24. Kash
Chapter Twenty-Four
KASH
My father’s office was where dreams went to die. At least, that’s what I used to think when I was young and still lived under his roof. On the days I ‘misbehaved’, he would call me into his study to discipline me.
It usually involved reminders of how I should be grateful to be a Sutherland, to be his son, and to get everything other people only wished for.
I should be grateful he fought for custody and didn’t let my mother take me because what kind of life would I have had living with a woman like that?
On the days when he was particularly upset about something I had said or done, it involved me taking off my shirt and that whip he kept in a box above the fireplace mantel.
I often wondered if Diana was aware what went on this room. Did Walter? Other than my father and me, they were the only people in the house. I didn’t think anyone else knew, and I had never shared it with anyone, not even my mother.
I spent enough time with my father to know what he did to people when they defied him.
Bringing Naina into this was a desperate move because he forced my hand. I couldn’t marry Crystal. I couldn’t .
The thought of anyone but Naina touching me was repulsive.
The office was dark, as always. His massive oak desk sat against the back of the room, the windows behind it overlooking the pool. Even with the windows, I always felt suffocated whenever I came in here.
I entered the study after my father and sank down into the leather chair across from his desk. It smelled of wood, whisky, and leather, the scents making me want to gag.
“You have outdone yourself in shaming this family, Kassius,” my father hissed. “Do you have any idea how we look in front of the Sloane’s? We agreed you were going to marry Crystal.”
I stared up at my father and came to the shocking realization that I was staring into my future. My father was such a stranger to me that I never stopped to think that we shared the same genes. If the scents didn’t make me gag, that revelation certainly did.
I didn’t want any part of him.
“I don’t understand what the problem is,” I said, keeping my tone light. “You wanted me to get married, I’m married.”
Standing up, I moved to the bar cart in the corner of the room and picked up a crystal decanter of whisky. Pouring some in a glass, I drank it down in one gulp before refilling the glass.
“You were supposed to marry someone with class, someone who matched our status and standing in society,” my father said. “Not some whore you picked up on a whim to make a point.”
I slammed the decanter down with such force the bar cart shook. A crack formed in its glass surface.
“Don’t.”
“What did you say?”
I turned to face him. He was standing across the room, his expression thunderous. But a strange calm had come over me. A calm I never felt in this room.
“I said, don’t . Don’t call my wife a whore, she is my wife . She is your daughter-in-law, a Sutherland as much as I am.”
My father stared at me with disgust.
“Stubborn and willful, just like your mother,” he spat. “After everything I have done to rid you of this insolent behavior. You are the heir to this empire because of me. Because I didn’t have more children. You think that woman deserves to stand next to you?”
I saw his tactic for exactly what it was. It wasn’t that Naina was unworthy, it was that I was worth more because I was my father’s precious son. He rid himself of the joy of more children because he wanted to make me his priority, the heir to the empire.
It was a speech I had heard many times before. In fact, it was what he said each time he used that whip on me because he thought it would make me the man who could take over for him.
Little did he know, it had done exactly that. Just not in the way he expected.
The one time I considered walking away, I realized quickly how impossible it was. Like any good puppet master, he held all the strings.
“I have done what you have asked,” I said. “The only difference is, instead of marrying a woman of your choice, I married one of mine.”
His eyes narrowed, and I could see the gears shifting in his mind.
“The marriage with Crystal was to solidify our position and the business after the lawsuit. How is your little slut going to do that? Did you think of that? You could have kept this woman on the side once you were married to Crystal.”
Naina deserved so much better than to be someone’s mistress.
“What do you know of this woman?” He asked. “Who are her parents? Where does she come from? Her background, her education, is she worthy of being a Sutherland?”
I wanted to tell him being a Sutherland was not all it was cracked up to be, just ask Vera and me. Naina was worthy of being a Sutherland but we weren’t worthy of her.
“I know everything I need to know,” I said.
My father smirked, sensing blood in the water.
“You know nothing,” he said. “You married her to spite us.”
“If that’s what you want to believe,” I replied easily.
“I hope you at least had her sign a prenup.”
My heart thudded against my chest. Not because I’d forgotten about the prenup. I’d deliberately neglected to have Naina sign one. Like all things in life, I had my reasons. What was Naina going to do? Take me for half of everything I had? Fine, I would give it to her myself as a divorce gift.
“Mom didn’t sign one,” I said, grinning at him. Not that she had gotten a single penny in the divorce.
His jaw muscle jumped in anger. His blue eyes turned icy cold and emotionless. Finally, the father I recognized from my childhood. I braced myself for what was coming.
“You stupid, impetuous boy!” He snapped. “I regret the day I fucked your mother and it resulted in you. I should have forced her to drop you like my father wanted, he warned me about bad blood. You are a disgrace to this family and its name.”
The words were so familiar to me and yet they still hit me like tiny shards of glass slicing into my skin. I’d heard variations of this speech since I was a little boy. I would stand in this room across from his desk while he told me what a disappointment I was to him. That he wished he forced my mother to get an abortion so he didn’t have to look at me.
A muffled noise outside the door had me turning to it. The door was slightly parted, a sliver of light from the hallway coming in. Someone was outside.
My father and I both turned towards the door, but I reached it first. I pulled it open, and found a startled Naina standing in the hallway. Her mouth slightly parted, face flushed and a glimmer in her eyes.
“I was looking for you,” she said, a guilty note to her voice. “Sami needs me.”
I blinked at her.
“Kash—” She started to take a step toward me and stopped, her eyes moving behind me. I could feel my father standing there.
Pushing the humiliation and anger down, I stepped out into the hallway and grabbed Naina’s hand.
“We’re leaving,” I said.
Naina remained quiet for the ride back to my house and then the twenty minute helicopter ride to San Francisco. She kept throwing me these furtive glances and I found I couldn’t look at her and see the pity in those beautiful eyes.
Deep down, I knew there would be consequences. My father was going to start to pull at the strings that kept me tethered to him. He could hurt Naina and Samira.
There was no telling what he would do. Which meant I needed to act fast.
But first I had to get my sister-in-law out of jail.
“Are you sure she said she hasn’t been arrested?” I asked Naina.
We were in the car now, on our way to the police station.
“Yes, that’s what she said.”
“What was she doing on that boat?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Her foot tapped on the floor of the car, knee bouncing up and down. Naina wore her heart on her sleeve. Anything to do with her sister and she couldn’t control her emotions.
It was a stark reminder that she was different than anyone I had ever known. The way I grew up, I learned to conceal my emotions as a child.
I texted my lawyer anyway, letting her know I might need her assistance. Although Naina could certainly do that on her own.
I found it strange that a woman who went to Harvard law was now managing a family Inn when she could and had worked for one of the most prestigious law firms in New York.
The same firm, as it happened, that handled our lawsuit. There was a part of me that wanted to ask her how much she knew about it. If she knew the person who sold our information.
Although, she had left the firm around the same time and from what I knew, she was never part of the team handling the lawsuit.
“Kash—”
“Let’s just get Samira out of there and go home,” I interrupted her. “We don’t need to talk about this.”
“I was just going to say thank you for coming with me,” she said, her voice small. I glanced at her and found her soft gaze already on me, her head resting on the back of the seat.
“I’m not going to let my wife walk into a police station alone. You’re far too hot to be left alone in regular places let alone where they keep the criminals.”
She rolled her eyes, pushing gently at my arm. She thought I was joking. Was she serious? Surely she knew the way people looked at her.
I watched her when she interacted with her guests, and the gleam they got in their eyes when she smiled at them or asked about their stay was unmistakable.
Grayson parked the car in front of the police station and I stayed a few feet behind Naina as we walked in.
“We need a distraction,” I said quietly to Grayson. “You know what you need to do. Make sure Naina and Samira are safe. Monitor everything, their bank accounts, the Inn, the house, anything my father can use to control and manipulate them.”
I’d brought them into this mess and it was my responsibility to keep them safe.
“Yes, sir.”
Grayson fell back, his phone already to his ear, as I stepped up to Naina, wrapping my arm around her waist. It was a testament to how worried she was that she didn’t even object.
“Can I help you?”
An officer behind the front desk stopped us. Her eyes lingered on Naina for a moment too long, confirming my point that people were naturally attracted to her.
“I’m here for my sister. Samira Hollister?” Naina said. “She called me and said she was here but she hasn’t been arrested or anything. Is she okay?”
I squeezed her waist, pulling her into my body. The tightness in her body eased a little.
“Come with me,” the officer said.
She stepped out from behind reception and led us down the hallway and past desks, a couple where people sat with their hands cuffed in front of them. Their eyes lingered on us as we walked past and I tried to cover as much of Naina as possible.
The officer stopped in front of a conference room and waved us inside.
“I’ll let the inspector know you’re here.”
Naina pushed the door open and we were met with Samira’s sharp reply.
“I wouldn’t care who you are even if you were the Prince Regent of a formally unknown country or even a known one for that matter. You’re just another entitled rich person here to make life difficult for the rest of us. So do me a favor and stop talking to me.”
“Why the fuck would I want to do you any favors? You’re the reason I’m here.”
“Your brother is the reason you’re here, dude. Don’t expect gratitude from me for gracing me with your annoying presence.”
The comment amused me and I exchanged a look with Naina, whose cheeks heated as she probably guessed what I was going to say.
“This is a Hollister sisters thing, then?”
“It’s not our fault we only seem to attract entitled rich men and they won’t leave us alone,” Naina said. “Your lot is clearly dying for some banter and we’re full of it over here.”
“Didi!”
Samira rushed over, throwing herself into Naina’s arms. The sisters hugged tightly, as if they hadn’t seen each other for years, instead of less than a day. Another girl about Sami’s age walked over to us and stood beside Naina. What did Grayson say her name was? Ayana Soni. Sami’s best friend since high school.
My eyes moved to the other two people in the room and I groaned internally. It wasn’t just that the Hollister sisters attracted entitled rich men. They attracted entitled rich men from fucked up families who also happened to suffer from daddy issues.
The Stirling-Whittaker brand of fucked up was even beyond the Sutherlands, and they didn’t even try to hide it.
“What happened?” I asked.
Sami glanced at me, and then back at those two.
“He tried to steal a yacht which he told us belonged to his father but obviously didn’t.” She pointed at the guy dressed in chinos and a blue button down.
“And then he showed up to defend his baby brother and blame us even though we had nothing to do with it.” She pointed to the other brother, the one in jeans and a t-shirt, his arms covered in tattoos all the way to the back of his hand.
“I never said you had anything to do with it,” he said. He was the one she’d been arguing with when we came in.
“You implied it,” Samira snapped back.
“Look, I don’t care what either of you did,” he said. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Why did you even get on a boat?” I asked.
“With a guy you don’t even know,” Naina added.
This was a little too reminiscent of Drew. Were teenagers just this careless?
“That was my fault,” Ayana said, shifting restlessly. “I know Ben, but we’re not like friends or anything. We were just hanging out.”
“Do your parents know?” Naina asked.
Ayana’s cheeks colored. “I didn’t call them because Sami called you, and you’ll fix everything.”
“I can’t fix criminal matters, I don’t have a magic wand,” Naina said. “Seriously, I know nineteen is young but it’s not so young that you don’t know not to go to secondary locations with strange men. Sami, how did you think I was going to take care of bail and a lawyer?”
Understanding seemed to hit Samira all at once, and her lip wobbled as she tried to control her tears.
“I’m so sorry, didi.”
She hugged Naina again, sniffing quietly. Naina melted immediately, her eyes softening. Rookie mistake. Sami was an adult and she needed to realize the consequences of her actions. Naina couldn’t come to her rescue all the time.
The door opened behind me and a man entered the room, one I recognized immediately.
“Doesn’t the SFPD have a policy against this?” I asked, waving my hand between the inspector and other two guys.
“What?” Naina asked.
“Stirling-Whittaker, Stirling-Whittaker,” I pointed at the two guys, and then the inspector. “Inspector Stirling-Whittaker.”
Inspector Colin Stirling-Whittaker pinned me with his grey eyes. He was a few years older than me, and the kind of man my father respected because he always put his family’s reputation first. There was no doubt in my mind that they would have tried to pin the whole thing on Sami and Ayana.
“Sutherland, what are you doing here?”
“You arrested my sister-in-law and upset my wife,” I said. “Where else would I be?”
That surprised him. His eyes moved behind me to Naina, tracking over her body in a not-so-subtle way that had my blood boiling.
“Look, it was a first time offence,” he said. “She’ll just have to do some community service.”
The tattooed one scoffed at that.
“I can’t imagine Ben doing community service,” he said. “It’s also not his first offence.”
Yeah, that’s what I figured.
“Stay out of this, Remy,” Colin ground out.
“Look, I’ve had a long fucking night and it’s not even ten yet,” I said. “You’re not filing any charges against my sister-in-law and her friend for a crime that your, what is he, nephew, brother, whatever committed. The judge owes me a favor, I can call him and get this sorted right away.”
If it was just any judge that threat probably wouldn’t have worked in my favor. When it was Judge Stirling-Whittaker, and he was a family member? Yeah, that threat landed exactly how it was meant to. Their family tree was too convoluted for me to figure out how they were all related, but the judge was either their father, grandfather or great-uncle.
Colin clenched his jaw, looking at me murderously.
“You’re free to go,” he said. “And next time, it won’t be so easy.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
Naina ushered Sami and Ayana out of the conference room.
“Let’s never do this again, I hate being the bad guy,” I said, before following my wife.
Naina got the girls in the car before turning to face me.
“Thank you. It seems you’re always coming to the Hollister sisters rescue,” she said.
“Sweetheart, I will rescue you from the pits of hell if needed. You don’t even have to ask.”
Her throat convulsed as she swallowed, a tear slipping out. She wrapped her arms around me, and I clutched her to my chest tightly.
“Come home with us,” she breathed.
“I can’t.”
She looked up at me, wide eyes brimming with tears.
“Please? I don’t want you to be alone.”
Fuck, fuck. She was going to ruin me. I should say no.
“Okay.”
Naina gave me a watery smile, hugging me again.
It was the strangest thing in the world, but for a second it felt like her touch was healing all the broken parts of me, the fissures in my heart closing and leaving only her essence behind.