“For the things you’ve had to endure. For saying I wanted to fuck you up. For letting my anger get the best of me. For not being there to protect you and our babies.”
I rest my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. “It shocked me when I first discovered I was pregnant, but the love I felt was instant,” I admit with a lump in my throat. I rub my hand across his chest. “I wanted to have your babies. And I hate that bastard for taking that from us.”
“I do too. I know we’re young, and we live in a shitty world, but I wasn’t unhappy about it. And I already loved them too.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head, and my heart melts at his words. “I’m sorry I failed you,” he adds, his voice choking. I look up into his beautiful brown eyes, spotting the pain there. “If I’d told you everything the night of the safe heist, you wouldn’t have left the house, and I could’ve kept you safe.”
I cup his face. “You didn’t do this, Kai. It’s not your fault.”
He opens his mouth to speak, but the vibration of his phone ringing ends whatever he was about to say. He removes his cell from his pocket, and I thrust my palm out, sending him a look that dares him to deny me.
He hands it over without protest, and I hit the accept button.
“Anderson.” My brother’s deep voice oozes down the line.
“It’s me,” I say in a level tone of voice. “We need to talk.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Are you okay? Is he keeping you safe?” Drew asks with worry threading through his words.
“I’m fine, and yes.” I glance at Kai. “What’s going on, Drew?”
“We’re working together to keep you safe and to take Dad down.”
I’m glad he didn’t lie or attempt to fudge his answer because I would’ve gone postal on his ass. On both their asses. Because Kai’s back on my shit list for concealing this.
“How long?”
“It happened after the shootout.” Air exhales down the line. “Look, I know you have tons of questions. Anderson should be able to answer them, but I need to talk to him now. Although this line is secure, I don’t like taking chances. I need to appraise him of the plan.”
“You know I hate being kept in the dark like I’m some feeble princess who can’t look after herself.”
“No one thinks that of you. There is a much bigger picture here, Abby. You’ve seen Parkhurst. Maybe now you have a sense of how completely fucked everything is.”
“This is about Parkhurst?”
“Parkhurst and Dad. I’ll fill you in when I see you. I promise. I need to talk to Kaiden.”
“When will I see you?”
“I don’t know, but hopefully soon.”
“Okay.”
“Abby.”
“What?”
“I trust Kaiden to keep you safe. You can trust him too.”
“I know.”
“Good. Talk to you soon. I love you.”
“Love you too,” I say, reluctantly passing the cell to Kai.
I listen to their conversation, but it’s mainly one-sided and I glean little. I try to summon patience as Kai scribbles illegible shit down on a notepad, but I give up and take a shower instead.
When I emerge from the bathroom, he’s propped up against the headrest, wearing only jeans. I try not to ogle his impressive chest, but it’s a challenge I don’t meet. I crawl up the bed in my towel with my damp hair clinging to my back. He rakes his gaze over me, smiling. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. But flattery will not get you out of this Q and A.”
He tweaks my nose. “I wasn’t trying to deflect. I was just speaking my mind.” He kisses me softly before climbing off the bed. “I need to grab a shower, but when I’m done, I’ll answer all your questions.”
“Kai.” I call out, and he stops in the bathroom’s doorway. “We’ll be okay, won’t we?”
He walks back to me, palming my face. “You can count on it.” This time his kiss is long and deep, and with every sweep of his lips and every thrust of his tongue, he’s reassuring me. “Okay?” He rubs his thumb along my swollen lower lip.
“Okay.” I sit up on my knees, curling my hands around his neck and pulling him down for another kiss. When we break apart, he rests his forehead against mine, and the words linger on my tongue. I want to tell him I love him. That he makes me feel safe. And I feel protected when I’m with him. But something is holding me back.
He saunters toward the bathroom, and I ogle his toned back, marveling at the way his muscles flex and roll as he walks, my libido well and truly reawakened since our hot sex session this morning.
I pull on clean jeans, a top, and Kai’s hoodie and wander to reception where I pick up some drinks, chips, and sandwiches. Kai is sitting on the bed in only his boxers when I return, and I lick my lips as my eyes trail the length of his body, remembering how his powerful thighs shook as he fucked me senseless a few hours ago and how little beads of sweat had glistened on his tattooed chest.
“Keep eye-fucking me and I’ll have you impaled on my dick, all questions forgotten, in less time than it takes to blink.”
“Maybe wear some clothes,” I suggest, waggling my brows as I remove some of my purchases, handing them to him. “If I’m hungry, you must be starving.”
“Ravenous,” he says with hunger in his eyes, but he’s not looking at the food.
I shouldn’t tease him, but it’s not in my nature to take the moral high ground, so I strip out of my clothes in front of him, standing in only my panties as I pull on sleep shorts and a top.
“If you’re trying to torture me, it’s working,” he admits, stroking his hard-on through his boxers.
I scramble onto the bed beside him, grinning smugly. “Eat, because you’ll need sustenance for my interrogation,” I say before leaning in close to his ear. “And if you’re a good boy and you answer all my questions, I’ll let you eat me after.”
I cross my legs, fighting the throbbing ache building between the apex of my thighs.
“Sounds like a fair deal with one alteration,” he says, sending me a wolfish grin as he toys with the hem of my flimsy top. “It’s got to be a naked interrogation.”
I roll my eyes. “If I interrogate you naked, we won’t be doing much talking.”
He plants his hand on my bare thigh, heating me on contact. “That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.” He licks his lips, and my pussy rejoices.
I remove his hand, because I know it’ll distract me. “How did you end up working with my brother again? And are Charlie and Xavier involved too?”
“When you went missing, I broke into your house intending to murder your father.”
I almost choke mid-chew. “I know my father. Security must’ve been crazy after the gunfight, so how the hell did you get in?”
“We used your tunnel.”
My mouth drops open, and I blink excessively. “How did you know about that?”
“Drew told us.”
Jaw to the floor again.
“How did he know about it?”