“Everyone out but Kash. Now.” My voice sounds firmer than I feel. “I want everyone out.”
“Mila—” Dad starts.
“Fine. Everyone but you and Kash, out. Please,” I tack on quietly at the end. Slouching back into my pillows, I shut my eyes. I’m so exhausted, my brain is tired, and even though I just woke up, I think I could go back to sleep.
I feel a hand cover mine and I know without looking it’s Kash. His touch is gentle and soothing; it grounds me. When I open my eyes, I find his trained on me. “Sunshine. I’m so glad you’re okay. God, I was so scared.”
Pulling a chair next to my bed, he ignores my dad’s heated glare and tugs my hand back to his.
“Yeah, no thanks to you.”
Narrowing my eyes at my dad, I warn, “If you can’t stop, I’ll talk to Kash and that’s it. Please, Dad, I’m begging you. It’s not his fault. I don’t blame him.”
“You should,” Kash murmurs. “It’s my fault. I was at work when I should have been with you.”
“Don’t be silly, Kash. You can’t be with me all the time. What happened was not your fault. That’s the last time I’m saying it. So, tell me what happened. The last thing I remember was waiting for Mara.”
A dark look crosses his face. “That fucker. He came intoTwin Roastsand flirted with Mara after he couldn’t get your attention. He got closer to her and convinced her to bring a friend to check out his bar. He knew you were coming. I already had words with her. She may be your twin, but her phone dying wasn’t a good enough excuse for her not being there.” He rolls his eyes before continuing, “That asshole planned the whole thing.”
My head throbs as I try to take everything in. Mara’s a good judge of character so he must have been incredibly smart to slip past her bullshit radar. “Crazy must be genetic in that family. Did they find her?”
“Sadly, no. No one knows where she is. I’m so sorry Mila.” Squeezing my hand, Kash explains, “Jake knew who you were from the start. He watched us both and we never even knew. Cassie said he confessed to slipping something into your drink before taking you out there. He was going to hurt you, baby. He helped Bri break out, and I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Sunshine. I did this.” He lays his head down on my bed, his shoulders wracking with misplaced grief.
My dad sits tense in the chair, not saying anything, which means he already knows everything. Pulling my hand from Kash’s grasp, I stroke his head. My heart breaks for him. Even when I realized Jake was Bri’s brother, and he was intent on hurting me, I never once blamed Kash.
“You saved me, Kash. That’s all that matters,” I tell him softly,tugging on his strands so he’ll look at me. His watery gaze meets mine, and the crushed expression on his face hurts more than my body aches.
“It was all to get rid of Mila,” my dad spits as he stands from his chair. He paces back and forth, then stops, staring out the window. It’s dark outside, and I wonder again how long I’ve been out. “They wanted to get rid of my child, like she’s disposable, like an old shirt they no longer wanted.”
“Dad, Kash saved me,” I remind him. Jake had hit me and was straddling my waist. I know what he was about to do if Kash hadn’t found me, but I can’t dwell on it. With a subtle shake of his head, Kash squeezes my hand and looks at my dad. I don’t want to tell him that part either. To be honest, I’d rather forget it all happened.
“Well, Seth did, actually,” Kash corrects me. “I went straight for Jake and told Seth to get you out of there.”
“Is he...?” I trail off, not wanting to finish the thought.
“Sadly, no. I bet he wishes he was though. I owe Seth a bat now. The police took mine as evidence.”
“Evidence? For what?”
“Oh, just because your boyfriend beat the living hell out of him with it.” Dad smiles slightly. I glance at Kash but hear Dad mutter, “Lucky bastard.”
Kash lets go of my hand, sitting back in the chair and averting his gaze. He stares at his hands that are covered in cuts and bruises. “I did, Mila, and I’m not sorry.”
“Good. He got what he deserved.” Grabbing Kash’s hand back in mine, I squeeze it so he’ll look at me. He’s avoiding eye contact, and that hurts. I’m not sorry that Jake is injured. I have no doubt Kash beat him badly. A sick part of me is thrilled that he took care of him. “So Bri is just out there still?”
“Yeah, but Cassie thinks she’s staying local. The police are looking for her, so it’s only a matter of time before she’s caught.”
“Okay, gotcha.” I sit quietly, lost in my thoughts as Kash rubs his thumb against my hand. I feel my dad’s watchful gaze on us, and Iknow he probably wants to say a lot more but isn’t. He’s as lost in his thoughts as I am. I know he blames Kash, but it’s misplaced. Even if Bri felt Kash led her on, or whatever is in her mind, she obviously has a screw loose. She vandalized their shop and caused thousands of dollars in damage. No sane person does that.
Looking between Kash and my dad, I try to dispel some of the tension in the room. “So, when can I go home?”
Both heads fly up at the same time, two sets of eyes landing on me. They start talking over each other, and it makes me smile. Kash is insisting I stay in bed, that the doctor will be in soon and that I have to follow the doctor’s orders. He’ll make sure I do it.
Dad starts yelling over him. “Absolutely not. Mila is coming home. Her apartment is finished, so as soon as she’s ready, she can go back there or our house. She’s not going back with you.”
I roll my eyes as Kash stands and tries to reason with my dad. Pushing the nurse call button, I take a deep breath and pray she can get me something strong for the headache that I think is about to be permanent.
Dad’s not backing down, and neither is Kash. This is going to be fun.
