I heard it then, the slight scratch of Kash climbing the tree outside my bedroom window.I rushed to the bed and shoved the bat under it, not wanting him to see it, then hurried back to the window just as he reached me.
If he only knew how many nights he’d saved me from Pirate, showing up like this.Kash Savelle was my own personal hero in a sexy, bad-boy package.
Present Day
Shivering under the covers, I stared into the darkness as the tears wet my pillow.It wasn’t the first time I’d cried myself to sleep over Kash Savelle, but it had been years.The wound that had been poorly bandaged on my heart was ripped open once again, and the hollowness was an aching void I had no way to fill.I’d survived without him before, and I knew I could do it again.But first, I needed to let the pain out.Mourn for all that was lost.The love that I feared I’d never know again.
Fourteen
Cressida
If Glenda noticed the dark circles under my eyes that I had done my best to cover with concealer, she didn’t mention it.I was thankful she hadn’t asked me if I was okay because, honestly, I was afraid I’d burst into tears if she did.The heaviness in my chest wasn’t easing as the day went on, and last night kept replaying in my head.
The doorbell caught me off guard since people rarely stopped by that Glenda wasn’t expecting.Actually, other than some Jehovah’s Witnesses last week, it had never happened.
“Lordy be,” Glenda called out from the sunroom.“I wonder who is stopping by for a visit.Could you get that, Cressida?I need to go put on something other than my nightgown and housecoat.”
“Yes,” I replied, already heading toward the door.
It could possibly be someone raising money for the less fortunate.That was common this time of year.If so, I was going to go get some of my savings I had tucked away.Thoughts of Burt came to mind, and I felt guilty for not going to check on him.While I was living in warmth and a comfortable bed, he was out in the cold and hungry.
With my thoughts on Burt, I opened the door without checking the window beside it to see who it was.The sight of Bane Cash standing there sent a jolt of fear through me.I’d not seen him in years.He was older and even more intimidating in appearance than I remembered.The man had a scowl that sent shivers down my spine.
Frozen, I stared at him.It took a moment for it to register in my head that Glenda was his great-aunt.He wasn’t here for me.At least, I didn’t think so.
Had there been a camera that caught me going outside to meet Kash last night after all?
“Is Glenda home?”he asked.
I swallowed, then nodded and forced myself to take a step back so that he could come inside.His large presence filled the doorway, and I held my breath as he passed me.
Kash had shared many things about the family with me back when we were together.Like the fact that, one day, Bane would be the head of the Mississippi branch.He was also lethal and the most dangerous out of all of them.
“Is she in her sunroom?”His tone wasn’t sharp, but more cold.
Had he been the one to place me here under their watch?His mother had come to find me.Maybe he was the head now.I didn’t know anything about them anymore.
“N-no,” I stammered.“She’s getting dressed.Y-you can wait in the sunroom for her if you’d like.”My heart was pounding so hard that I feared he might hear it.
He turned then and leveled his glare on me.“I told you that you’d only get one warning.”His voice was low and deep.
Oh God.He knew.
I shook my head.“I didn’t—he came …” I paused because what if he didn’t know and I was about to blurt it out?
“You can leave town, or I’ll escort you out.”
Leave town?Where would I go?I barely had enough to rent another apartment.I needed more time.
“I-I-I would leave now if I could,” I began as my entire body trembled.“I don’t want to see him.I wanted to start a new life.But I don’t have the money yet.I just need some more time.”
His jaw worked as he studied me.
I was past the tremble and now visibly shaking.This felt like a panic attack building.
“When he came, you went to him,” he said between clenched teeth.
He knew.
