Simran

With shivering fingers, I insert the key, only for the door to be yanked open from the inside. Startled, I almost stumbled backwards from the force of it. My heart slams against my ribs when my eyes connect with Dash’s.

A broken and lost version of him.

I drag my gaze down and realize he’s still wearing last night’s clothes while dark circles mar his dull eyes—he looks like hell. Like me. His appearance screams he went to the ends of the earth for a glimpse of me.

When they finally land on mine, his chest expands as he roughly exhales and runs his gaze all over me.

“Kitten?” He rasps, “Where did you run off to? I couldn’t find you.”

Words get lodged in my throat and I stagger at the stark pain in his voice. The anxiety. He looks like he hasn’t slept. I’m hauled backward when he tries to touch me and a fuming Rosa comes in his path. His sad eyes don’t stray from mine and I look away.

“Please, kitten. Give me a chance to explain.”

“You had your chance, Stern,” growls Rosa. “Leave her the hell alone.”

“This doesn’t concern you, Rosalie.” Looking over her head at me, he begs, “I’m not going anywhere unless you talk to me, kitten.”

“You wanted to talk. So talk.” I push him back and he watches me, like I took away his lifeline. “Why did you lie, Dash?”

“Because I never thought you’d mean so much to me, Bianca. At first, I stupidly thought I could sate my obsession for you and walk away once our arrangement ended. I didn’t realize I was fooling myself until it was too late and by then, you sunk deeper into my skin, my veins, and my heart, than I thought possible. Every day I didn’t tell the truth, it killed me.” He roughly exhales before running his hand through his already messy hair. Tortured eyes connect with mine and he shakes his head with a broken smile. “All my life, I just drifted and swayed without an anchor. I never had anything permanent. I’m always searching for one place to call my own. To call my home. Because I never had one. But then you came along and I realized I was searching for the wrong thing. My home wasn’t a place. It was you, kitten. Your heart is my home.”

“I vowed to kill myself before I ever hurt you again but I failed. Terribly. I should’ve told you the truth from the beginning but I was afraid to lose you. Only, I forgot you don’t lose what you never had.” Tilting my chin with the tip of his finger, he roughly confesses, “I know I’ve lied to you, but never about how I felt for you, kitten. Every moment, every word, every touch, every feeling… all of it was real and I’m not just talking about the past couple months. I was yours long before I knew what belonging to someone meant.”

“Let me hold you a little longer if it’s the last time, kitten,” he begs me, and I taste his tears on my lips. “Please.”

A heart-shaped key.

“I saw you watching the couple in Paris, kitten. When I heard about the love lock tradition, I thought it was silly but seeing you sitting there pretty and the smile you gave me when I caught you staring, I finally understood the desire. I knew I couldn’t leave without doing it. So I went back, bought one, and locked it for us. Except I couldn’t throw away the key.”

Oh my god.

Suddenly, I remember him making an excuse and running to the restaurant. He went for this.

“Why didn’t you throw it?” I whisper, making him look at me with a smile.

“Because my heart belongs to you. The only lock where I want all my love to be safeguarded for eternity is in your hands. The key belongs to you, kitten. If I’m not with you, then I want you to have a piece of me. I might’ve stolen your body seven years ago but you’ve stolen my soul.”

“Yo-you’re here,” I dumbly whisper, waiting for him to vanish so that I’ll think he was just a figment of my imagination.

“Kitten.”

“What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like, kitten?” he says, stepping further into my space. “I heard you’re hiring and, well… I’m looking for a job.”

“I’m not your kitten.” He fucking smiles. And god, I want to throttle him. “And don’t you have your own company to run? Or did you suddenly run it into the ground?”

“I sold my shares to Kian and stepped down as the CEO.”

“I told you, kitten. I go where you go.”

“Why do you want this job?”

“I’m in love with the boss.”