KEIFER POV
I needed to tell her. I needed to tell her about the plan, about the past, and about Aries. I knew that revealing that Aries is actually her half-brother wasn't technically my place, but I couldn't keep her in the dark while she was walking into a minefield.
"Keifer, seriously, why are we here?" she asked, her annoyance finally peaking.
I looked at her. She was incredibly cute when she was frustrated, her nose scrunched up and her eyes sparkling with that fire.
"Nothing. I just wanted to see if your legs were sore after last night," I teased, watching her reaction.
Smack.
She hit my arm hard. "Idiot," she muttered, rolling her eyes, but I could see the blush blooming across her cheeks.
I leaned in and kissed her cheek, lingering there for a second. Before I dropped the bombshell, I reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt. I didn't want any barriers between us for this. I pulled her across the center console until she was sitting on my lap, her back braced against the steering wheel.
I didn't want to die today. We haven't even gotten married yet, and even though we've officially crossed the line into staying up all night, we haven't even started a family. I wanted a long life with this girl, and telling her this secret felt like handing her a loaded gun.
"Jay-Jay," I murmured, my hands settling on her waist to keep her steady. "I need to tell you something. And you're probably going to hate me for it."
"I already do," Jay-Jay shot back, her voice tight even as her hands remained resting on my shoulders.
I let out a soft, dry laugh and leaned in to capture her lips in a quick, lingering kiss. I could taste her defiance, but there was a flicker of something else there, too—pure, focused anticipation.
"No, you don't," I murmured against her mouth, my grip on her waist tightening. "The version of me you hate is the one who steals your snacks and marks your neck. The version I'm about to show you... that's the one I'm afraid of."
She didn't say anything. She just looked at me, her chest heaving slightly as she waited for the blow. The silence in the car was heavy, the air conditioning humming as I tried to find the words to shatter her world.
"Aries—" I started, but she cut me off, her voice sharp and filled with that stubborn Mariano fire.
"Look, Keifer," Jay-Jay said, stepping right over my words. "I really don't know the exact reason why you and Aries have this conflict. Honestly, I don't care. He and I have a good relationship—he's like an older brother to me. So don't expect me to break whatever bond I have with him just because of your history."
I felt a cold twist in my gut. Like an older brother. She was so certain, so defensive of him, and she had no idea how right she was. The irony was suffocating. She was fighting me to protect a brother she didn't even know was her own.
"Jay-Jay," I whispered, my thumb tracing the line of her jaw. I decided to start with the plan—get the truth out in the open before the secret of Aries swallowed us whole.
"Jay-Jay, when you first arrived at Section E—" I began, but the moment was shattered by my phone ringing.
I let out a frustrated sigh, glancing at the screen. It was Rory. I decided to have a little fun while dealing with the interruption; I swiped the screen and connected the call to the car's Bluetooth system.
"What is it, Rory?" I asked, my voice dropping into my President tone, even as my hands found the hem of Jay-Jay's sweater.
"Keifer," Rory greeted on the other end, completely oblivious to the fact that his voice was now echoing through the cabin.
"Yes," I answered, slowly pulling Jay-Jay's shirt over her head.
She glared at me, her eyes flashing with a mix of defiance and rising desire. She wasn't about to let me win this game, though; she reached out and started tugging my shirt over my head in return, her fingers grazing my skin.
I smirked and buried my face in the crook of her neck, the heat between us spiking as I started to trail kisses along her jawline, all while Rory's voice continued to drone over the speakers.
"Section E wants to talk to you. We decided to meet after the break—it's about, you know, Mutya," Rory said over the car's speakers.
Mutya.
It was the code name Ci-N had suggested for Jay-Jay, and the section had been using it since the day she arrived. It started as a game, a way to keep her at a distance—treating her like a project or a pawn instead of a person.
"Fine. Text me the details later. I'm busy right now," I snapped, my focus shifting entirely to the girl currently pinned beneath me.
"Got you, Keifer," Rory replied before the line went dead.
I had every intention of telling her the truth right then—about the plan, and about Aries. But damn it, the timing was all wrong. The air in the car was electric, and my self-control was disintegrating. I couldn't find the words now. Not when she was looking at me with those blown-out pupils.
I buried my face in the hollow of her throat, my kisses turning more urgent and demanding as I moved lower.
"Fuck," I breathed against her skin, the heat of the interaction making me forget why I'd even pulled over in the first place.
I was completely lost in her. Jay-Jay wasn't just a passive observer, either; she was doing her part, her nails digging into my shoulders and scratching down my back, leaving marks for later stings. For now, the secret could stay buried. The only thing that mattered was the friction and the fire between us in this shaded parking lot.
I dipped my head, my lips grazing the curve of her cleavage as I bit down softly, leaving another dark, undeniable mark—a fresh claim to replace whatever brotherly nonsense Aries had tried to instill in her today.
I turned my focus back to her lips, crashing into them with a renewed intensity. This was the only way I knew how to deal with the guilt: by drowning it in the heat of her response. Every time she reached up to tangle her fingers in my hair or let out a muffled sound against my mouth, the secrets I needed to tell her felt further and further away.
She was my focus, my only focus, in this tiny, oxygen-deprived cabin. For these few minutes, there was no Section E, no Aries,—just her, her scent, and the way she was marking me right back.
"Keifer!" she moaned, a sharp, caught sound as my teeth grazed the soft skin of her shoulder, biting down a little too hard in the heat of the moment.
I pulled back slightly, my breathing shallow and ragged.
"Sorry," I whispered against her skin, immediately trying to soothe the sting with my tongue, trailing it over the mark I'd just made. "I lost it... you're just too hot, Jay-Jay."
The honesty of it surprised even me. Usually, I held all the cards, but being this close to her—with the air in the car thick and heavy—it was impossible to stay in control. She let out a small, shaky breath that vibrated against my chest, her fingers tightening their grip on my neck as if she were as lost as I was.
"I love you," I said, the words slipping out, raw and unfiltered.
She looked at me, her eyes searching mine, filled with a sudden, desperate vulnerability. "Promise me something, Keifer," she whispered.
I nodded, my gaze locked on hers.
"Promise me you'll never leave me. No matter what. And promise me that you'll never hurt me," she asked.
I reached up, gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, my thumb lingering on her temple. I wanted to lie to her. I wanted to give her the quick comfort she was begging for, but I couldn't. Not with the truth of the plan and Aries hanging over us.
"I can't promise you that, Jay," I said quietly. "I can make up for all the pain I've already caused you, but I can't promise I won't hurt you again. Because that's what love is. Pain isn't just a counterpart to love; it's part of the process."
She started to pull back, but I held her steady on my lap.
"Think about it. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you'll never feel pain. Either it kills you inside or it wakes up your senses. After all, how would you know it's love if you never felt the sting of it? That's why I don't believe people who say, 'I will never hurt you.' The person you love will hurt you—sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. What matters isn't the promise of perfection, Jay. What matters is knowing how to ease that pain, how to heal it, how to endure it together, and how to learn from it."
She just looked at me, her eyes wide as she absorbed the weight of my words. I was warning her. I was telling her that I was about to break her world, but that I intended to be there to help her pick up the pieces.
"Since when did you learn poetry?" she asked, a small, breathless smile tugging at the corners of her mouth despite the heavy atmosphere I'd just created.
I let out a soft huff against her skin, descending back to the curve of her neck. "Since I met you," I murmured, my voice low and vibrating against her. "What? Don't you like it? Do you want a Romeo instead?"
I nipped at her pulse point, making her gasp and tilt her head back to give me more room. Romeo was a tragic fool who died for a girl he barely knew. I wasn't Romeo. I was the guy who had systematically worked his way into her life, the guy who was about to shatter her trust and then do whatever it took to keep her close to me.
"Because I can do the balcony scene, Jay," I whispered, my hands sliding firmly back down to her waist. "But I think you prefer the version of me that stays right here."
"Please," she let out a breathy laugh, the heavy tension in the car finally breaking into something lighter. "You and Romeo? Actually, I take that back. You and Romeo are actually very similar."
I raised an eyebrow, leaning back just enough to look into her eyes. I was expecting her to say something about me being a romantic, a devoted lover, or the kind of guy who would die for her—the usual Shakespearean tragic hero stuff.
But this was Jay-Jay we're talking about. Her list was definitely different.
"You're both stalkers, for one—" she started, ticking the point off on her finger.
I blinked, my smirk faltering. "A stalker? Jay, I'm the President of Section E. I don't stalk, I... oversee."
"And," she continued, ignoring my defense with a playful glint in her eyes, "you both have this annoying habit of showing up where you aren't invited and making everything about your dramatic feelings."
I groaned, burying my face in the crook of her neck again to hide my sheepish grin. I was going for a heroic protector or passionate soul, but she was calling me out on my obsession.
"Is that all? Or are you going to compare me to a poison-drinking teenager next?" I muttered against her skin, my hands tightening on her waist. I couldn't even be mad; she knew me too well.
"Let's go home," she whispered, her voice still a little breathless, the reality of the night finally catching up to us.
I nodded, the word home sounding sweeter than it probably should given the secrets, I was still hiding. I reached into the back seat and grabbed her shirt, handing it back to her.
But as she reached for it, I couldn't resist one last moment of indulgence. I leaned in, pressing a lingering, heated kiss against the soft curve of her breast over her bra, making her breath hitch one last time before she finally pulled the fabric over her head and smoothed it down.
I sat back in the driver's seat, running a hand through my messy hair and trying to even out my breathing. I started the engine, the rumble of the car filling the quiet cabin.
The drive home would be short, but the weight of Rory's mention of Jay Jay and the upcoming meeting was already settling back onto my shoulders. I had managed to avoid the truth for another hour, but I knew my time was running out. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++