Touch Me Not(99)

No wonder she had such a horrible headache.

“You mom and my parents are here. Don’t be shocked when they show up later today,” Adam warned her. “I’m going to try and keep them from visiting until tomorrow, but there’s no way your mom is staying away. We had to strong-arm her to get her to go to the hotel and get some sleep.”

She gave Adam a once over and noticed his clothes were as rumpled as Nikoli’s, and he hadn’t shaved in a couple days either, by the looks of it. Had they both been here the entire time?

“She needs to sleep,” Nikoli said. “Now that she’s awake and talking, why don’t you head home and get some sleep yourself?”

“That’s not a bad idea. I need a shower too. Want me to bring you dinner back?”

Nikoli nodded, and Lily glanced between the two of them, nonplussed. Had she died and gone to some remote region of hell, perhaps?

Adam laughed at the confusion on her face. “Don’t worry, Lils, Kincaid and I came to an understanding. We’re all good.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest, and I’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll call your mom too.”

Nikoli nodded to him and then dragged the chair closer to the bed and sat down. He stared at her, not saying a word. There were so many emotions flickering in his eyes, it was hard to define them all.#p#分页标题#e#

“I’m sorry, Milaya,” he said after a long moment. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault someone attacked me, Nikoli.”

“Yes, it is. If I wasn’t such a stupid ass, you would never have been put in that position. You wouldn’t have walked in on me and then run out so that bastard could take you.”

She sighed and started to say something, but he put a finger to her lips.

“Quiet, Milaya,” he said, his voice deep and gruff. “When I saw your face that night…God, it cut through me, and I realized then what a selfish bastard I was.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I lied to you, Lily, when I said I didn’t love you. I do. More than my own life, but I was so scared when you told me in Miami. I kept thinking of the girl who’d broken my heart before, and I couldn’t do that to myself again. So I lied.”

He lied? A flutter of hope sprang to life inside of her, but then she remembered all the women he’d been with since they broke up. “Nikoli…the last month…all the women…”

“Not a damn thing happened,” he swore. “I tried, Milaya. Trust me, I tried hard to forget you, but I couldn’t. I kept seeing your eyes, all broken and haunted. That girl you found me with? She was my last ditch effort to try and be the old me, but I couldn’t. I was about to take her back downstairs when you walked in. I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but it’s the truth, Lily. You’ve seen me with girls, but how many have you heard talking about fucking me?”

She thought back over the last month, and she’d heard rumors he’d been playing hard to get and it was driving the girls insane, but she couldn’t think of a single person who claimed to have slept with him.

“I love you, Lily Isabella Holmes. I fucked up and let you walk away once, and I’m not doing it again. I’m an ass, but I’m an ass who loves you. Will you forgive me, Lily? Will you forgive all the hurt I caused us both and marry me?”

Marry him?

“I swear to all that’s holy, Milaya, I will spend every damn day for the rest of our lives making it up to you if you’ll forgive me. I promised God I’d take care of you if he’d give you back to me. You’ll never know the hell I went through when I found your phone lying there on the sidewalk, and the blood…God, Lily, I almost lost it. Then when I saw that car flip with you in it, I almost died myself.”

He reached down and grabbed her hand. “Please, dushka, forgive me. I’m so fucking sorry, Lily. Give me a second chance? Please?”

Lily stared at him, shocked and dazed. She’d heard nothing but blah, blah, blah after the words marry me. He’d really asked her to marry him? Hope refused to be pushed down again as she gazed into his onyx eyes. They were open and honest, full of pain, regret, and love.

Could she forgive him for everything he’d done? He’d broken her so badly. He’d healed the damaged person she’d been, only to break her into a million tiny pieces that were still sobbing on Janet’s bathroom floor.

“Nikoli,” she said softly. “You don’t understand what you did to me, what I went through…”