“Arjen,” I called, my throat closing up as I struggled to speak.
“Yes. Try not to stress over this situation. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
He’d assumed I was worried about the prospect of who was targeting me. At this point, guilt had me ready to go with them willingly. I’d known I would have to face my guilt for what I’d done and for what I’d kept pursuing, but I had no idea it would hit hard enough to make me weak. I had never done anything so out of pocket.
“Okay,” I finally answered him. “I need to tell you something.” I wanted to tell him what happened before Khane did, so that he would know that I was the one that had initiated everything.
“What is it?” he asked. His hand rubbed my shoulder as he attempted to soothe me.
Driving up to the house, I spotted armed guards scattered around the place like we were entering a secret government facility. I didn’t recall seeing them the first time Sam had escorted me to the house.
When Arjen extracted a big gun that had been tucked someplace inside the jacket of the expensive suit he wore, my nerves took over, and my willingness to confess my sins diminished. I wasn’t ready to die.
“I’ll tell you later,” I uttered, my gaze never dropping away from the gun he had placed across his lap as he steered us into his driveway. He nodded at my words but observed our surroundings with a cautious eye. Once he helped me from the vehicle, he escorted me into the house and secured us inside.
“What did you want to tell me?” he asked. “You don’t have to be afraid. You can tell me anything.” He must have picked up on my fear because he glanced at where my eyes were aimed. At his gun. He lifted the gun, glaring at it like he had forgotten he was even carrying it before he stuffed it down the back of his pants.
“I…we…” I took in a quick inhale and released a deep exhale. “Me and…” My nerve to make my confession hadn’t returned. I was forcing myself to tell him a secret that could get me killed. However, if there was one thing my father taught me, it was to take ownership of what I’d done, right or wrong.
“Take your time. We don’t have to talk right away. You’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you relax and like I told you when you first came, buzz me, call me, or come and get me when you are ready? I’ll be right here.”
Arjen’s kindness was wasted on me because I didn’t deserve it. My mind churned in confusion as I contemplated the situation I had willingly climbed into. Since I wasn’t romantically involved with Arjen, had I actually cheated on him? One of the things I remembered him telling me the first day I walked into his house was that we didn’t have a love connection. However, after having been with his brother, I couldn’t see us ever being intimate.
“Are you hungry? I can have the cook whip you up something.”
“Maybe later. Can I go and lie down?” I needed more nerve than I currently had to confess to Arjen what had happened between Khane and me.
“Yes. Of course,” he stated. “Go and relax. Call if you need me,” he offered as I walked away, heading in the direction of my room.
Once inside my room, I slammed and locked the door. I shrugged the robe off and let Khane’s big shorts drop since they hung down to my knees and were more like a skirt than shorts.
After throwing on my sweats, I climbed into the bed. I laid there, glaring at the ceiling, restless atop a murky cloud of indecision. Eventually, I started to drift when my mind decided to have mercy on me.
It seemed like minutes later, but the clock revealed I had been out for hours, and darkness had settled. A loud vibrating thump was what must have woken me, along with thunderous shouting. The room was so massive, I would have to ease from the bed to reach the lamp, to chase away the darkness.
Although my mind was clogged with fog as I eased up into a sitting position in bed, I couldn’t help noticing the thumps had ceased. However, the shouts had grown louder. Was that Khane’s muffled voice? Was that him and Arjen arguing?
Oh shit! Had Khane told Arjen we had slept together?