Chapter Nine

“Don’t hide from me, Kylie,” he begged. “I want to see all of you.”

A shadow of worry marred her lovely face, but he would not allow that to linger long.

“I have scars from back then,” she whispered.

“We all have scars. Yours just tell me how strong and fierce you are.”

“But I, I mean, I have so many,” she replied, her eyes wide and clear.

“So do I. Yours make so proud of who you are and what your survived. You’re a warrior, my sweet Kylie. Of course, they also make me want to hunt down and destroy whoever did this to you⁠—”

“Sweet, but she’s gone now.”

“Good for her. She’s where she belongs. But more importantly, I want you to know our scars don’t matter. We both have them, and they are part of us, but the only thing I want is to give you something better. I want to be better for you, Kylie, so we can have a life together.”

“What do you mean? You don’t even know me,” she said, and he saw for the first time that was what bothered her.