I'll Come Back for You

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Dimitri POV

His first instinct had been to chase Kaliah. He was already tensed to run after her when he thought better of it.

He knew that chasing her when she was overwhelmed and frightened would be a mistake. She would fight him like a trapped animal if he stopped her before she'd had time to calm down.

So instead he walked back into the venue, struggling through the excited crowd that was wondering what was going on. He would have laughed if his heart wasn't stuck in his chest, thundering a painful beat, alive but bleeding for the girl that had been his Sunshine from the day he'd first laid eyes on her.

He hadn't planned it, but when he went back on stage and saw Ronan comforting a near hysterical Sydney on the piano bench, Dimitri found the only way he could reach his runaway bride.

He'd written her a love song many nights ago, long before he'd known that's what it would be.

Dimitri smiled. If he couldn't convince her of his love with Jesse's letter and the papers that signed over the house to her, if he couldn't do it with his words alone in front of thousands of people, there was only one way to reach her.

Dimitri reached for his acoustic guitar that had been propped off to the side of the stage. One nod to his disgruntled manager had him scurrying to bring out a stool for him. Once seated on it, Dimitri began strumming at the strings, tuning them expertly until he had the sound he wanted.

The audience had quieted with the first swipe of his hand down on the strings. He smiled as he looked out into the crowd, seeing obscured faces that were made indistinct due to the dimmed lights. With a deep breath, he spoke honestly for the first time since he'd set off on his path to fame.

"Quite a show, huh?" he teased, tongue-in-cheek. "My wife doesn't find me the most trustworthy of people right now. Can't blame her. For years, I've been lying to her and to myself. That little stunt you saw now? Running off stage? Very dramatic, I know, but I'm the one who ran off first."

Ronan snorted at that and covered it up with a cough.

Dimitri grinned as he continued. "See, I've been living up to an image I thought would be safe and keep my secrets out of the limelight. But the irony is, keeping myself within a shell hasn't been living at all. I've been trying to protect myself and those around me for so long now, I've forgotten what exactly I was protecting them from."

There was utter silence in the room. A roomful to the brim with people and no one so much as cleared their throat. All he could see was the occasional snap of a camera light as pictures and videos were taken of him.

The real Dimitri Hale, vulnerable for the first time in over eight years.

"Kaliah Baker loved me when I thought my own parents could not. She made me feel when I thought I'd closed myself off from all of that. She filled my world with laughter, and sunlight, and dreams that didn't seem so far out of reach because she believed in me."

He heard a few sighs at that.

"And I repaid her by lying. I lied to her, kept some of my darkest secrets from the only person who could have listened to them and not judged me. Because I thought I didn't deserve it." He laughed, the sound cruel and full of contempt. "I was a fool. But I realized my mistake soon after I left her."

He renewed his playing on the guitar, gently plucking at the strings to prolong the notes. "Kallie, wherever you are, don't run. I know you're scared. You feel alone, and that's okay." He paused for breath, trying to steady the sudden thundering of his heart. "I'm scared, too," he whispered. But I'm more terrified of losing you for good. "The truth is I've never loved before you, never known what love could feel like to someone used to living in a breeze. Until you walked in, Kaliah. I love you, and I'm terrified. But I realize I'm more afraid of losing you than I am of laying out my heart. So here's my heart, baby."