Chapter 6 Lies That Built This House #3
As she got near him, his eyes, glowing and tender, swept over her face.
He pulled her close, his good arm wrapping around her waist, and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her lips.
She returned the gesture, pressing her own lips to his, feeling the familiar comfort of his embrace.
But the smile, the fleeting warmth, vanished, replaced by a hollow ache.
Beneath the surface of her automatic response, she wasn’t feeling very romantic.
Not after what she'd just uncovered. Not when another storm was brewing.
“What’s wrong?” he sighed.
Lana pulled away and sat in a dining chair, and he followed. She couldn’t smile and pretend everything was OK. She had to tell him what was going on with his business so that they could try and salvage the project.
“I went to the Spence Hotel to ask about the contract.”
“Oh? And what’d he say?” Kayden asked, twirling the bottle in the ice bucket.
“Pretty much, that no one’s gonna work with us, if you want me to be blunt,” she replied and reached for the wine.
“That makes no sense,” he said, sinking into a chair.
“No shit,” she replied, struggling with the cork.
He reached but remembered his arm was mangled and dropped his hand.
“It’s OK, hon, I got it.” She winked, pulled the cork free, and poured them both a glass.
“He signed off on the plans weeks ago. I don’t get it,” Kayden puzzled.
He reached into his pants pocket and grabbed his phone.
“I think your Mom has something to do with it,” she replied, taking a sip.
“No way, not after the last time, she wouldn’t do that,” he protested.
“No, I mean, people are speculating that she helped Kim, and because of that, they don’t trust her or the Capshaw brand.”
“What? No.”
"Kayden, think about it from his perspective. He's essentially a stranger. Why would he trust a company when its matriarch—your mother—just did all of that? How could he believe any deal with this family would be honest or anything but drama?"
“But it’s not Capshaw Realty, it’s KDN, it’s me, Lana.”
“Yeah, but you just won the town over after a long period of time when they didn’t like you. Then they sympathized with you over what happened, but I think if she’s attached to the company business, in any way, nothing is going to happen for a while.”
Kayden snorted and shook his head.
“That makes sense, I guess,” he said and slid the phone back in his pocket.
“Why, though?”
“Why what?” Kayden asked.
“Why would she help that scum get a lighter sentence?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care anymore. It’s done, Lana. I just want to move forward and forget her,” he replied.
“Move forward? I can’t!” She rose to her feet, her voice louder than she intended, and glanced upstairs.
“Paula’s gone for the night. I asked her to give us some privacy.”
That made her feel better.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t just get past it, Kayden.”
“I don’t know what you want me to do anymore,” he pleaded helplessly.
“It’s like you’re giving up,” she accused, pacing the room.
“The only thing I want to give up is ever uttering her name again. I want to forget her, Lana.”
“If only it were that easy. We know Maureen didn’t do that for free. Kim has something on her, she admitted that. I know she didn’t end up in house arrest in Shelby by accident. Open your eyes, please!”
“Maybe you’re right, maybe not, but I can’t let what she did continue to replay over and over, or I’ll lose my mind.”
“I’m gonna find out why. I have to,” she said, stopping in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Lana, please. I don’t want you to be wrapped up in this and lose focus on us. We have a wedding to plan, a house to finish...” he started.
“Which all means nothing if Kim is around to ruin everything again. And I’m not gonna let her. I’m done crying and sticking my head in the sand, wishing it all away.”
Lana stormed away and grabbed the keys off the countertop.
“Where are you going now?” Kayden yelled.
“Back to the hotel to see your mother.”
“What about dinner?”
She looked at the gorgeous meal, but her stomach protested.
“I’ll eat when I come back. I’m sorry,” she replied, and took off down the hall.
She had been through too much for it all to be swept under the rug, for Kim to skate away scot-free.
Nothing about their circumstances sat well with her.
She would dig to the bottom of what was going on one way or the other.
Lana slammed the door behind her, leaving Kayden alone in the darkened living room.
Kayden let out a frustrated sigh, the sound harsh in the empty room. He flipped the switch, and the bright, unforgiving overhead lights instantly killed the intimate, flickering glow of the candles. The romantic dinner, now just an elaborate, cold mockery on the table, seemed to stare back at him.
He moved with a mechanical, heavy resignation. He took the now-lukewarm food off the table, scraping untouched portions into containers and shoving the serving dishes into the fridge. He blew out the candles one by one, each puff of smoke a tiny, final death to the evening he’d planned.
He knew Lana was right. Deep down, beneath his own exhaustion and denial, he knew. That was the worst part. The truth of her accusation—that his mother was still manipulating them, that this never ended—nagged at the pit of his stomach like a raw ulcer.
His idea of not letting Kim win, of "living their best life" and proving she couldn't wedge in between them... it felt hollow now. Passive. Maybe his way wasn’t radical enough for Lana. Perhaps it was just cowardice, thinly disguised as sanity, but it was all he felt he could do within the law.
He stood at the patio doors of the lanai, his good hand pressed against the cool glass, and stared out into the darkness at the silhouette of the birdbath.
Although it was painful, almost sickening to admit, what scared him most wasn't Kim.
What truly terrified him was uncovering more betrayal at the hands of his own mother.
He didn’t want to know why she’d helped Kim.
He didn't want to know what new, awful justification she'd created in her mind.
Whatever the reason, it would only cement her as this.
.. this monster... and he was so, so tired of thinking of her that way.
He was tired of mourning the mother he thought he had, the one who was supposed to protect him, not hurt him.
He just wanted a clean slate, all around.
But every time he thought he could start to trust her, every time he let a small piece of his guard down, she did something else to betray that trust. He just didn’t have the stomach for any of it at the moment.
He didn't have the strength for another fight.
New York. The thought was a small, desperate lifeline.
They would all be on their way to see the specialist about his arm tomorrow.
Maybe the trip would ease these fears, put some physical distance between them and the toxicity of Hamby.
But that hope died instantly, choked by reality.
How could they escape it when Lana was, at this very second, on her way to tear his mother a new one?
The confrontation would just set off another bomb, and they'd be right back in the blast radius.
Kayden walked back over to the couch and sank into the cushions.
He sat watching the lights from the fireplace dance, casting restless shadows across the room.
His arm ached, a dull, familiar throb, but it was nothing compared to the ache in his chest. His gaze landed on the bottle of prescription pain meds on the coffee table.
He reached for them. He didn't just welcome the numbing effects; he craved them.
He popped one from the already-opened bottle, swallowing it dry, wanting to numb not just his arm, but all of it.
Tomorrow would be better, he told himself, a familiar, desperate lie. He leaned his head back against the cushions, closed his eyes, and let the encroaching drowsiness take him away.