Chapter 18
Eighteen
Cressida
Bane had not spoken a word to me since I’d walked out of Glenda’s house, other than holding out his hand and saying, “Phone.”
I’d placed the cell phone, given to me by his mother, in it, knowing that was my only connection to Kash.
He’d not texted me today. I’d not gotten to say goodbye. Did he even know I was leaving? I had so many questions and no one to ask.
After last night, it felt like everything had changed. I’d fallen asleep with the first stirring of hope for … us.
But the Southern Mafia wanted me out of Kash’s life, and that left me no other choice. I had to go.
We’d driven to a private airstrip, boarded a plane, and he slept during the hour flight. I couldn’t close my eyes. We hit turbulence more than once, and the landing was rough, but he only opened his eyes once the wheels touched the ground. I’d expected him to say something, but he didn’t.
I wanted to ask where we were, but I was also terrified of the man. It wasn’t until the black Escalade, which picked us up when we got off the plane, passed under a sign on the interstate that said something about Orlando that I knew he’d brought me to Florida.
I looked around, hoping he wasn’t leaving me in Orlando because that was going to be too expensive.
I was pretty sure all of Florida was going to be too expensive.
Why hadn’t he chosen a cheaper state? I didn’t have enough money for this, and if he left me here, I had no car. I’d have to buy a bus ticket.
Clearing my throat so my voice wouldn’t crack when I spoke, I straightened my shoulders and tried not to look nervous. “Are you leaving me here, in Florida?” I asked him.
He cut his eyes at me and nodded, then went back to watching out the window. I thought that was going to be the only response I got, but he finally spoke.
“Ocala, to be exact,” he said.
“Do I have to stay here? Like I told you, I don’t have much money, and this state isn’t an affordable one.”
“I told you that I was giving you what you wanted. A new life. A place to start over. I don’t do things half-assed, and I’d like to be sure you stay away from Mississippi and Kash,” he said, then briefly glanced at me again.
“Your apartment is fully furnished. Rent and utilities have been paid for six months. There is a car in the parking lot, and the key fob will be on your kitchen counter. Information on your job, where to be and when, is also on your kitchen counter.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it twice. Then I just gaped at him.
He turned his cold gaze to me again. “You have all you need to start a new life. Do it and stay the fuck away from Mississippi.”
I hesitated before I blurted, “You’re serious?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Why would I lie about this?”
I shook my head still reeling. “I … I … but why? I mean, I don’t understand.”
“You don’t?” he asked with an air of sarcasm.
“Let me clear it up for you. It’s time Kash comes home to stay.
He belongs in Madison. But he can’t stay there if you are there.
It’s a dangerous distraction. You make him act irrationally.
I’d have thought you’d understand that. Do you want him killing every man you decide to fuck? ”
I paled.
“What? The reminder that he caught you in bed with your brother hard for you to hear?” The snarl in his tone made my stomach twist.
“I … I didn’t do anything with him, Pirate. I didn’t know he was in my bed that night. I woke up to find him there, and Kash …” I stopped and took a calming breath.
I’d already told Kash what had happened that night. I didn’t have to tell Bane.
“Is that so? That’s your story now?” The mocking way he said it sent a wave of anger through me.
He hadn’t been there. He had no idea what I’d been through with Pirate.
“I never did anything with Pirate,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Except live in a constant state of fear that he’d touch me again.
” I snapped my mouth shut, furious with myself for saying anything more.
I’d held this secret in for years, and now it seemed to be coming out like vomit when I opened my mouth.
“What does that mean?”
I wasn’t telling him any more. I was done talking about it.
“Decided not to make up a lie after all?” he asked.
I snapped my head back around to glare at him.
“I wasn’t lying! Yes, I kept Pirate’s sick, twisted thing he had for me from Kash because I feared he’d kill him, but I didn’t do it to save Pirate.
I hated my brother. I did it to protect Kash.
” I paused and took a deep breath, then blew it out.
“But I couldn’t. And in the end, I protected him the only way I knew how.
I loved Kash. I would never have betrayed him. ”
I turned to look out the passing trees, not wanting to see Bane’s reaction to my truth. I didn’t care if he didn’t believe me. Kash had.
“If you loved him, if you still care, then stay away from him. Make no contact. You aren’t what he needs.”
If that was true, then it was a cruel twist of fate that Kash Savelle was the only person I would always need.
The one-bedroom apartment had a kitchen and living room in an open layout with one bathroom in the hallway and a bedroom at the other end.
It was located in a safe area, clean, with extra security, requiring a key card to get in the main door of the building and the elevator.
I wouldn’t have been able to afford something like this even if I’d stayed and worked for Glenda an entire year.
Bane had dropped me here just over two hours since he had picked me up at Glenda’s.
If anything, the man was efficient. After he opened the door to the apartment, handed me the key card, he told me to have a nice life and that he never wanted to see me again.
I nodded, and he turned and left. Like he had said, a key fob to a Ford of some kind was on the counter, and there were three separate sets of papers stapled together and an envelope.
The first set of papers had information about my job, which was working as a front-desk administrator at a doctor’s office and a salary that made my jaw drop.
I had to read it three times, then sat down.
Eighty-five thousand dollars a year was insane.
What would I do with that much? My head was still reeling from that when I looked at the next set of papers, which detailed my lease and contact info for the company that owned the building if I had any issues.
Last, it was a bank account welcome packet.
My account number and current balance of ten thousand dollars.
“What the hell?” I gasped.
Reaching for the envelope, I opened it to find a debit card for my bank account and a book of checks. There was also a small key that looked like it belonged to a mail slot.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I sat there, letting this all sink in.
I no longer had to hide or run. Arthur was never going to find me here, nor was my father.
I wouldn’t be sleeping in a box on the street.
I should be relieved. Thrilled. Yet misery sat heavy on my chest. This was a payoff.
An oddly generous one. They could have dumped me on the side of the road and driven away.
Yet they had made sure I was safe and secure.
Why? For Kash? Had he asked Bane to do this? Maybe this was his goodbye.
The truth had come years too late. His heart wasn’t mine anymore. When he’d held me, it was for the loss of the girl he had once loved. Unlike the night in the woods, that had been his closure.
Dropping the papers onto the cushion beside me, I closed my eyes and allowed the tears to once again fall.