Contract Marriage with My CEO Boss (Kylan and Katrina)
Chapter 80

Chapter 80

"But I will tell you how sorry I am. I will tell you that I can't even begin to fathom what you've been through. I can't imagine how traumatic it was to not only lose your mother the way you did but that you found her body. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it was to see Yasmin leave this world richt in front of you, and how difficult it had to be that you worked on her body for as long as you did. I can't imagine. Kylan. And I am so so sorry. So sorry" She didn't fight her tears, not this time. She allowed herself to cry. To feel sympathy, empathy, and heartbreak for Kylan. For his mother. For Yasmin. For James.

Kylan shifted to stare at her, and she realized there were tears gathered in his eyes too. "She was never a part of the plan, Katrina. His voice trembled, but he didn't look away from her.

"Kylan, this is already a los. You don't. You don't need to keep talking if it's not... If you don't feel safe. Her own voice was quivering tears still softly falling from her eyes. anyone.

I want to. I'm terrified of you. I'm terrified of how I feel when I'm with you now. Of how I've never felt before, not for Yasmin, not for I'm.. Scared of how much I wanted to kiss you, to be with you, to talk with you. I don't know how to do it, though. Any of it. And I just keep screwing it up and hurting you" He looked broken, gripping her face in both of his hands, not minding his injuries at all.

"We don't have to figure all of that out today, Kylan. We don't." She pressed her forehead to his, holding his gaze. "I want to thank you for talking to me, for opening up to me the way you did. It means everything to me and I'm grateful you let me hear this side of you." She licked her lips and brought her hands to his undercut, pressing his face closer to hers. "I can't save you, Rylan 1 can't fix this for you. This isn't a problem at work that you can delegate to me. It's not something I can do for you. You have to do this. You have to work through this trauma. I'm so sorry you even need to, but I see so much goodness in you. L. I care so much for you. Yes, you've hurt me. Yes, you've disappointed me."

"But we're human. And some of us are more scarred than others, but that doesn't mean we're not deserving of love, of forgiveness. But you have to want that for yourself, too. You have to want to forgive yourself. Do you. Do you want that?" Her breath caressed his face, his grey eyes softer than she had ever seen them as he stared at her.

"I don't know that I deserve that, but I want that." Kylan moved his hands to her hips and rested them there, heaving a great sigh. "There's a

s a trauma therapist that Ryan recommended to me a long time ago. I can. I don't know. I can go to them. See what all the fuss is about with this whole therapy thing Kylan huffed a laugh and she smiled at him.

"There's a lot for us to figure out. To work through. But Kylan, I do care about you. 1. Have feelings for you. Right or wrong. I do. I'm willing to take this thing minute by minute with you, whatever that means. She was nervous, so nervous to be so open with him. But he had bore his soul to her. He deserved the same from her

"I don't know what that means, and I don't know if that's okay with you that I don't." Kylan quietly admitted. "But minute by minute sounds alright enough," he agreed just as quietly. "Will you wait here, please?" He pulled away from her suddenly and she frowned, watching as he walked to his jacket that was hung near the front door. He pulled something from one of the pockets before he was then sitting next to her again.

He handed her a small, navy-blue box wordlessly and she looked at him curiously. He only nodded at her and with shaking fingers, she pulled off

the lid

Nestled inside the box, was a gold bracelet that was positively littered with glowing diamonds. "Kylan, I can't I can't accept this." She shook her head, closing the lid and trying to hand him the box Kylan only looked at her and then he silently rolled his right sleeve up and she stopped at once.

There, on his wrist was the bracelet from the Cracker Jack box. From her date at the ballgame that felt like so long ago. It was frayed, impossibly so and it was easy to tell how much it had been loved. "You need one loo" was all he said.

Her throat released a choked sob of sorts and then her arms were around his neck, crying and clutching the box in her hand behind his head. "It's your birthday, Kylan," she squeaked

"I'm terrible at shit like this, but I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being a prick, an asshole, and everything in between. I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you. I can't promise I'll always know how. I can't promise I'll be an open book, because I know I won't be, I can't promise that 11 make sense. But I can promise to take it minute by minute with you, and to try and learn how to talk." Kylan held her close, his hand rubbing soothing circles into her upper and lower back alike.

"I'm proud of you, Kylan, Katrina breathed, pulling away so she could kiss his cheek before she talked herself out of it. "Can L. Can I take you on a date? A.. A real date, this time?"

Kylan raised an eyebrow at her, his face still impossibly close to hers. "You want tha

his voice was guarded again.

"I do. I want to take it slow, but I want that. If you. If you want that." It was her turn to be guarded now

"Yeah. Okay. A date, Slow. I need slow, too," Kylan agreed with a nod of his head.

"Slow, then she confirmed.

"Slow," Kylan repeated.

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3:03 PM

Chapter 80

But then he was looking at her. And she was looking at him. And there was that electricity again

Kylan swallowed so loudly; she could hear it. He glanced at her mouth and then at her eyes. "We said slow, and I mean that. But." He seemed to hesitate, and she didn't move a single muscle. "Will you kiss me, Kate? I want.. I want you to kiss me? He sounded both nervous, yet confident too

She smiled at him, incredible fondness filling her heart. "Okay, Kylan. She angled her head, bracelet still in hand, and she pressed her lips to his without needing to think about it, knowing just what it meant that he had asked her to kiss him first.

It was chaste. Slow, like they both needed it to be. It wasn't seeking and it wasn't going to lead to anything more. She didn't want it to

not what this was

And that was more special than perhaps anything else.

Kylan was complicated. It was going to be a weird journey. She had no idea what all it would entail.

But he wanted to work through the pain, the trauma, for himself, above all else,

And that, that filled her with hope.

With desire.

A desire to help Kylan feel safe, and a desire to learn safety from and with Kylan.

They were both broken in their own ways, and that was something innately human. either. That's

It was beautiful, just like Kylan in the sunlight that filtered in through his windows, peeking beyond the fog and the grey clouds that littered the late December sky. It was beautiful like the bracelet that Kylan now fixed to her wrist. But the most beautiful thing of all, the most symbolic thing, was perhaps his bracelet.

Frayed at the edges, being held together precariously, but undeniably special. Meaningful.

Just like her.

And just like Kylan.