“I know Keller was in love with your mum. It’s why my mum left us.”
I stare back at him, my pulse all of a sudden racing. In love? I can’t find words to respond to that. I’m shocked that he’s actually talking to me about them, even more shocked that he admitted what he knows, but that reality… how do you process that? She was cheating on my dad and lying to us all, and his poor mother left her whole family because of it. “How do you know?”
“It was going on for a long time, Dove.”
Tears well in my eyes. “You guys all knew and kept it from me?”
He leans in closer, trying to pull me into his chest. “I wish I could have told you, but it wasn’t my secret to tell, birdie.” His arm wraps around me, holding me against him.
I know I shouldn’t, but I breathe him in, his warm comfort transporting me back in time. He lost as much out of their betrayal as I did. For a second, I let him soothe me. But I know I can’t really stay here in his arms, even if it feels like where I should be. Him admitting he knew the truth and kept it from me hits where it hurts, because I know he did it for his dad, for the family. They will always come first and me second.
I push him off, needing space. “You could have told me the truth but you chose not to. I get it, you were protecting your dad, and maybe my mum as well, but you know what, Kasen? That only proves to me what I have known for a while now. It doesn’t matter if you say I’m yours, Throne will always come first, and that’s why this” —I motion between him and me— “willnever be a thing.”
His gaze locks with mine, a wounded expression etching its way into his features. “The sooner you realize I’m not the bad guy here and there is a real threat out there, the safer you will be,” he mutters almost to himself.
And I know he’s right. He doesn’t really want to hurt me like this psycho clearly does. Maybe I need to stop fighting him on everything, when most of the time I really do believe he’s trying to help me because he thinks I’m in danger. He just has a stupid way of going about it all. But he has to know I can’t trust a man who has kept so much shit from me over the years. And as sad as that reality is, trust is the foundation of everything. “I believe you’re trying to help me. But Kasen, I’m not yours to protect.”
He shakes his head. “You are, and the sooner you give into it, the better for us all.”
He’s infuriating. So damn stubborn, I don’t know how to get around it. He just won’t listen to me. With one last glance up at him, I shove past him, heading for my walk-in robe.
“Get dressed in something nice. Don’t forget you’re joining me at the office,” he calls in my direction, his bossy-as-fuck tone back.
My fists ball at my sides. Fuck him. I want to scream and cry and yell at the top of my lungs. My whole body is trembling with frustration. He’s making my life impossible, but I’m not going to just sit here and let him. I will bide my time, keep searching for clues. These boys will slip up sometime, and when they do, I’m out of here.
Chapter 30
Kasen
Birdie has been sitting quietly in my office since my meeting with Deadwater Bay council that she sat in on. Even though I know she’s angry with me, she looks hot as hell today, in a little black dress with a print on the front and a pair of ankle boots. Not what I would have selected for her, but better than the denim cutoffs and bikini she’s normally in.
She didn’t say a lot after my meeting, or after our fight this morning. I got the impression she was surprised at how involved I am with local initiatives. She wants to paint me as a selfish jerk who’s only out to make money for my company, but I give back to my town. This community is important to me, just like it was to her mum. And as much as she wants to hate me, paint me as the bad guy, she still came with me today and acted like my girl. Held my hand when it was necessary and even smiled on cue.
I have no idea how to get through to her, what to say to make her listen to me. I thought the truth would help, but I’m sure it only made things worse. I wish I could tell her it all, come clean on every fucked-up thing our parents were up to, but when she’s not ready to even accept she’s my girl, there is no point. The reality of what they did will only cause her to distance herself more.
From my desk I watch her lounging on the leather sofa in my office. She has her phone out and is scrolling, but she looks bored out of her brains. Since all of her socials have been deleted, I’m sure there isn’t much to do on it, and I know that’s my fault. She has so many reasons to despise me, but everything I’m doing is for her. Most of the time she can’t even see the danger she’s in. The boys and I debated if we should show her the latest threat, but she needed to see it for herself. Needed to know her reality. I will do everything in my power to stop this guy from getting close to her, including scaring her to the point of vomiting up her breakfast if it means she starts to listen to us.
“You want to head down to the Beach Bar? I’m done for the day, and River and Bodhi are already there,” I offer.
She sits up quickly. “Yeah, I will need to duck home and grab my shirt.” Her voice is more excited than it has been all day.
I move to stand in front of her and hold out a hand for her to take. “Not to work, birdie, for a drink with me.” My heart kicks up a beat as I say it. Her rejection is becoming jarring.
Her forehead creases as she thinks on it, not taking the hand I offered her. “Yeah, okay.” She sighs like she’s not really sure at all. “You’re not about to set me up with some other reporter or some shit like that, are you?”
My eyes run down the length of her. She’s a temptress, my fingers itching to gather up the hem of that dress and throw her back down on my sofa and fuck her. “Not this time,” I mutter.
“It was a shitty thing to do,” she murmurs, standing and brushing past me, that bitchy expression on her face she likes to save just for me.
I catch her hand so she can’t distance herself from me. When we’re this close, I know she feels the same pull to me that I do to her. She glances up at me, her pretty lashes fluttering. “We have been over this,Dove, it was to keep you safe. I won’t apologize for doing what I have to, in the name of protecting what is mine.”
“Not yours, Kasen,” she snips as we make our way out of my office.
Just to prove her wrong, I lace our fingers together. She is mine, it’s just taking her longer than I had anticipated for her to see it. Her angry glare flicks up to me, and she slips her fingers free.
She’ll fuck my two best mates in my living room loud enough I can hear her, but she can’t walk out of my office holding my hand. On the way down in the elevator, I watch her. She stands on the opposite side to me, keeping her distance. She’s so guarded. So different to the girl we all knew, who followed us around with wide eyes and the brightest smile you ever saw. She was so damn pretty, still is, but now she comes with a scowl and attitude.
“Do you remember when Keller built Throne Tower? You had never been in an elevator before. You were so excited to take it all the way to the top.”
