I dropped my head when hot tears spilled over my lips. “I know you think I’m young and don’t know much about anything but, Mom, I really do love him. I do,” I sobbed harder. “Trust me, I’ve tried to stop caring about him plenty of times, I swear, but it’s so hard! I—I think about him every single day. I feel good around him. I’m happy when I’m with him.” I couldn’t fight the tears anymore. In that moment, I broke down, and Mom shushed me, reeling me in and holding me tightly in her arms.
“I know, baby. I know.” She released a breath. “But you shouldn’t want him. You just shouldn’t. Even if we didn't know him, he wouldn’t be the right person for you.”
Mom was torn. I could hear the hurt in her voice and I felt awful, but Mom was just a friend of a friend to Cane. She wasn’t in Dad’s position. At the thought of Dad, my heartbeat stuttered.
“Wait—does Dad know?” I whispered.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I got the flash drive first and he hasn’t been home all day.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
She let out a thick, weary exhale and I felt her chin move as she shook her head. “I hate keeping secrets from your father, Kandy. He’s my husband and my best friend. I tell him everything.” She lowered a hand to tip my chin, forcing our eyes to meet. “But you are my only child and I love you. I want you to be able to tell me that you’re going through stuff like this. I want you to trust me.”
“Okay, but please don’t tell him,” I begged. Dad was the last person I wanted to know.
She hugged me again. “I won’t, baby.” She kissed the top of my head. “I won’t.” She huffed. “If I could see Cane right now, though, I’d rip him a new one. Touching my daughter like that. I just…I can’t believe that video, Kandy. Thank God it didn’t reveal everything, but even so, I will never be able to get the image out of my head.”
I cringed then. One, because Mom saw me in an intimate, vulnerable moment and would probably see me that way for a very long time. She wouldn’t look at me the same, and that scared me.
There was only one person who was out to ruin me, and it was Kelly. Telling my parents meant that Cane would have no choice but to never see us again. The bonds would be broken, trust shattered. She’d win, but luckily, Mom wasn’t going to tell Dad. There was still a chance to spare this…Cane just couldn’t come over anymore. It didn’t mean he had to be out of my life completely.
I couldn’t believe she’d done this, though. She had cameras in his office? Was she spying on him? She was fucking psychotic. Hell, was it even Kelly? Did Cane have other enemies?
Just as I was about to go to the bathroom and clear my face, Mom’s phone rang.
“Hello,” she answered softly, but then her voice got louder as she said, “WAIT—WHAT!”
I frowned as she focused on me. “What’s going on?” I asked, facing her.
“No—do not book him in! I will be there in fifteen minutes!” Mom rushed out of the room without a look back. I ran after her, hustling down the stairs and watching her snatch up her keys and purse.
“What’s happening?” I asked as she yanked the door open.
“Your father was just arrested for an assault.”
“What?” I gasped. “An assault? On who?”
“Cane.”
Four
KANDY
I was lucky Mom let me come with her, but I was on edge the entire ride.
She was usually the chatterbox, the one to avoid any awkward silences, but that night she hardly spoke, and she drove faster than I’d ever seen her go before.
She sped through stoplights, avoided stop signs, and didn’t even bother using her turn signal, like she always told me to do during the rare moments she’d let me drive.
I couldn’t really wrap my head around what had happened. Dad had assaulted Cane but how? Why? It couldn’t be because of me…could it? I clutched the strap of my seatbelt, praying I wasn’t the reason why this was happening.
When it all added up, it was the only thing that made sense. Mom said she’d found the flash drive, but Dad had been gone all day. Kelly could have gotten to him while he was away. She had his number too. She knew where he worked. She knew a lot of things about us because we trusted her.
My heart dropped to my stomach. I felt sick all over again, and Mom’s reckless driving wasn’t making it any better.
We finally made it to the police station, and once parked, Mom snatched up her purse and pushed the door open. She hustled up the steps in her ballerina flats and tan pea coat. I followed her lead.
The police station was just like I remembered it, with the same smell of coffee, stale donuts, and the stench of cigarettes. Dad had brought me here once, when I was eleven. I kept asking him about his job for one of my class assignments. We had to write a small story about one of our parents’ workplace. I was more interested in Dad’s than my Mom’s.
Dad brought me in for about an hour and after seeing so many people coming in with silver bracelets around their wrists, being dragged through the halls, and some of them cursing at the cops, strung out or drunk, I didn’t want to go back. Not that I wasn’t warned. Daddy said it was no place for a little girl, but did I listen? No, I never listened. I was stubborn, and that’s exactly why we were there.
Mom rushed up to the desk and asked a redheaded officer for my Dad’s location. While she spoke, I looked around to see if I could find him. It took me a minute—the office was pretty big—but past a few desks and windows that separated the room, I could see the top of his head.
The redheaded woman walked off, shortly returning with a heavy set man wearing a dingy white shirt and gray slacks. He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“Mrs. Jennings,” the man said, clearing his throat. “I’m afraid we can’t allow you back to see Derek at this time.”
“What?” she snapped. “Why not?”
“Because you have personal ties with the detainee.” The man cleared his throat again. “You’re his wife and we have questions to ask him. We need him to answer them honestly and without any distractions.”
“Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me! No!” Mom took a step forward, and she immediately went from Nice Mrs. Jennings to Mrs. Bitchy Lawyer Jennings. “I am an attorney. I know the law, and he doesn’t get to speak to anyone until someone who can represent him is in the room with him. Why else would he have had them call me?”
The detective sighed and glanced back in the direction Dad was in. His eyes then shifted over to mine. “Fine, but the girl can’t come back with you.”
“Her name is Kandy,” Mom corrected him, voice harsh. “Maybe if you weren’t always blitzed at the fundraising events, you would remember it, Detective Young.” She turned to me as the man agitatedly shook his head and turned away. “Here.” She held her keys out. “This will probably take all night. We have a long morning ahead of us to get you to school, so go home and get some rest. Okay?”
I frowned. “What about Dad? Won’t you guys need a ride?”
She gave me a blank look. She couldn’t answer any of the questions. Instead, she said, “I’ll call an Uber, or I’ll call you when we’re done and see if you’re still awake. Go, Kandy. Now.” Then she turned and marched away, walking between the desks and through a few open doors to get to her husband.
I walked down the hallway to see them a little more clearly. Mom entered the room with her chin up, but when I focused on her eyes, I could tell she wanted to cry, especially when Dad looked up into them and his immediately glistened.
“Where’s Kandy?” I watched his mouth form the words. I wanted to yell that I was right here. I wanted him to see me, but at the same time, I was terrified to have his eyes on me, only for him to see nothing but disgust and disappointment. I wouldn’t be his little girl anymore. He wouldn’t take pride in me…
I don’t know what Mom said to him in response, but it didn’t matter. The detective had cut their conversation short.
I
left before the tears could blind me. I didn’t drive off right away. Instead, I sat behind the wheel and buried my face in my hands.
This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be my life. What had I done?
I didn’t mean for Dad to get in trouble, or for him to ever find out. And Cane…Oh, God, Cane. Where was he? Was he hurt? Did he press charges?
I needed answers, so I cleared my face with the back of my arm, swiping a little too roughly, and then left the police station.
A little less than twenty-five minutes later, I had pulled up to Cane’s house. All of the outdoor and indoor lights were on. The place looked regal and made of gold, but something felt off.
I stepped out of the car, clutching the keys as I headed for the front door. The air was too still, considering the night was still young. It was way too quiet. On my way to the door, I saw blood on the cement steps. I stalled for a moment. It wasn’t much, but it sparkled beneath the bright, gold lights. Fresh, too.
“Your father was just arrested for an assault.” The words rang loud and true. What in the hell happened? It was far from cold that night, but I still shivered at the sight of the blood.
I finally made it to the door that was halfway open. I pushed it open and heard things moving around. Then I heard a female’s voice. A familiar one.
The voice got nearer as I stepped into the foyer, and when she walked out of the den and into the hallway, she lowered her phone and shook her head. I had never seen her before. Porcelain skin and almond-shaped eyes. Raven hair that made her appear paler and revealed flushed, rosy cheeks.
As if she’d sensed a presence, she picked up her head and frowned when she found me. “I’m sorry, who are you?” Up close, I recalled where I’d heard the voice. It was on Cane’s phone the second day at the lake house.
“Are you Cora?” I asked.
She blinked rapidly. “Do I know you?”
“I um… I don’t know. Probably not. I’m a friend of Cane’s.”
“Oh.” She held her phone close, looking me over. That probably sounded stupid. Cane didn’t have many friends, and she probably knew that and was wary now.
“Is he around?”
She held her arms out and rotated her upper body with them while looking around. “No, unfortunately.” She focused on me. “I’m cleaning up as much as I can and then going to the hospital to make sure he’s okay.”
“The hospital?” I frowned then. “Wait…he was hurt that bad?”
“He had blood on his face and he’ll probably end up a black eye. He blacked out when his head hit the ground. I called the police and he was picked up a short while ago.” She seemed pained, like the thought of her boss being hurt crippled her heart just as much as it did mine.
“Why didn’t you go with him?”
“Because Miss Hugo rode with him. Said she wanted to be alone with him.”
“Miss Hugo? You mean Kelly?”
She nodded. “His girlfriend, yes.”
His girlfriend? That. Bitch. “Wow…um…okay. Thank you for letting me know. I—I have to go.”
I turned and gripped the doorknob, but Cora called after me before I could walk out. “Are you Mr. Jennings’ daughter?”
I peered over my shoulder, afraid she’d call the cops on me too, but I wasn’t going to lie. I was done lying. Done hiding. “I am.”
“Oh.” She gave a very faint smile. “You look just like him.” I sensed there was more to it. Did Cora know more? Did she know why all of this had happened, or at least my father’s motives?
I dropped my head, turning halfway. “Is Cane going to be okay?”
When I looked up, her features were solemn. Her lips pressed together before she answered, “With how badly his head hit the concrete, I’m honestly not sure. We’re hoping it’s just a concussion and nothing more.”
That broke my heart, crumbled it right to pieces.
“I’m sorry this happened,” I murmured.
Cora waved a dismissive hand before her phone rang. She excused herself before answering it. I left the house and got into Mom’s car again. I wanted to go to the hospital, but with Kelly there, it wouldn’t have been pretty. Hell, I had no clue which hospital he was even at, but I should have asked Cora. I’m sure she’d have known.
Cane was unconscious. How could it have gotten so bad? Cane was Dad’s best friend. How could Dad be so reckless that he’d hurt him so much? He still cared, I was sure, and I had no doubt that Dad was regretting his actions. He showed up at his home to hurt him. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
That whole night left me utterly exhausted. I went home and up to my room, like Mom told me to do, curling up beneath my blankets.
I don’t know what came over me, but I had to do something. All I could do to reach out was send Cane a text. I knew he wouldn’t respond, but I wanted him to know I was at least thinking about him while he was hurt.
Ten minutes after my text was sent, my phone vibrated.
A text.
Cane: I told you to leave him alone. Don’t make this any worse than it already is.
My throat had never felt dryer. My mind had never been so boggled.
I wanted to destroy Kelly, but how? How could I destroy a woman the world assumed was his girlfriend, without giving myself away? I wasn’t the kind of girl to rush into a hospital just to pick a fight. It just wasn’t me.
The realization of what had happened that night slapped me right in the face, punched me hard in the gut.
I was going to be over a hundred miles away in less than twenty-four hours. I would be in school, and probably wouldn’t come back home for months.
Things would change. The atmosphere would be heavy.
Kelly had won. Everything she’d said would happen, happened. My perfect life with the perfect family, was no more. She’d destroyed us, just like she said she would.
There was no going forward with Cane.
Not anymore.
Five
KANDY
Dad had finally been released from jail, but couldn’t leave the city due to pending charges. I couldn’t believe Cane was thinking about suing him. When Mom told me over the phone, I was almost tempted to drive to the hospital and demand him to drop the charge, but I couldn’t. I needed to be home for Dad.
When my parents arrived, I rushed to hug Dad before he could even get through the threshold. He hugged me back, but it wasn’t tight or strong like his usual hugs. His arms were slack around me, like he was afraid to touch me—afraid of who I was—but I ignored that thought and looked up at him.
“Are you okay?” I asked as Mom trailed in behind him, giving him a sideways glance. It was a dumb question. Dad looked rough. Rougher than I’d ever seen him before, honestly.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled, then looked at Mom, who gave him a stern look. Had they talked about this moment? Did she tell him not to make things weird? “Just need a shower.” That was all he said before walking past me, shoulders hunched as he went upstairs. My gaze fell to the floor, the rims of my eyes raw and hot. He couldn’t even look at me.
“Give him time,” Mom murmured, rubbing my shoulder, making her way upstairs too.
I had all my things packed and in the car by the time my parents came back downstairs. With Dad not being able to drive, we could fit everything in the trunk and backseats of the rental car. Mom had decided she would take a flight back to Georgia from Indiana since Dad was no longer going. I was sitting on the trunk of the car when they came outside.
“We really need to get on the road,” Mom announced. “Before it gets dark.”
“You’re still stopping at a hotel tonight, right?” Dad asked. “I don’t want you driving for long without much rest.”
“Yeah. I will. If I get too tired, I’ll have Kandy drive. Don’t worry, honey.”
“Good.” Dad sniffed, still avoiding my eyes. He had no idea how much he was breaking my heart by doing it. What hurt most was that I couldn’t even blame him. What do you say to your
daughter after finding out those things? After seeing her in such a vulnerable position—witnessing her in the act? The fact that Mom was acting like things were okay and that nothing had happened wasn’t making the situation any better. I could tell she was forcing a happy moment, but it was impossible. There was tension between all of us—a tension so thick I felt suffocated.
“Well, I guess you guys should get going.” Dad took a step back.
I hopped off the trunk. “Are you going to be okay here alone?”
“I’ll be fine,” he answered, and he finally looked at me. And his eyes. God, his eyes. I will never forget how they looked. They were so sad. I’d never seen him like this before. Ever. I couldn’t believe I’d hurt him so much. Me. His daughter.
“Dad, I’m—“
He held up a hand, shaking his head. “Don’t, Kandy. Just get in the car and leave all of that behind. You hear me?”
I swallowed hard, immediately blinded by tears. In that moment, I didn’t care that the lines had been blurred or that he saw me in a new light. I still needed him, much more than he thought I did, so I rushed into his arms, slamming my face into his chest. I held him tight, and relief struck me when he eventually folded his arms around me and held me tighter than ever before. He kissed the top of my head several times.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. It’s all he could give at the moment, but he had nothing to be sorry for. I was the one who was sorry. I wanted to take it all back. Why did my heart have to be so desperate?
“It’s okay,” I murmured. After several seconds, he let me go and Mom and I got into the car.
This wasn’t the way I wanted to be sent off. Before everything went haywire, I pictured Mom and Dad in the car with me, Dad driving on the way to my school while she sat in the passenger seat, both of them with chipper moods while I sat anxiously in the back. I had even pictured Cane standing in this very driveway, seeing me off for the final time, giving me quiet, heated stares and whispering in my ear that I would always be his.
The Cane Series: A Complete Forbidden Romance Series (4-Book Set) Page 29
