“Umm…” My face burns.
He grins. “I just wanna know what’s for breakfast tomorrow. I like to plan ahead.”
My cheeks burn, and my lips quiver, but with a smile instead of the incessant tears. “I mean, maybe we could organize a kitchen roster or something. I’m not sure we need to go all X-rated. That’s my sister’s ass, and it’s not very nice.”
“We got the same ass, Laine!”
“No.” I step into the kitchen and move in a large arc around the couple. Stopping at the fridge, I take out a carton of orange juice. “I definitely got the better ass. Everyone says so.”
“No.” She turns and slides an arm around Kane’s hips. “You misheard. Everyone said youarethe ass. You, personally. Ass. Hole.”
I reach into the cabinets where Kane was ravishing my sister just a minute ago and pull out a glass tumbler. “That’s definitely not what I heard. But whatever, don’t change your life because you’re scared of offending me. I’ve been a crybaby a lot lately, but I swear I’m not normally this fragile. I’ll be back to normal soon, then your boyfriend will kick me out because he’s got a problem with my attitude.”
Kane flashes a playful grin and squishes Jess against his chest. “I look forward to that day.”
It almost sounds offensive, like he can’t wait to kick me out. I should run out of here a crying mess because I was rejected by the thug, but the reverence in his voice, the glint in his eyes says he’s not excited to kick me out.
He’s excited to meet the braver version of me.
I barely know this man, and yet, he’s rooting for me as eagerly as the rest of my family.
I pour my juice and stare for a moment out the kitchen window and into the pitch-black yard. Taking a deep breath, I turn back to find Jess pulling out a dining chair.
I turn to Kane. “Are there flood lights in the garage?”
“Yep.” When I finish pouring the juice, he replaces it with an empty glass and takes mine away. He chugs half, then sets the other half in front of Jess and places a wet kiss on her lips.
“What about security?” I swallow my nerves. Alone. In the dark. At night. “Are there cameras out there?”
“Depends.” He takes the carton when I finish pouring and tosses it into the fridge. “If you don’t want them there, because violation of privacy or whatever, then I’ll go turn them off and won’t switch them on again till you give me the green. If youdowant them there, to make you feel safer and whatnot, then yup. We have security cams in there, they feed into a computer set up in the spare room, and record for a week at a time. There’s a security panel on the wall that looks like the power box for the house. Passcode should be easy for you to remember; it’s Jess’ birthday. You can change the settings however you want. Keep them on, turn them off, have them only monitor the yard, whatever you need.”
“If I go out into the garage, will you guys watch me?”
He leans against the sink and folds his arms. “Do you want us to?”
“No.”
“Then we won’t. I’ll pull the power, and when you come back inside, just switch them on again. But if you forget, don’t sweat it, I do a security pass before I crash anyway.”
“You’d let me into a garage late at night on my own?”
His eyes narrow. “Umm… sure. Why not?”
“You’re not scared I might try to kill myself?”
My easy words draw a pained gasp from Jess, but Kane’s face remains impassive. “No. He’s not a problem for you anymore. You’re under my protection now, which means he won’t touch you. That also means you’re free of what led you to feel like you were trapped. You want to live, Laine. You want your life, and you want your family. He made it so you felt all alone, like there were no other choices, but now you see the lie in that.”
I’m not completely free. He’s still in my dreams every single night, but unlike before, when I wake up now, I come down to breakfast with my sister, and this strong man makes it so I feel safe and somewhat sane again.
It’s not all better yet.
It’s not even close.
But it’s not as bad as it used to be.
* * *
Goosebumps racefrom the tips of my fingers right down to the ends of my toes. My hair follicles are supercharged, almost like I canfeeleach individual strand. Moving down the staircase that leads through the mudroom and into the garage, cicadas taunt me, growing louder as I descend.