with you, and I would hope you know the cost of my doing this. But I, for one, have always told it like it is.”
“Tell me what?”
Kyler’s gaze sharpened. “He’s not pushing you away. He’s protecting you.”
She held his potent stare, wondering if she’d heard him correctly. When he stayed silent, only watching her, she asked, “How is he protecting me?”
“That, I’m afraid, is all I’ll tell you.” The strength in his features intensified, giving her no room to argue. “Dmitri will explain all of this. I promise you that everything will make sense soon enough. But you need to give him the time he needs.”
A frustrated sigh escaped her. She glanced down at the quilt, eyeing the patchwork. Confusion ached in her head. Why did Dmitri need to protect her? She racked her mind. Suddenly a thought she hadn’t considered before came to her. “Kyler, you will be honest with me?”