Chapter 6 - Saraphina Discovered Kieran Had Loved Her for Eighteen Months—But His Confession Came Just Before an Attempt on Her Life
The next three days changed Saraphina's understanding of Kieran Blackwood.
She had always known he was powerful.
She had never understood how carefully he used that power when he cared about someone.
He arranged security for Isabella without turning her hospital room into a fortress. He hired a specialist to review her treatment plan, but he insisted that the doctor explain every recommendation directly to Saraphina.
He also arranged for Rosa to stay in a comfortable apartment near the hospital, ensuring she could visit Isabella without traveling across the city.
When Saraphina objected to the expense, he reminded her that the arrangements were temporary.
When she asked whether temporary arrangements in his world usually involved armed guards, he replied that he was trying to make them as ordinary as possible.
It was the closest he came to humor.
And somehow, that made her more nervous than his threats ever had.
On the fourth evening, Isabella fell asleep early.
Saraphina stepped into the hospital garden, hoping for a few minutes of quiet.
Kieran was already there.
He stood beside a stone fountain, his phone pressed to his ear. When he saw her, he ended the call.
"How is she?"
"Sleeping."
"Good."
She sat on a bench.
He remained standing.
After a moment, she said, "You can sit down. I'm not going to bite you."
He looked at her.
"That's reassuring."
He sat beside her, leaving a careful distance between them.
For several minutes, they watched the garden lights reflect in the water.
Then Saraphina spoke.
"Why didn't you ever tell me you noticed me?"
Kieran turned.
"What?"
"At the estate. You said you knew enough to want to help me. But you've been watching me for eighteen months, haven't you?"
He was silent.
She gave a small, rueful smile.
"I noticed you taking breakfast in the kitchen when you usually ate in your office. I noticed you asking whether I was working late. I noticed that the security guards stopped making jokes about the staff after you overheard one of them calling me Cinderella."
Kieran looked away.
"That was inappropriate."
"It was funny."
"It wasn't."
She laughed softly.
Then her expression became serious.
"Did you really not know about Isabella?"
"No."
"Did you know I was married?"
"I knew you wore a ring for a while. Then you stopped."
Saraphina looked at her bare hand.
She had removed the ring after Trevor's death because it kept catching on cleaning cloths. She had placed it in a drawer and forgotten about it.
"Why didn't you ask?"
"Because I had no right to."
The answer surprised her.
Kieran continued.
"I knew you had a life outside this house. I didn't know the details, and I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by asking questions you hadn't chosen to answer."
"Then why were you jealous that night?"
He looked at her.
For once, he didn't hide behind his usual composure.
"Because I heard you tell someone you loved them, and I realized I wanted you to say those words to me."
Saraphina's breath caught.
He looked down at his hands.
"I've spent most of my life believing that wanting something makes you vulnerable. My father wanted peace, and it made him vulnerable. My mother wanted to protect everyone, and it made her vulnerable. I learned to want nothing that could be taken away."
He paused.
"Then you walked into my house and started leaving tea outside my office whenever you noticed I hadn't eaten."
Saraphina remembered those nights.
She had assumed he was too busy to notice.
"You remembered that?"
"I remember everything about you."
The words hung between them.
She looked at him, unsure what to say.
Kieran turned toward her.
"I'm not asking you to love me. I'm not asking you to stay at the estate. I'm not even asking you to give me a chance."
"Then what are you asking?"
"Nothing."
He exhaled.
"I just didn't want you to think that what happened that night was only jealousy. It wasn't."
Saraphina stared at him.
For eighteen months, she had worked in his house believing that she was nothing more than an employee.
Now the most feared man in New York was telling her that he had memorized the smallest details of her life.
She should have been frightened.
Instead, she felt an unfamiliar warmth spreading through her chest.
"I don't know how to do this," she whispered.
"Neither do I."
"You have women who probably throw themselves at you every day."
"That doesn't mean I want them."
"And I'm not exactly an easy person to be with."
Kieran looked at her.
"You work twelve-hour shifts, raise a child, care for your aunt, and somehow still find time to worry about whether the kitchen staff has eaten."
She blinked.
"That's your argument?"
"It's a strong one."
She laughed.
Then, without thinking, she reached for his hand.
He went completely still.
Saraphina looked down at their fingers.
"I can't promise you anything."
"I know."
"I can't let Isabella become part of your world unless I know it's safe."
"I understand."
"And if I ever feel that you're using your power to control me, I'll leave."
Kieran turned his hand over and gently held hers.
"Then I'll have to make sure you never feel that way."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Saraphina leaned toward him and rested her head against his shoulder.
Kieran closed his eyes.
He had imagined touching her a hundred times.
He had never imagined that something so small could make him feel as though the world had finally stopped demanding something from him.
They remained there until a security guard approached.
"Mr. Blackwood?"
Kieran straightened.
"What is it?"
"We received a call from the estate. There's been a break-in."
His expression changed.
"Where?"
"Your private office."
"Anything missing?"
The guard hesitated.
"The original photograph of Richard Blackwood and Trevor Torres."
Kieran stood.
"Who had access?"
"We're checking."
Saraphina rose beside him.
"What does that mean?"
Kieran looked at her.
"It means someone knows we're getting close."
They returned to the estate that night.
Saraphina had wanted to stay with Isabella, but the hospital staff assured her that the child would be safe under the agreed security arrangements. Rosa remained nearby, and Kieran promised to return before morning.
He brought Saraphina into his office and showed her the empty frame where the photograph had been.
"Why would someone steal it?"
"Because it connects Trevor to my family."
"And your father?"
"Possibly."
He opened a drawer and removed a second photograph.
This one showed a younger Kieran standing beside a woman with dark hair and a warm smile.
"My mother," he said.
Saraphina studied the image.
"She looks kind."
"She was."
"What happened to her?"
Kieran's expression tightened.
"The official story is that she died in a car accident."
"And the unofficial story?"
He looked at the photograph.
"I've spent twenty years trying to find out."
Saraphina sat beside him.
"Do you think Victor killed her?"
"I think Victor knew more than he admitted."
"Then why did you trust him?"
Kieran laughed without humor.
"Because he was my uncle. Because he helped raise me. Because when you're a child, you don't question the people who tell you they're protecting you."
Saraphina felt a deep ache in her chest.
She knew what it meant to grow up without anyone she could trust.
She also knew what it meant to keep loving people who had hurt her.
"Maybe he wasn't always a monster," she said quietly.
Kieran looked at her.
"Maybe."
He placed the photograph back in the drawer.
Then he turned toward her.
"There is something else you should know."
She waited.
"Marco found evidence that Victor has been using a private medical foundation to move money. Some of those funds were connected to the hospital where Isabella is being treated."
Saraphina went cold.
"Why?"
"We don't know yet."
"Could he have known about her?"
"Yes."
"Could he have been paying for her treatment without telling us?"
Kieran's jaw tightened.
"Possibly."
She stared at him.
"Then what if the person who sent that photograph wasn't trying to threaten us? What if he was reminding us that he's been watching her for years?"
Kieran looked at her with sudden intensity.
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of."
Before either could speak again, the lights went out.
The office plunged into darkness.
A sharp alarm sounded somewhere downstairs.
Kieran moved instantly.
He pulled Saraphina away from the window and reached for the emergency lamp beneath his desk.
"Stay behind me."
She heard footsteps in the hallway.
Then a crash.
A guard shouted.
Kieran drew a weapon from a locked drawer and moved toward the door.
Saraphina caught his sleeve.
"Don't leave me."
He looked at her.
"I'll be right outside."
"No."
For one moment, the man who had built an empire stood uncertainly before the woman he loved.
Then he placed the weapon back in the drawer.
He took her hand.
"We leave together."
They reached the corridor just as Marco appeared with two guards.
"Someone entered through the east service gate," Marco reported. "We've secured the grounds, but one intruder got inside."
"Where?"
"Heading toward the garage."
Kieran turned to Saraphina.
"Go to the safe room with Marco."
She shook her head.
"You said we would leave together."
His expression softened.
"You're right."
He looked at Marco.
"Get the car ready."
They were halfway down the stairs when a gunshot shattered the silence.
Saraphina screamed.
Kieran pushed her behind a marble pillar.
Another shot struck the wall above them.
The guards returned fire from the hallway.
For several seconds, everything became noise and confusion.
Then Kieran felt a sharp impact against his shoulder.
He staggered.
Saraphina caught him.
"Kieran!"
"I'm fine."
Blood darkened his shirt.
He was not fine.
But he forced himself upright and moved her toward the side entrance.
They reached the garage, where a vehicle waited with its engine running.
Marco opened the rear door.
"Get in!"
Kieran helped Saraphina inside and followed.
The driver accelerated through the gates as security vehicles converged behind them.
Saraphina pressed a hand against Kieran's shoulder.
"You've been shot."
"It's a graze."
"You're bleeding!"
"I've noticed."
She almost laughed, but fear overwhelmed her.
"Why would someone do this?"
Kieran looked at her.
"Because they know I'm willing to protect you."
She froze.
He held her gaze.
"And because they know that, for the first time in my life, I have something I can't bear to lose."
Saraphina felt tears fill her eyes.
Before she could answer, Kieran's phone rang.
Marco answered it on speaker.
A distorted voice filled the car.
"Tell Kieran Blackwood that Victor sends his regards."
The call ended.
Marco's face turned pale.
Kieran leaned back against the seat, breathing carefully.
Saraphina pressed her hand against his.
"You can't die."
He looked at her.
"That's an order?"
"Yes."
A faint smile touched his mouth.
"Then I suppose I have to obey."
May you like
But when the car turned toward the hospital, Kieran closed his eyes.
And Saraphina realized that the man who had promised to protect her daughter was now bleeding because someone wanted to punish him for caring about them.
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