Page 76

Her eyes welled with tears as she covered her mouth with her free hand.

“I promise to honor you and never to stray. You are my one and only—the reason I breathe. Without you, I’m an empty husk. Until you came back into my life, I didn’t know what living was. It’s you, Carrie. You are my purpose. I want to spend the rest of eternity earning your love.”

Her hand fell away from her face, and she blinked wildly. “Love?”

Kid nodded. “I love you. I always have.”

As her tears fell, he held his breath. He would stay there in this disgusting bathroom for as long as it took for her to decide whether he was worthy of her.

He wasn’t, but that was her decision to make. If she chose him, he’d do everything in his power to live up to her belief in him. As much as he wanted to keep talking, it wasn’t his turn. He’d said all he could. He had to give her the space to process and answer him.

She glanced up and wiped at her eyes. “I think I can safely say that for the first time in my life,” she said as she brought her attention back to him, “I understand what it means to be and feel loved.”

He grinned as hope warmed his chest. This seemed like this conversation was going in the right direction.

“I just—”

Wait a minute.

“I don’t…”

She was about to shoot him down. Kid’s stomach dropped, but he couldn’t move. Frozen in place, he couldn’t even find his voice to try to convince her. Locking in shock, he knelt there like a fool as she stumbled over her words.

“An old lady is a big deal.”

What?

“You’re the vice president.” She gestured to his cut.

He glanced at his patch as though he had never seen it before. She was concerned about his rank? He would renounce it for her if she asked.

“I’m not Kelsey,” she said, and he peered up at her in utter confusion. “After everything…”

His blood ran cold as she inhaled deeply.

“I’m not strong enough to be the woman you need.”

Absolutely not. Kid got to his feet and pressed his body against hers. Sobs ripped through Carrie as she clung to him.

“You deserve better than me,” she said into his chest.

How could she think that? “I’ll rip this stupid patch off my chest if that’s your concern. My position isn’t important.” He never wanted it anyway. Kid had accepted it for his brother. However, Carrie meant more to him than his place in the club. A generic member would suit him just fine. “I admire your power and resilience every day. You walked away from something meant to destroy you. You fought and clawed your way out of the darkness.”

Kid pulled back and found her swollen red-rimmed eyes as she wept. “There is no one more up for the task of being my old lady than you. It has to be you.”

He hugged her tight and rested his cheek atop her head, letting her cry. Ire swirled in his chest at the idea that she could consider herself weak. She was anything but.

“I will spend the rest of my life showing you exactly who you are.”

“If anyone else said those words to me, I wouldn’t believe them,” she said as she peered up at him.

He smirked and used his thumb to swipe the tears off her cheeks. “I believe in you. I always have.”

“You really want this? Me?”

“More than my next breath. I’ll step down from my role as VP tomorrow if you’ll have me. I would walk away—”

“Oh my God! No! I would never,” she interrupted. “You’re just the first person who has ever picked me.”