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“Can someone please just tell me what the fuck happened? That was my daughter you all stormed after and kept me from.” He glares at Henry and Maddox.
“You would’ve been in the way,” Maddox tells him. “If you would’ve listened, I wouldn’t have knocked your ass out.”
“With a fucking beer bottle?” He throws his hands up.
“Should’ve gone down after I hit you. I didn’t have time to fight you and make sure the girls didn’t ask questions.”
“I could’ve made sure you stayed,” Sebastian says with a grin as he lifts a drink of something I didn’t know I had to his lips. It looks like tequila.
“Leave him alone, Bastian,” Maddox groans.
“Why? I don’t like him. He knows this.”
“For the last time, I apologized,” Liam huffs.
“Apologies don’t mean a lot to me,stronzo.”
Watching them—all of them—and their interactions tonight, I realize taking this job was probably the second-best decision I’ve ever made; Casey was the first. If this had happened any other time, things could’ve ended differently. I’ve always been on my own in the dark and dirty parts of my life. These guys… I didn’t even have to ask. They were justthere.No questions asked.
It’s an odd feeling that will take some getting used to.
There’s another tapping at the door. It opens and Will walks in with Jagger. It looks like everyone is here, which means the story only needs to be told once.
While Will stitches my arm, I tell them everything, starting withKrista’s threat until the moment I pulled her off Casey. Liam leans forward, his head in his hands. He shakes his head and then meets my eyes. “I knew she had issues. She always did. I just thought… Honestly, I thought the problem was me. I wish I’d known what she was doing years ago. I would’ve… Touching Casey was my line. The one thing that kept me in line, but also the one line she knew not to cross with me. If I’d known, I would’ve fucking killed her. She knew that. Why the fuck didn’t I see she was hiding it?”
“But Liam, the guilt of that would’ve eaten you alive,” Henry says. I believe them. I have no doubt Liam would do anything for his daughter, but he can’t compartmentalize. It would’ve destroyed him.
“I knew what she was doing to Casey,” Jagger says softly from a spot in the corner. My head snaps up, meeting my little brother’s eyes. “It’s why…” He breathes deeply, his head dropping forward. “It’s why I let her…” He chokes again. “If I didn’t, she was going to take it out on her. I don’t know how, but I didn’t want to find out.” He doesn’t divulge what he means, but it doesn’t matter. He’s talking to me. No one else needs to know his story until he’s ready.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because what could you have done?”
I could’ve been there. Iwould’vebeen there.
But it’s too late now. And for the first time, I wonder if my outlook on secrets needs to change.
They all linger in my room for a few more minutes. Bastian reassures everyone no one will come looking for Krista or Lambert. I ask about the men who got away, and he waves me off, telling me that’s a different business.
Then silence takes over. One by one they leave the room untilonly Liam and Henry remain. I nod toward the door. “You both have girls that have questions. You need to go be with them.”
“I want to be here when Casey wakes up,” Liam demands.
And, once again, I get it, but… “Not happening. When she’s ready, she will come to you. Don’t push her.”
He wants to argue. It’s written in his furrowed brow and downturned mouth, but he finally concedes, and they leave.
Once they’re gone, I deadbolt the door and return to the bedroom. I pull the sheets back and climb in behind Casey. My arm wraps around her, pulling her to my side where I keep her close and watch her until the sun comes up.
Casey
My mind wakes, but my eyes stay closed. Heaviness weighs on my chest like an elephant. I fell asleep last night feeling… not at peace, but not as tormented as I am right now. My mom is gone, and the bittersweetness of it hurts.
So much pain and heartbreak caused by one person. I can’t make my mind comprehend how she could do the things she did, much less with no semblance of guilt or remorse. Even her last words to me.
How did she say the things she did to me my entire life? Or hit me like she did?
How could she hurt Jagger?
