Ky scoops me up, and I lock my arms around his neck and weep. I just need to get it all out. All the emotions massacring my insides.
I don’t know how long I cry or who sees me falling to pieces in the parking lot, but I can’t imagine this is good for Ky’s image. He doesn't seem to be bothered, though. He just holds me securely, whispering sweet, consoling words until I go limp in his arms. Until I can’t shed another tear.
I lift my puffy, soaked face up to his. It feels as if all the life has been sucked out of my body.
“Better now?” he asks.
“Not at all, but thank you.” I sniff.
“Anything for you, Snow.” He begins to lean in to kiss me, but stops. We linger there, our lips inches apart. As pissed off as I am at him, I need him equally as much. I squeeze my arm, closing the last bit of distance between us, and kiss him with more ferocity than I knew I was even capable of. Ky tightens his hold, deepening the kiss, massaging his tongue furiously against mine. He steals my breath. And steals my fear. And offers all the stability I’m desperate for.
Ky sucks lightly on my bottom lip at the tail end of the kiss. We’re both wound up and winded, but have found some calm in each other’s arms.
“Let’s go inside.”
I nod silently as Ky gets us onto our feet. We’re covered in dust and most definitely look like we narrowly survived a high-speed car chase.
Ky takes my hand and leads me up onto the front deck of the bar. I have flashbacks of the last time I was here. I was so out of my element and nearly accosted.
“I’m not going to get surrounded again, am I?” I ask only half-joking.
“No one is going to come near you unless I give the okay.”
We walk through the threshold, and as soon as we cross the divide, every single eye lands on us. There aren’t a ton of people in the place, but there’s enough to make it uncomfortable.
“What the fuck happened to you two?” that asshole Hawk exclaims.
“We had a lovely run-in with a Challenger that tried to run us off the road.”
“What?” Half the men in the room stand at attention.
“Did you get the fucking license plate?” Hawk is up Ky’s ass in a nanosecond.
“No, I was too busy trying to avoid being roadkill.”
“What about you? Did you get a look? See any numbers or letters?” he addresses me.
“No,” I snap. I can’t stand him. Looking at a license plate number was the last thing on my mind as I stared down the throat of death.
Ky definitely picks up on my animosity. “I think we need a drink.” He locks his arm around me possessively and walks me to the bar. Plopping me on a stool, he orders from the busty brunette lingering beside the beer taps. “Two shots, two chasers.”
She definitely wasn’t manning the bar last time I was here. Jesus, if that shirt was any lower, her nipples would be showing. I try not to gawk, and she barely acknowledges my existence.
“Did you get a look at the driver, at least? Anything distinctive on the car?” Hawk continues to interrogate Ky.
“The fuckin’ windows were tinted. There were no markings that I could see. The fucker came outta nowhere.” Ky picks up the shot glass the bartender places in front of him and pounds the dark liquid immediately. “Another.” He slides the little empty glass back.
I follow suit, drinking the nasty brown liquid.Yuck.I grab for the chaser of soda and immediately suck it down.
“Slash.” Hawk leans in closer to Ky. “I have to ask.” His voice lowers. “Has Kira been out of your sight at all? Even for a minute?”
Rage erupts inside me. Does he honestly think I can’t hear him? “You think I had something to do with this? That I orchestrated it? Who exactly do you think I am? A criminal mastermind?” I leap to my feet, and Ky catches me in an arm-hold.
“I’m just investigating it from all angles. You have mental instabilities.”
“I am not crazy!” I explode. “I am the victim.” I try to fight my way out of Ky’s grasp. If Hawk wants to see crazy, I’ll show him crazy.
“Chill out, Snow.” Ky actually finds this humorous. “I know you want to scratch his eyes out, but they barely work anyway. It’s not even worth it. Now, if you want to kick him in the balls, I’m all for that.”
