EIGHT

He looked like Kevin Costner, which pissed me off. I love Kevin Costner. He also looked like Antonio Banderas, which still pained me.

This guy, Kash’s grandfather, who had dark, penetrating eyes, rich black hair with specks of gray peppered in it, and a jawline that was a box square, didn’t deserve to have the looks he did. As he stared back at me, taking me in, oxygen in my chest ceased. I felt him, like I felt his grandson, as if he could read my insides, but I didn’t want him in there.

My stomach churned. My insides squeezed, rolling over.

I wanted him out.

Block him.

I envisioned an actual wall coming down in place. My eyes went dead. My mouth flattened. I didn’t move, like a prey waiting out a predator that couldn’t see them, just waiting for them to pass along.

An approving but calculating smile formed on his face.

The personnel with him blinked in surprise.

“Your file does not do you justice.”

My skin crawled.

Fitz moved in front of me, blocking me. He held a hand up. “Excuse us.”

Kash had never let me see his grandfather when he came to the apartment. Hotel security, Kash’s own security, and the police swarmed within moments. His grandfather had been long gone by then, but the impact wasn’t lost on me.

Kash shut down that night, and I’d been fighting to get him to open up again.

Since then, I saw the news. I saw the articles. I read the headlines. Calhoun was in town in a big way, and he and Kash started going head to head. But him coming here, making contact with me … A shiver went down my spine.

Kash would not react well to this.

“I’m sorry, I—”

Calhoun took one step, reaching for me. “My dear, I can see why my grandson is so taken with you. You’re very beautiful. I can see the kindness.”

Kindness?

Fitz shoved farther forward through the crowd, but Calhoun wasn’t deterred.

He stepped to the side, where Fitz couldn’t block him. An almost sad look came to him as he stared at me, his hands clasped together in front of him. “The kindness must come from your mother.”

My chest pinched.

He added, “Chrissy Hayes.”

He said her name.

My heart ceased.

He knew about my mom.

He kept on, knowing these words would affect me. He was choosing them with purpose. “She had such hardships growing up, the rift in the family, Peter seducing her, and she had to drop out of school to have a child at such a young age.”

Rift?

But I knew there were issues. And the rest, including Peter’s “seduction.”

He was speaking about me as if I weren’t that “child.”

He had investigated my life and he was letting me know this.

I started to step forward.

It was my turn to address him, but another surge in the crowd happened at that moment. A buzz rose up, and suddenly Kash was in front of me. He was blocking me, and he clipped at Fitz, “Get her out of here. Now.”

Fitz took my arm. “Yes, sir.”

He began pulling me away.

I dug in, waiting. Needing.

Kash was face-to-face with his grandfather once more. He couldn’t do that alone. I needed to be there for him. Kash didn’t let anyone close to him, not for this stuff. And as I pulled my arm free from Fitz, we were three people into the crowd. I couldn’t look away from where Kash was facing off with his grandfather.

Almost nose-to-nose, he towered over Calhoun.

Both had dark looks, but Kash was so much darker.

There was a calmness to Calhoun, a calm that only years of superiority and authority and power could settle and make so blatant. He stood without moving a muscle, not even an eyelid twitch.

The air around Kash was anything but that calm.

A storm rippled from him, and the crowd felt it, veering away and giving them extra space, but then I noticed, one by one, guards slipped through the crowd. They began to form a circle around Kash and his grandfather. Their backs were to the two and they held their hands up, moving a slow step forward. They were guiding the crowd away, giving the grandson and grandfather privacy, though Busich and the two other staff members were still there. Their eyes were wide, glued to the confrontation.

Busich tore her gaze away to find where I was still standing. Her eyebrows furrowed and she returned to the two, her throat moving as she swallowed visibly.

I couldn’t hear what Kash was saying, but I could see his lips barely moving. He was talking and his grandfather was listening, but Calhoun had found me in the crowd. He was watching me at the same time. My skin started crawling again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

As if sensing my discomfort, Fitz moved so he was between Calhoun and me, and he began walking me backward. “Kash will worry. Let’s get you to your building.”

Calhoun couldn’t do anything to Kash. Not there. Not then. There were too many witnesses. Only because of that fact, I went with Fitz.

Hoda, Melissa, and Liam were waiting for us.

Hoda looked sick. Her cheeks had an unnatural pallor to them, and she was holding her hand over her mouth.

Liam seemed only slightly concerned.

Melissa’s hand was pressed to her chest. It dropped and she hurried closer to me. “Was that about you?”

Hoda snorted. “Of course that was about her. Did you not see who that was?”

Melissa had no time to respond.

The door opened and Kash swept in. His eyes were blazing. His jaw tight. His face stone.

He was furious.

He didn’t say anything. His gaze locked on me, walking to me.

He stopped in front of me.

I didn’t notice anyone else’s reaction, because he bent forward, wrapped an arm around my waist, and lifted back up with me over his shoulder.

“Kash!” I yelped.

He wasn’t waiting. He strode forward, through the building. The door was being held open for him and he breezed right through. I saw Fitz coming behind, fighting a grin and failing. He took the door from whoever was holding it, and I could only guess the other one was Erik. The door to Kash’s sports car was opened. He deposited me in it, putting my seat belt in place and striding around to the driver’s side.

Erik spoke over my door. “Let us drive you.”

He was speaking to Kash.

Kash was ignoring him. He motioned to my door, opening his own. “Close her door. I need to drive myself right now.”

His mouth tightened, but Erik shut my door.

A split second. That’s all it took before he had the engine going and was pulling away from the curb.

Fitz and Erik hurried into their SUV and they were following us.

I was too shocked to start, but Kash wasn’t. He so wasn’t.

He began, speaking low, fury riddling every word, sending awareness through me.

“He showed up.”

The venom was almost shocking, but I waited.

“If he had hurt you. If he had touched you.” He jerked the wheel and we were merging with traffic and still Kash didn’t slow. He swung between lanes, and it would’ve been reckless if it hadn’t been him. Erik and Fitz couldn’t keep up. They were two lanes over and three cars behind.

Kash wasn’t paying them any attention.

I knew Kash went on his own at times. I knew he was a weapon himself. But maybe we should slow down, wait for the guards?

Before I voiced that concern, Kash kept on.

“He knew you were there. He waited. He staged that whole thing. He knew you met Busich. He requested Busich to be on that tour, and he promised them a thirty million donation. He picked the time. He picked the place. He knew you would go with your classmates to lunch at that time. He knew the path they would take to get there. He fucking knew everything.”

His words pierced me.

For Calhoun to do that … someone had talked. I didn’t even know where we would go for lunch. The other students knew.

“He could’ve asked staff?”

“Staff go back to their offices. They don’t pay attention to who goes to eat, or where, or how they get there. Students do. He has someone in your class on his payroll.” He punched the steering wheel, that jaw clenching again, then in a whoosh he eased back on the brake. “Fuck. I’m sorry.” He glanced over, worried. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just wor—”

“You didn’t scare me.” But I kept from saying that his grandfather did scare me. If Calhoun could affect Kash like this just by getting some information and showing up, I didn’t want to know what Kash would do if something actually did happen to me.

I chose to share this concern with him.

He expelled a harsh breath of air, leaning back and forcing one of his hands to loosen on the wheel. “I know.”

I stopped, frowning. “You know?”

“I’ve been ready for him to go after Peter or the family all my life. Half expected it. But you’re new. And you mean more to me than anyone, and he knows that now, and I fucked up. I let him get to me.”

“You mean more to me than anyone…”

I whispered, “More than anyone?”

Kash glanced over, saw how my face was literally melting, and a grin tugged at his lips. He eased back dramatically on the accelerator, but still switching lanes like he was a pro driver, and reached over for my hand at the same time. “You do. You know that.”

I was preening now. “It’s nice to hear.”

His eyes darkened before moving back to the road. They were close to smoldering, and my thoughts were fast leaving Calhoun, fast going elsewhere, to rooms with beds, and then it hit me. “I still have a class today.”

Kash’s hand tightened on mine before switching to my leg. He slid his fingers to the inside of my thigh, and whoa. Class who?

“I’ll make a call. You’ll be fine.”

That wasn’t really my concern. I hated to say this, but I had to. I rested my head against my seat and rolled it to face him. “I’m already a week behind. I can’t miss more class time.” Not to mention what the others thought about what just happened.

Kash changed the subject, his fingers moving back to the top of my leg. “You mentioned that classmate, Mansour. Was she one of the girls with you just now?”

My head lifted from the seat. “Not the petite one, the other one.”

“The bitchy one.”

I loved that he saw it right away. I grinned.

He nodded. “I had Torie look into her and made another call this morning. Already they’ve found out that she lied on her application. There is no Holden Mansour, and every time he’s scheduled to work, a Hoda Mansour shows up.” He hit the signal and took the exit off to the right. “That’s grounds to fire her. Did you want that?”

I frowned. “You’d fire her, just that quick?”

Why did she lie in the first place? That didn’t make any sense.

“We fire for less, but lying on your application is a solid base reason to fire someone. It’s your decision. She’s your classmate.”

I let out some air.

“No. I can tell she dislikes me, but I don’t want to give her any more reason. I have to be around her the rest of the year.”

Kash’s hands flexed over my leg. “You mean two years.”

“What?”

“You said a year. Your degree takes two years.”

Right. He didn’t know …

I coughed. “The next two years.”

He sent me a short frown. “How long’s your lunch break?”

I pulled up my schedule and checked the time. “I have another hour.”

“You’re set on going back?”

I relaxed, more fully grinning. “Stupid school, huh?”

He shot me a grin. “I know a place.”

We went to the local Burriotle, and the nationwide burrito chain that had eclipsed all the other competition was filled with students. We should’ve known that. The line was out the door, trailing down the block and in front of the bookstore next to it. That didn’t deter Kash. He made a call, then took my hand as we left his car, which was already getting a lot of attention. Our fingers entwined, he led me toward the door, then let go and switched our positions so he was behind me. His hand was on the small of my back.

He was guiding me inside, and once we had to squeeze past the people in line, his hands went to my hips. He guided me that way, turning me, moving me, and reaching over my head for the door. Once inside, a younger man was waiting for us.

He flashed a giant smile. “Kashton! You’ve decided to grace us with your presence. Finally.”

He had rich, dark black hair, dark eyes. Those eyes fell to me, taking me in with interest, and he seemed to take a step back. He murmured, “Well, then. Now I see why.”

Kash reached around me, holding his hand out. “Robbie. It’s good to see you.”

“And you. And you.” He was pumping Kash’s hands, but his attention was all on me. Letting him go, Robbie turned more fully to face me, as Kash’s free hand went to the back of my neck, his fingers resting around my nape. Robbie was eating me up. “And who is this?”

Kash settled on the back of his heels, getting comfortable. This wasn’t a Kash I was totally familiar with, at least not in others’ presence, not when it wasn’t just the two of us. And Kash seemed unaware of all the customers waiting in line, but glancing back, I saw Erik standing outside the restaurant at one door, and at the other door was Fitz. Both took their positions, backs to the windows and watching the street and the line.

“This is Bailey.” Kash nodded at Robbie. “Bailey, this is a friend of mine from my father’s neighborhood.”

Oh! I took a lot more notice now. He would’ve known Aunt Judith, Cousin Stephanie, maybe even Uncle Martin. Those names were fictional to me, but I knew that life wasn’t for Kash. I was fascinated in some odd way. Fascinated because Kash never talked about that life, but I knew it was there. I knew he spent time with his family, even though Peter had taken him in after his parents were murdered.

“Come, come.” Robbie broke through the line, leading us around to a booth that was being cleaned even as we approached. He stepped aside, motioning. “Sit. Relax. Let me have my staff bring a feast to you both.” He winked at me. “I’ll be right back.”

Kash knew the manager of this Burriotle. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was, and I had no idea why.

I turned to Kash once Robbie disappeared through the back. “Explain, please.”

I used his words back on him, and judging by the knowing grin, Kash was aware of that. He turned his back to the customers going back and forth past our booth and wrapped his hand around my neck once more. Bending down slightly, he was creating our own private moment, and his head moved so his forehead was just slightly above mine.

His thumb was rubbing over my neck.

“When I visited my aunt, Robbie was on the block. I didn’t go see them a lot—less after I moved in with your family—but Robbie, his brother, and I got into a fair bit of trouble.”

I was waiting for more.

He paused.

Oh no. That wasn’t it. I raised an eyebrow. “More, please.”

He laughed, his hand moving to cup the side of my face, his thumb rubbing over my cheek now, falling to my lips and moving back. “His uncle runs a gym. When I started training, it was with Robbie and Ace. We didn’t hang out as much when I stopped coming around, but Robbie reached out a couple years ago. He needed start-up for this place, so I gave it to him.”

Both my eyebrows shot up now. “He owns it?”

Kash nodded, his eyes dipping to my mouth and staying there. “He doesn’t manage it. I bought the franchise fee for him and he runs everything else. It’s doing well, and I take a cut.”

Holy crap. I noticed the customers in a whole different light.

Feeling a little faint, I asked, “Why am I amazed by this? I know who you are, what other businesses you do, and yet you owning the local Burriotle is blowing my mind.”

Kash chuckled. “Ace is a big-time MMA fighter. If I hadn’t chipped in, Robbie would’ve needed only to wait another year. Ace would’ve bought in instead. I got lucky with the timing.”

“Does my dad know about this?”

A guarded look fell over Kash, clouding his face. He didn’t move away, but I felt him pulling away. His hand slid to the back of my neck again, his thumb holding over my pulse. “No. I did a lot, and do a lot, that your father doesn’t know about.”

I was hearing a different tone from him. Was that disappointment from Kash? Was that what I was hearing?

“I’m sorry.” I lifted a hand, wrapping it around his wrist.

His pulse jumped at my words. His eyes darkened again. “Why are you apologizing?”

“Because, for some reason, that hurts you.” I was going with my gut, not really knowing what I was saying until the words were out. “My dad hurt you. I don’t know how or why, but he did.”

Kash’s eyes grew intense. He didn’t respond, just held me, feeling my heartbeat, and his eyes locked on mine. I couldn’t move.

My other hand went to his chest, resting over his stomach muscles.

They were so tense, too.

He drew me to him, his lips moving to mine in a light and soft kiss before he let me go.

“I love you. Do you know how much?”

He rested his forehead to mine, drawing in a deep breath.

My throat swelled. “How much?”

His hand tightened on mine. “The depths sometimes amaze me. And other times…”

My heart began beating faster. “And other times?”

“And other times it scares me.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant. My pulse was beating an erratic drum in me, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ask, either.

Then, I didn’t have to.

The moment was broken a second later when Robbie returned to the table, but as he sat and talked with Kash, as the two laughed, as we had food and drinks brought over, I was still feeling the effect of those words from Kash.

My whole insides had melted, and he knew, his eyes catching mine and warming. His hand moved to my leg under the table, and like in the car, his fingers rested on the inside of my leg.

It was the best Burriotle I’d ever enjoyed.