CHAPTER 44
LANDRY
The gunshot broke through the silence, my heart stopping in its tracks. No, no, no…
I pushed back from Cashton, my eyes wide as they hurriedly raced down his body, trying to find where he had been hit. I didn’t see any blood, though his eyes remained closed. I searched his face, trying to find any semblance of pain, but found none. Slowly opening them, his green eyes met mine as a look of confusion crossed his features.
I moved to look past him, seeing Kaptan at the entrance of the living room, gun still smoking as it pointed down to the man who had tried to strangle me. A gun lay in the man’s hand, finger on the trigger and pointed in our direction as he lay dead at Kaptan’s feet.
He had been about to shoot, and Cashton had shielded me. He had been prepared to take a bullet for me. The realization hit me like a freight train, my mind trying to process all of this. If Kaptan hadn’t shown up when he did…
“Kaptan!” I exclaimed, taking a step forward to greet him. Before I could take another step, Cashton’s arm whipped out, stopping my advance and pushing me behind him. Confusion flooded through me as I looked up at him, a question in my eyes.
“Cash, it’s Kaptan… What’s going on?”
But Cashton didn’t so much as spare me a glance, his features hard and eyes locked onto Kaptan across the room. Had I missed something?
Kaptan stared right back, the two of them in a standoff as an awkward silence took over the space. I made no move to leave Cashton’s side, remaining behind him as he took a defensive stance.
It felt like forever before Cashton finally spoke first.
“How long?”
The tension was palpable, both of their features cold as stone.
“Cashton–” Kaptan started, Cashton quickly cutting him off.
“How long have you been a part of them?”
My eyes shot up to the man I loved. “Cashton, what’s going on? What are you talking about?”
Cashton’s eyes remained on Kaptan as he answered me, a threat hanging in the air between them.
“I had my suspicions the morning that we found your father dead. Kaptan was the only person other than me to see the video. He noticed the same part that I had caught on to. And he knew that I was planning to go see Arthur the next day and ask questions. So he got there first to shut him up before I could. Isn’t that right, Kaptan?”
Kaptan only remained silent, the gun held stiffly at his side. His face was impassive, not betraying any emotion.
“And then today,” Cashton continued. “How else could he have known that they would lure me out here?”
My mind whirled. I faced Cashton once more.
“But I texted him… When he didn’t answer my call, I sent him a text. Look–”
I pulled out my phone, opening my messages.
LANDRY: Cashton’s in trouble, I need your help. Please call me back, it’s an emergency!
Cashton was right. I had never told him where I was headed. He must have figured it out and raced here after receiving my text.
“It’s not what you think,” Kaptan finally responded.
“How long!” Cashton screamed, his rage cracking his cool facade. I flinched at the hardness of his tone.
“A long time,” Kaptan’s words were solemn.
Kaptan was a part of the group that just tried to kill us? I felt like I might faint. It was Cashton’s turn to remain silent, clearly coming to terms with the confirmation he just received.
“Did you know about Emory?”
“No,” Kaptan’s cold expression didn’t budge, though truth shone in his eyes. “They knew it would have been too personal. I didn’t find out about the Order’s involvement until around the same time you did. ”
The Order? What the hell was that? A different question jumped to the forefront of my mind.
“What about my mom?” I spoke up.
Kaptan finally looked my way, his black eyes meeting mine. I saw a hint of sorrow cross his features, and I had my answer. A lump appeared in my throat as I tried to forcibly swallow it down.
“I’m sorry,” he admitted, “It wasn’t my call.”
I looked away from him, not wanting him to see the tears threatening to fall. He had known, ever since that first day at the pool party. He had looked me in the face all of this time, aware that whatever organization he was a part of had murdered my mother.
“Why?” Cashton asked, tone cold.
“Cashton, this is bigger than you think. You both need to get out of here. Get out of the country, even just for a few months until all of this dies down. The Order doesn’t bother with threats, they go straight for the kill. And you both poked the beehive when you started looking into everything a little too close.”
Something didn’t make sense.
“If ‘The Order’ doesn’t make threats, then how do you explain the bloody message that was left on my mirror?”
Confusion crossed Kaptan’s face.
“That wasn’t us.”
I had more questions than ever.
Kaptan let the silence hang in the air for a moment before speaking up again, his gaze once again locked on Cashton’s .
“Look, I can’t protect you now that they’re onto you. They’re going to send more men once they find out what happened here. Landry, you inherited your dad’s private jet—Use it. You need. To leave.”
I spared a glance up at Cashton, his face hard as stone. Panic surged through me at what Kaptan had said. He was right, they were going to come after us. There was no way they wouldn’t retaliate when not only did we somehow know too much, but had also killed three of their men. Well, technically speaking, Kaptan had killed the last one, but that was neither here nor there.
“Cash…” I whispered, dying to figure out what was going on inside his head.
“There are only a few weeks left in the semester, I guarantee that the school will let you finish them online. You don’t have to leave forever, just long enough for the Order to get distracted with something else. Spend the summer abroad, and when you come back, stop looking into this. Please. I’ve already risked enough today, I can’t keep them off of your back forever.”
“Cashton, please…” I pleaded.
I was so scared… Kaptan was right, we needed to leave. We were in danger, and they wouldn’t stop coming after us if we stayed.
He finally looked back at me, his expression softening.
“He’s right, we need to leave. I don’t want to constantly be looking over my shoulder, to know that people are actively trying to kill us at any given time. Cash, I’m scared… Please, can we go?”
“I’ll get all of this cleaned up, but you have to go. Now.” Kaptan urged .
Cashton glanced between the two of us, a war raging inside of his head. I knew how strongly he felt the need to avenge his sister, how he wouldn’t stop until he solved all of this. But right now, I needed him more than ever. We had just killed people—I had just stabbed somebody. And we had people out to kill us.
We left Kaptan in the house as he made a few calls, Cashton leading me to the passenger side of his Chevelle. We left my car there, not needing it if we were about to leave the country. I could always just buy a new one.
I had called my dad’s pilot, Pete—well, I guess my pilot now–and gotten him to agree to meet us at the airfield in less than an hour.
“We’ll stop by your house first so you can pack. Only grab the essentials, you can buy anything you need once you get to Paris,” Cashton said, his eyes on the road ahead.
“Paris?” I asked, turning in my seat to face him. He finally glanced my way, offering a sad smile.
“This will be your first time leaving the country. I know French cuisine is your favorite, and I figured I could see you loving it there.”
I hadn’t thought about where we would go until Cashton brought it up. I had to admit, Paris sounded pretty perfect. We could get a top floor apartment with a terrace and small yard for Tomahawk, maybe even with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
These weren’t the ideal circumstances for my first trip out of the country, but I would be happy if we were safe and I had Cashton by my side.
I managed to pack in less than fifteen minutes, my bags filling the backseat along with Tomahawk who had been waiting for us at the dorms where I had left him. I called Bexley and Olivia on the way to Cashton’s to let them know that we were leaving. I didn’t give any details, just telling them that it was complicated but that I would explain as soon as I got the chance.
I had just gotten done hanging up with Olivia when we pulled into the airfield. Confusion struck me as I turned to Cashton.
“Wait, we haven’t gone to your house yet? What about your stuff?”
His eyes didn’t meet mine for what felt like forever before finally turning to face me. Everything he needed to say was written in the look on his face. My heart sank to my stomach.
“You’re not coming, are you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
He looked torn, a war raging in his head, but I knew that his decision was already made.
“Princess–”
“Don’t,” I cut him off. “Don’t do this. Please, come with me. Don’t do this to me, don’t make me do this alone. Please,” I begged, my eyes growing watery.
“I have to stay and see this through. I’m really sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. Please understand,” he asked me, pain laced in his tone.
I let the first tear fall, my heart ripping to shreds inside of my chest.
“Landry, I love you. You need to know that. I need you to know that.”
“No, you don’t. Not like I love you. Because I would never choose something as petty as revenge over you. ”
He physically winced as if my words had cut him.
“If you loved me, you would come with me. You would choose me,” I forced myself to appear strong even though I was breaking inside. I didn’t let the crack in my voice stop me as I continued.
“Emory is dead. And I am so, so sorry about that. But at some point, you’re going to have to find a way to make peace with that. This isn’t healthy, and you know it. You’re going to get yourself killed if you don’t stop. Do you really think that’s what she would have wanted?”
He only stared at his hands where they were planted on the steering wheel, lost in thought.
“There are more important things in life than revenge, Cash. I’m just sorry that I wasn’t enough to make you see that.”
I opened my door and got out of the car before he could see me break down completely. I had Pete go back to grab my bags, not looking back as I stepped onto the plane.