The Fall of Rome by Beth Ciotta

Author:Beth Ciotta
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

The moment the door shut behind Rome, Kat slumped to the floor.

Ten minutes later and still she sat--knees to chest, head bowed. That kiss had robbed her of her last defenses. So different from any kiss they’d ever shared. A connection she’d never felt before. She credited his willingness to share his innermost thoughts, his yearnings, his regrets. His shame. She’d learned more about him in one afternoon than she had in their entire six-month affair. Although, if she had asked those same questions six years ago, she had no doubt Rome would have changed the subject or waylaid her with sex, because back then she was his distraction from the real world. The uncomplicated, independent woman who didn’t need a man to make her feel secure and complete. Or so he’d thought.

The illusion.

The irony was that she’d become the woman he believed her to be in the first place. She’d learned to be independent. She’d simplified her lifestyle. She’d survived without a champion. She didn’t need Rome Garrett anymore.

But she sure as hell wanted him.

“I have to tell him.”

They’d come to terms with the past and had discovered something beautiful in the present, but they had no future with her secret between them.

He wanted to take her to bed and she wanted to go. She ached to know him in that way again. Only she knew it wouldn’t be the same. It would be better.

It would also be dangerous.

She couldn’t sleep with Rome, fully exploring the extent of their new emotional connection, only to walk away after they’d dealt with Brady. He felt more deeply, more keenly than she’d ever imagined. He’d bared his heart and she would not crush it. Again. So it meant putting hers on the line. Not in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined winning back Rome Garrett. But here it was, and chances were he would walk away from her again. Only this time, she wouldn’t blame him. Her heart would shatter beyond repair, but what mattered most was that he didn’t walk away from Frankie, not knowing.

She raised her head and banged it against the wall.

“Frankie isn’t my niece. She’s my daughter.”

She’d never said the words aloud. They scraped her throat raw. It was as though she had never spoken the truth to protect herself from this very moment. Having to face that she’d denied a man his daughter. If that man was Brady, she would live happily with that knowledge. But if that man was Rome . . .

I have to do the right thing, no matter how hard.

She had to tell Rome Garrett that there was a fifty-fifty chance that he was Frankie’s father.

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