“I will never make that mistake again,” I swore, and I meant it.
Kash had hurt me for the last time.I couldn’t survive it again.I was barely hanging on as it was.
“Pack your things.I’ll handle things with my aunt.Tomorrow night, I will pick you up at ten.She doesn’t need any goodbyes from you.Don’t speak of this to her,” he said.“And if you say anything to Kash, I will know.You’re leaving won’t go nearly as smoothly as it will if you keep quiet.”
He was taking me?Where?Smoothly?My throat was so tight that I couldn’t breathe.
“You’re white.Don’t pass the fuck out.I’m giving you what you want.A new start away from here.I’m not going to kill you.”
I sucked in a full breath, then let out a small sob of relief and disbelief.Tears burned my eyes, and I wasn’t sure if I could keep from crying.
“Go get yourself under control.I don’t want Glenda seeing you like this.She’ll blame me,” he ordered harshly and pointed toward the hallway.
I nodded and bolted past him as quickly as I could without running.Just as I reached my door, I heard Glenda turning the knob on hers, and I slipped inside my temporary room as quietly as I could.
“Cressida, dear, who was it?”she called out, and I stayed silent.
“It’s me, Aunt Glenda,” Bane replied.
“Oh!Bane, what a lovely surprise!”she said, sounding thrilled to have him visit.
“I felt a visit was overdue,” he told her as I sank against the door.
“It is!But where is my boy?!”
Bane chuckled, and the sound was almost pleasant.I frowned, thinking how odd it seemed, coming from him.
“He has a dentist appointment this morning.Mom wanted to go with Halo and him, so I thought I’d come see you instead.”
Bane Cash had a kid?Was that what I was hearing?How very … terrifying.A man like him should not have children.What female was brave enough to get near him?Sure, he was attractive.I wasn’t blind, but he was also Satan with none of the charm that his brother had possessed.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.Okay, this was not important.I had to focus.Bane had said he was giving me what I wanted.Which was?Leaving and starting a new life?I’d told him I didn’t have the money for that.
“Cressida?”Glenda called my name, and I straightened, then turned to take the doorknob.
“I believe she needed to use the ladies’ room,” Bane told her.“Why don’t we go have a seat in the sunroom?Catch me up on all your activities.”
He didn’t want me out there.I waited as their voices faded while they walked away.
I didn’t have a choice.Bane would come for me, and I’d have to leave.The small amount of security I’d found here was being taken from me.All because I’d been unable to stay away from Kash.Once again, my need for him had cost me the sliver of stability I’d had.But then had it really been stable?I’d been under the control of the Southern Mafia the entire time.
I should have never come back here.
Fifteen
Kash
Four Years Ago
Something had been off lately with Cressida.She assured me she was fine, but she was lying.Her eyes gave her away.They always had.It was one of the things I loved about her.
She had fallen asleep while we were texting.She did that often.It was cute, but tonight, I wasn’t able to relax.Sleep wasn’t coming, and my gut had me getting in my truck and driving to her house.I normally didn’t come this late, even when I was sneaking in her window.It would most likely scare her if I woke her up, but I needed to see she was okay.
If she would just move in with me, then this wouldn’t be an issue.But she said it would upset her parents, and they’d likely stop paying her tuition.I’d told her I’d pay it.I wanted to be the one taking care of her anyway.But she didn’t want the drama and fallout.I was trying to be patient with her, but I was getting real damn close to proposing.We were young, but if it was going to take marriage to get her to let me take care of her, then we’d go ahead and do it.She was my endgame anyway.
Parking my truck down the street near the park, I headed out on foot to her house at a jog.The closer I got, the more anxious I felt.I’d wanted to hear her voice tonight, but she had said she couldn’t talk on the phone because her mother was still up and working in the guest bedroom across the hall.She’d been turning it into a craft room for over a month now.When was she going to be fucking finished with it?!
All the lights in the house were off, including the craft room.No one was awake, but I’d assumed as much.It was almost three.
