Dangerous Beauty: Part Four: Beautifully Broken by Michelle Hardin Page A

I will ever bare my soul to.
    “I’m afraid that my past may be catching up with me,” he began. “I don’t quite understand why my mind is doing this to me now, but I think I may be remembering my past … remembering what my mother did to me.”
    “You saw what she did to you in your dream?”
    Kyle shook his head. “I think so, but I can’t be sure …” He released a long breath, feeling himself becoming uncomfortable. Talking about his—in her words— inner demons’ so freely with another, with a woman, was still new territory for Kyle. But it pleased Reanna when he was open with her, not only that, but he always felt … closer to her when he talked to her like this, and he needed that closeness. It meant more to him than it should. “In the dream, I’m watching my mother torture Sofia. Cutting her. She called it ‘punishment’, said that I must learn.”
    A sweet sadness immediately fell over Reanna’s face. “How long have you been having these dreams, Kyle … these memories?” she asked, reaching forward to take his hand.
    Kyle held on to her hand tightly, accepting her support as he gazed into her eyes, his thoughts momentarily wandering back to the dream he’d had. It still didn’t make much sense to him; the mystery of it all bothered him. He had the visions of what may have happened, but no answers to any of the questions he had.
    To answer her question, he’d started having the dream after Sofia’s fourth birthday. Before Sofia, Kyle had never dreamt about his mother. He barely possessed any memory of the woman. He remembered her face, but that was it. He remembered her smile, and maybe her laugh, but mostly just good things about her. Yet every morning he woke up he was faced with the scars covering his chest, and his back. Scars that were said to have been inflicted by the woman who birthed him. Kyle would give almost anything he had to know what happened to him in his childhood. To know what his mother had done to him, and why she had nearly murdered her own son. But he knew he probably would never know the truth.
    All of this and more, he shared with Reanna, who now had tears running down her face.
    Reaching up, Kyle wiped her tears. “Don’t cry for me, baby, please; there is no reason to. I’m fine now, I promise.” It was the truth. Now that he talked to her, he felt better. In fact, he even had a better understanding of his dream.
    She sniffled softly, shaking her head. “I can cry if I want to, Kyle. That was a sad story, I’d have to be a monster if I didn’t cry.”
    Kyle chuckled softly, as he pushed one of her wild curls back from her face. “And you are far from a monster, il mio dolce colomba …”
    The smile that appeared on her face made his heartbeat quicken. She was so beautiful.
    “What does that mean?” she whispered.
    Slowly, Kyle ran his thumb over her tear-stained face, outlining the gorgeous deep dimple on her left cheek. “You are my dove,” he whispered, then leaning forward, he kissed the dimple on her left cheek, then her right. “The dove symbolizes peace, purity.” Hope, devotion, grace, promise … love. Everything she was to him. His ‘ sweet little dove ’.
    “I love it,” she murmured, staring into his eyes when he pressed his forehead to hers, and cupped one side of her face.
    I love you.
    Stunned by the sudden thought in his head, Kyle’s eyes widened slightly before he quickly wiped the look from his face. What the fuck? No. Nope. I didn’t just think that. Move on, Kyle.
    “It’s sweet, Kyle,” she said, regaining his attention.
    Kyle smiled, a bit nervously, then quickly pulled himself together. “You’re sweet, Reanna,” he replied honestly, locking his eyes back to hers.
    Her eyes were telling him to kiss her, begging him to. Reanna was so much better than him. Every feeling, every emotion she had, she wore it boldly on her pretty face. Kyle, on the other hand, kept his hidden, not only for his benefit, but for hers,