"This is old news, gentlemen. Just file the details in my office filing cabinet. There's a folder marked with her name." He sounded as casual as if he were giving a weather report. Oh, tomorrow looks like it might be sunny with intermittent showers of deranged stalker.
Steele made a small sound of shock, his brow furrowing as he stared at the phone. "Samuel, are you saying we shouldn't report this to the police?" His voice held genuine disbelief, and suddenly I believed them. This wasn't a hoax.
"Absolutely not!" my father barked. "It's some harmless crazy. He's been sending shit to the house for years; nothing ever comes of it. Just file the details and forget about it."
Holy shit. Holy shit. This creep had been stalking me for years and my father knew about it? He knew and never said anything?
"Hey, Princess," Kody's low tones in my ear shifted my attention. "You're freaking out. Deep breaths, okay?"
Real fucking stellar advice when your hand is over my mouth, you donkey-fucking piece of shit.
He must have realized what I was thinking, too, because he somehow adjusted his grip on me in a way that let him easily carry me out of the room. He didn't take his hand off my mouth until we reached his bedroom.
Not that I would have made a noise. I was too busy freaking right the fuck out.
He sat me down on the end of his bed and crouched in front of me, murmuring soothing words to help me calm down. I didn't need it, though. The second he got me out of the room—away from my father's voice—I was able to get a grip and calm myself down.
I let him comfort me while mentally running myself through the meditation techniques Aunt Maria had tried to teach me. When I was sure I'd dragged myself out of the depths of panic once more, I batted his hand away from my hair.
"I take it you're okay, now?" Kody sat back on his heels and arched a brow at me. "More's the pity; I was hoping I'd have the perfect moment to kiss you this time."
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Like you ever wait for the perfect moment to kiss a girl." I was thinking about that first day when I’d arrived back and was blindsided by my three new housemates. I'd almost fallen on my face and Kody had stolen a quick kiss after saving my ass.
He cocked his head to the side, running his fingers through that bleached blond hair of his. I usually hated guys who put so much obvious effort into their appearance, but there was something so totally Kody about that hair.
"Yeah, you know what? You might have a point." As if to deliberately prove me right, he sat forward, cupping a hand to the back of my neck and crushing his lips against mine.
A startled squeak of surprise escaped me, but I was a slave to my baser desires. When Kody's mouth moved, his tongue parting my lips, I didn't stop him. Hell, I kissed him right back. For a moment, I shoved all the bullshit aside and let myself bask in the intoxicating warmth of desire and attraction.
Then I slapped him.
He touched his fingertips to his cheek, but the look in his eyes was all primal hunger. It spoke to some deep, dark slice of my soul, and that scared the crap out of me.
"Guess I asked for that," he murmured before he dragged his tongue across his lower lip. A shudder ran through me as I imagined he was still tasting my kiss.
I shot up off his bed—because that suddenly seemed way too tempting—and folded my arms. "You did that deliberately," I accused.
"Kissing you?" he replied with a sly grin. "You fucking bet I did. I'd do it again too, if I didn't think you'd knee me in the balls."
I glowered back and tried to ignore the flutter of excitement at his words.
"I'm talking about that phone call. You knew I'd overhear. You wanted me to hear all of that shit. My—" My voice failed over the word father. How the fuck could my own father have said and done all those things? I felt like Dorothy when the curtain got ripped away. Except instead of a well-meaning scientist, I had a manipulative, bullying thug for a father.
Kody nodded, at least having the grace not to try and deny it. "Yeah, we knew you'd hear some of that. Call it payback for the sausage-fest porn. It's lucky chicks dig a bit of MM or that could have really damaged my sex life."
The idea that Kody still had a sex life turned my stomach, and I wasn't naive enough to think that wasn't jealousy talking.
"You went too far," I replied and flinched at the raw vulnerability in my voice. I hadn't intended to let that out, but considering he'd just seen me almost melt down over my father's truth bombs, it was just... whatever.
Kody gave a small nod, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. He constantly looked like he'd just stepped out of an athletic-wear commercial. It was hot as hell and infuriating for the fact that I found it hot.
"We didn't force your dad to say that shit, MK," he said softly. I wanted to object to his use of my nickname, but it was so much better than the condescending way they always said Madison Kate. As fragile as my emotions were... I let it slide. Just once. "To be honest, there was no way we could have known that was what he'd say. Or what you'd hear."
I tucked my arms tighter around me, like I was giving myself a supportive hug. "So what was your whole plan, then? Just call him and tattle about Dallas being back in my life?"
Damn it all to hell, I wanted to believe Kody. He just had one of those faces... those sincere green eyes... Fuck. I never should have kissed him back.
"Arch..." Kody started to explain, then trailed off, biting his lower lip. He shook his head, blowing out a heavy breath. "It doesn't matter what we planned. What matters here is what he said."
I nodded, bitterness rising up in my throat again. "Yeah. That he thinks I'm a vapid bitch, that he somehow arranged a two-year prison sentence for the guy I lost my virginity to, and that he's known about my stalker for years and doesn't care enough to do anything about it. God forbid he even make me aware of it."
Dark emotions were crowding my brain again, and my skin itched with the need to get them out. Kody's brow had furrowed, but the way he was staring at me seemed at odds with the utter, heart-wrenching betrayal I was experiencing.
"What?" I snapped.
"You lost your virginity to that asshole? He's old enough to be your dad." Kody said it like he was making a joke, but there was an edge of anger in his voice that confused me.
"Very funny, asshole," I replied with a growl. "He's not that much older than you."
Based on what Bree had told me, Kody was twenty-one. Dallas was twenty-three now, but at the time... Yeah it had crossed a few lines back then. Part of the reason we had agreed to keep it a one-time thing and just stay friends.
Of course, then things had gotten weird and we’d drifted apart. Next thing I knew, he’d been arrested and sent to Mantworth. My father's doing, apparently.
I shook my head, trying to rearrange all the jumbled thoughts. "I need to get out of here," I muttered, reaching for his door handle. "This whole situation is getting more fucked up by the second, and I'm just about done with it all."
I yanked Kody's bedroom door open, only to find Steele right there on the other side. His hand was raised, like he'd been about to knock, but who knows how long he'd been standing there. I sure as shit wasn't sticking around to find out, so I shoved him aside and stared down the hall.