Chapter 23
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
KRAVEN
“How do you think I’m going to feel when I find you passed out in a ditch? I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”
Continuing my pursuit to know everything about her, I questioned, “How did you know I was out there?”
She confessed, “I followed you.”
“Why?”
She shrugged.
“No,” I called her out. “We’ve moved past that, Kitty.”
Finally, she admitted, “I don’t know why I followed you, okay? I just did.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
“Alright.” I let it go. “Why didn’t you tell Julius you found me?”
“More like rescued you,” she pointed out. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Again, you’re not answering my question.”
“Well…” She threw it back at me. “Why didn’t you tell him?”
“I have Julius on my ass enough. I didn’t need another thing for him to ride me about.”
She didn’t say anything, just narrowed her eyes at me.
Feeling snarky, I bit, “You always bite your lip when you’re deep in thought?”
Her eyebrows lowered. “Is there anything you don’t notice?”
I leaned back into the armchair, smirking. Fighting the urge to tell her I noticed her…
Shaking off the thought, I waited for her next question, knowing it’d come soon.
“So,” she slowly stated, “what was last night about?”
“We’re back to that?” I sighed.
“We never left.”
“We did in my book. Besides, if I told you…” I joked, “I’d have to kill you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Considering you weren’t far from that last night with Justin, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Oh, come on,” I mocked. “He was far from death.”
“What did he do to even deserve that? Why does he hate you?”
“Why does it matter?”
She stood her ground. “You want me to answer your questions, then you’ll have to abide by the same rules.”
“So now we’re playing twenty questions?”
“I’d settle for five.”
I smiled, sneering, “You better make them good.”
She thought about it for a second, like she’d been wanting to ask me the entire time.
“Do you know where Julius is?”
I wasn’t surprised that was technically her first question, though it shocked me that she didn’t know either.
“No, I don’t.”
She let out a deep sigh.
“You’re worried?”
“You’re not?”
“He’s just working.”
“If that were the case, why wouldn’t he tell us what he was doing?”
“You asked him?”
“You didn’t?”
I heaved a shoulder. “We don’t talk about that stuff.”
“And why is that?”
Feeling defensive, I snarked, “You’re a persistent little thing, aren’t you?”
With a smug expression, she responded, “Takes one to know one.”
I scoffed out a chuckle. “You’re going to have to work on your insults.”
“I—”
“No.” I stopped her. “It’s my turn to ask you.” Unable to resist, I interrogated, “Are you in trouble?”
“I don’t think so.”
I reworded my question. “The night we met. Were you in trouble?”
Not faltering, she stated, “I don’t know.”
“You’re talking in circles.”
“I’m just being honest because I don’t know.”
Her sharp tone informed me she wasn’t lying.
“Alright then, what were you running from?”
“No,” she interjected. “It’s my turn now.” Arching an eyebrow, she followed up with, “What happened between you and Justin that he baited you?”
“Is that what he was doing?”
“He was definitely trying to hurt you. Why?”
Feeling generous, I gave her what she sought. “Word around the street is that my dad fucked his mom.” With that, I stood, not wanting to see the pity in her eyes.
“Oh,” she breathed out. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know your parents were divorced.”
“They’re not.” I made my way into the kitchen.
“Oh…”
After grabbing a water out of the fridge, I turned to face her while leaning against it. Her head was bowed, looking remorseful.
“My turn.” I went straight to it. “Are the cops looking for you, Isla?”
Meeting my stare, she once again repeated, “I don’t know.”
My gaze went wide. I fucking knew it. She was right, it does take one to know one.
“What did you do?”
She opened her mouth but quickly shut it.
Needing her to trust me and feeling like I was on the verge of cracking her shell, I told her the truth of what she wanted to ask but was too afraid to.
“If she hauled ass on us because my old man couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, maybe…
or maybe we just weren’t good enough for her…
or maybe she was just a selfish piece of shit and didn’t want a family or kids anymore.
Who the hell knows? And quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck.
She’s gone, and she’s never coming back, and I’m okay with that. ”
She sucked in air, taking in everything I was saying, reliving something in her gaze that was still completely focused on me. She licked her lips, needing the moisture to soothe the burn of my words. My eyes followed the simple gesture of her tongue.
“It’s not your fault,” she sympathized. “I may not know the whole story, but that much I do know. You can’t blame yourself for something you had no control over. You’re the kid. She’s the adult.”
“I was never a kid.”
“I know.” She nodded. “The roles weren’t supposed to be reversed, but we don’t get to pick our parents, now do we. If that were true, I’d have some.”
I laughed it off. “So we’re both fucked up, then?”
“No.” She stood, walking toward me. I watched her take each step.
Once she stood in front of me, she revealed, “I’m far from fucked up, Kraven.
I’m nothing like them, and I never will be.
I’ve made it this far, and I only have a little over a year left until I’m an adult and can put this all behind me.
None of what I’ve gone through defines who I am, and although I have no idea what you’ve experienced, I know it doesn’t define you either.
We’re better than all of them put together. ”
I tugged on the end of her hair, letting my fingers linger. In this lighting, the red reminded me of autumn, my favorite season.
In a smart-ass reply, I teased, “Is that your bedtime story for me?”
Standing this close to her while touching the silkiness of her hair, I was hit with the weight of the truth I’d never shared with anyone, realizing all too quickly that the first person I’d ever open up to…
Just happened to be my brother’s girl.
ISLA
My body shook, creating goose bumps all over my flesh.
I was blown away that he confessed all that to me.
Needing to even the score, I professed, “The day I ran, I didn’t do anything to provoke anyone.
I never did, but that didn’t stop the abuse.
I learned that if I kept to myself, didn’t talk, blended in, and pretended I didn’t exist, I was safe for the most part.
After days turned into months and months into years, I got used to not talking. ”
“How long has it been?”
“A while.”
The back of his fingers shifted to the side of my face. “So I’m your first?”
I nodded.
“No,” he remarked, eyeing me in a curious regard. “I want to hear you say it.”
“Yes,” I muttered under my breath.
My mind spun.
I wanted to scream.
To run.
To hide from the truth when it was right there, all around us.
Without any warning, the front door opened, revealing Julius.
His eyes went from Kraven to his hand that was still on the side of my face, to me. I instantly stepped back and, at a moment’s notice, I rushed into Julius’s arms.
I wanted to tell him that I missed him.
That I talked…
To Kraven.
Julius didn’t hear me speak first… it was his brother.
Except I didn’t do anything of the sort. Instead, I hugged him tight against my body, never wanting to let him go.
All the while staring into…
Kraven’s eyes.