Zane:
"Kiara, I... I didn't do that," I say, and she scoffs, shaking her head as she backs away from me while I try to go after her. "But you had sex with Gia." I stop when she says this, and then she looks me in the eye, causing my heart to break even more.
I hate the way she sees me, and I regret not telling her in the first place, but back then we weren't close, and I hadn't let go of the hate in my mind for her.
"Then why won't you let me go? You leave me in the house, then you go out there, have sex with her, and..." her voice begins to crack, and I feel a piercing pain in my chest. "... then you come back to lie to me you had a meeting. Why, Zane? Tell me you aren't more than the monster they said you are."
"What?" I ask as her words break me, but I try to remember when I got the lipstick. "You can call me anything but a liar, because I would never lie to you, Kiara. I never had sex with Gia after we..."
"I became your sex toy? We just have an understanding?" she questions, and I scoff.
When she says this, my mind flashes back to the conversation between me and Jacob earlier. I take out my phone and send a call to Rufus, then I shut it off before he can pick up.
She isn't making this easy for me, but I don't expect her to.
"Kiara, please, I swear I didn't have sex with Gia on the night of our organizers' meeting, and we've had sex twice. The first time, I was fully aware, and I regretted it, and the second time was when I thought you were going to die after the injury from the stake." She pauses for a moment, staring at me. "That was the first time I realized I loved you because I..." I lower my voice from the shame. "I thought Gia was you, and the entire time I made love to her, I had your name on my lips."
She remains silent when I say this, so I close in on her, grabbing her hand as she stays calm.
"This is something I swore never to tell you because it was embarrassing, but now I know why I shouldn't keep things like that from you. I swear, I didn't have sex with Gia, and I don't love her, please," I say, grabbing her face and pressing my lips on it for a kiss.
She doesn't push me away, so I deepen the kiss for a while, letting our tongues meet before I pull back, looking into her eyes with her face still in my hands.
"You don't know how much you mean to me, Kiara. I know it scares you to define what we have, and I don't want you to rush. It's okay if you don't want to spend your life with me, and I know I'm selfish, but when you've made up your mind, I will..."
Before I can finish, she mashes her lips with mine, silencing my whining mouth. Her tears flow down her eyes, tainting my face, which makes my heart feel heavier than it already was. I pull away from her.
"I'm tired of the constant fighting, but I can't stop it. The paranoia in my mind is long gone, and I've been rejected, so no matter how much you tell me you love me, I'll always have it at the back of my mind that you can flip on me at any moment. That scares me, Zane, and..."
"And it's okay. I put you through this, and no matter how long it takes, I'll be there to assure you forever," I say to her, then I pull her into a hug, wiping her tears with the back of my hand.
I place her head on my chest, letting her sob while I pat her head until it turns into sniffles. Then she wraps her arms around my body.
"Promise me one thing," I say to her, causing her to raise her head to look at me.
"What?" Her voice is low and tired.
"Promise me you won't give up on me. If you give up on us, that's fine. I don't want to punish you anymore by hoping you will love me, but promise you'll keep believing I can be a better person." She stays quiet. "That's what you made me believe. You didn't push me away, and you made me believe I'm capable of love, and I've never felt that way in my life, and..."
"I promise," she cuts me short, then she wraps her arms around me tighter than before.
I close my eyes, placing my chin on her head until a knock interrupts us.
"Who is that?" I ask.
"Rufus, sir," he says, and I pull away from her.
"I'll be back," I say to her, then I make my way to the door, but she grabs my hand.
I try to keep a straight face.
"Where are you off to? It's the middle of the night," she says, and I turn to face her, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine," I say, and she scoffs.
"Then tell me you're not planning to beat someone up," she says, and I hesitate before I speak. "Please don't do it," she adds, and I raise a brow.
"I was the one hurt, and if there's anyone to get beat, it's Gia, but we know you can't do that..."
"But you can, and she deserves an ass-whooping," I say, and her face crumples into a frown. "Fine. What do you want?" I ask, and she grabs my hand.
"Stay with me and don't let me go tonight, please," she says.