5. Kitty

5

KITTY

T he crash sent Rook flying from the bed. He pulled his gun and raced from the room while I froze in the bed, unsure what the hell I was supposed to do. Was it the man from the store? Did he somehow find us?

I waited, holding my breath and clutching the sheets up to my chest, confident that Rook would protect me. Raised voices followed, although none of the words were particularly clear. The fact that Rook hadn’t started shooting had to be a good sign, right?

He returned to the bedroom a few minutes later, running one hand through his dark hair.

“It’s okay,” he said, sliding his gun back into his holster. “It’s the security team.”

“Fuck,” I breathed out in relief. “Why did they crash down the door?”

“Because I didn’t answer my phone quickly enough. I fell asleep.”

I eyed Rook, and a small smile crept over my face. “You fell asleep.”

He raised one brow. “I guess last night had that effect on me,” he teased in a low voice, but there was warm affection in his eyes. That was possibly the first time I’d ever been able to read his look. “Get dressed.”

Then he was gone and I was left alone with my thoughts.

Last night really happened.

It really fucking happened.

Smiling to myself, I slid from the bed and bit back a moan as all the muscles at my core pulled tight. It had been such a gamble to tease Rook like that, and I’d expected him to remain as stoic as ever. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he'd simply handed my bra back to me and went to bed.

Instead, he joined me in the shower. It had felt so dreamlike that waking up with him next to me merely felt like an extension of the fantasy. Instead, it was real. And he still looked me in the eye.

As I dressed, my thoughts ran rampant, replaying the shower sex. He had felt so fucking good, and the excitement of being with him had been erotic enough to turn me on so fast that it had teetered on painful. Never have I hungered for someone the way I hungered for him, and his reaction had to mean he felt the same.

Why else would he risk his job, risk everything just for a quick fuck?

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he was interested in me. He had to be.

I combed my fingers through my hair, spent a quick five minutes in the bathroom, and then wandered into the lounge. It was now heaving with members of my father’s security team led by Anders, who immediately looked me up and down.

“Miss Morgan, are you alright?”

I glanced at Rook who stood nearby. He was back to looking utterly unreadable even when our eyes met.

“Yes,” I replied to Anders. “I’m fine. Rook did an excellent job of taking care of me last night.”

Even that comment didn’t elicit a reaction from Rook. He really was a master of playing it cool.

“We apprehended the man who assaulted you in the grocery store, and your father has already pressed charges,” Anders explained. “It’s safe to take you home now.”

“Wait, pressed charges?” All thoughts of Rook and our amazing sex faded from my mind as my reality returned like a cold slap in the face. “Why? He didn’t hurt me.”

“He threatened you, ma’am,” Anders replied stiffly.

“Yes, because he was upset and scared. His business is crumbling and he needed to lash out at someone. I don’t blame him for that!” Yes, what he did was scary in the moment and he had dark intent. I was aware of that. But I also understood that he was in pain. He was like all the other people I was fighting for who faced losing their future when this town died.

“That doesn’t excuse his actions,” Anders replied, and he swept one arm out toward the door. “I suggest if you have strong feelings on the matter, you should take it up with your father.”

“Oh, I will,” I snapped, quickly growing infuriated by Anders’ know-it-all approach. Deep down, I knew he was just doing his job and following the protocols put in place by my father, but it made me feel odd when I thought about that man ending up in prison.

“Shall we go, then?” Anders asked.

“Fine.” I stormed past one of the security guards and hurried outside as Rook faded into the background once more. I would talk to him later, but first, I needed to tear into my father.

“He was scared!” I slammed both my hands down on my father’s desk. “I’m not excusing what he did, but arresting him? Charging him? How does that fix anything when there are a hundred other people like him in this town?”

“Kitty, please try not to be so dramatic.” My father sat before me dressed in a silver suit. “He is a criminal, and criminals are dealt with by the law, not me.”

“But it’s your choice to press charges.”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t.” Dad lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “Someone tries to harm my daughter, and you think I will sit back and let that happen? Don’t be so ridiculous.”

“He is losing his business because of you! Because your construction buddies don’t care about the waste they’re churning into the water to create that stupid highway or the ecosystems they’re destroying to make way for their trucks and camps. He’s a desperate man. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be punished, but if I’m the victim here, then let me decide.”

“And what precedence does that set, Kitty?” Dad’s thin lips vanished under his mustache. “That people can threaten and attack my family and there will be no consequences? That you can brandish a knife in the grocery store and walk free two days later? There’s more at stake here than your infinitely empathetic conscience, dear daughter.”

“It shows you’re compassionate,” I snapped back. “That you care about the people of this town. That their lives and well being are more important than this stupid highway.”

“Of course I care,” Dad sighed. “Kitty, do you not see what I am doing? Do you have any idea the volume of business that this highway will generate? There will be thousands driving through this town on the daily basis. We will be setting up gas stations and diners, and the revenue generated will finally bring us into the Twenty-First century.”

“We don’t need it! We’re a holiday town, Dad. How can you forget that? You’re going to smother this town because all the people who would drive through this place and stop for a while will now just drive straight past because you’re choosing efficiency over?—”

“Kitty, enough!” Dad slammed his hand down onto the desk, causing all the folders and pens to jump.

I immediately snatched my hands back and glared at him.

“You don’t know what you are talking about. This idyllic view you have of this place will mean nothing if we don’t keep up with progress. And you stand there, lecturing me about compassion when your mother was in hysterics last night because someone tried to attack you. So yes, I will press charges against the asshole who tried to harm my daughter, and I will do what is best for this town to secure a future for my family.”

His voice rose sharply with each word.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I have a call to take because I have a meeting next week at the meeting house, so…” He pointed at the door, then picked up the phone from the receiver on the desk.

“You’re so blinded by money that you think punishing desperate people is justified,” I ground out.

He didn’t look up. His phone call was much more important, and I was so angry that I had nothing more I could say—not politely, at least. With a stomp of my foot, I stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind me. Inside, my father’s voice switched from angry to faux happy as he started reeling off details of next week's meeting. That was where his focus was, huh?

I ground my teeth and didn’t stop walking until I reached my mother’s art room.

“Kitty!” She called me over and rose from her stool as I approached, then threw her arms around me and buried me against her blossom. “My darling, I was so worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” I replied with a deep sigh, slowly being able to calm down under her touch. “Nothing really happened.”

“When they told me someone had attacked you, the thoughts that ran through my mind were impossible.” She pulled away and cupped my face, and her perfectly lined brows pulled down. “What’s wrong?”

“Dad,” I muttered.

Her face changed instantly. “Oh. He was worried about you.”

“Was he?” I muttered again. “Or was he just worried that my death would get in the way of his construction project?”

“Oh, Kitty! Don’t you dare talk like that! You know your father loves you. We both do. And that man? I don’t know what I would have done if Rook hadn’t been able to get you out of here.”

Rook.

Just the thought of him brought a beat of peace to my tense chest, and my next breath was a little easier. “Yeah,” I replied. “He was amazing.”

“I know you think your father is some bad man, but he has this town’s best interests at heart.” Mom patted my cheek and then returned to her still-life painting with a dreamy smile.

She loved Dad, so he did no wrong in her eyes, which was just as frustrating as dealing with my father himself. Even when her grand Yuletide Ball changed from money-raising to elite praising, she went along with it because it made him happy.

“People are unhappy, Mom. Because of Dad. He’s the mayor. He’s supposed to help people and instead, he’s making them sad.”

“I don’t know about all of that,” she replied, turning to face me once more. “But I do know that you need to stop worrying so much. It will give you wrinkles, darling, and you're far too young to be dealing with that. You need to be enjoying yourself. Aren’t you excited for the ball?”

The ball. Just the thought of it soured me even more. I made a noncommittal noise in the back of my throat, then kissed my mother on the cheek and left the studio. I wouldn’t find help there with her. Outside, Rook gave me a concerned look, but I wasn’t in the right mindset to think about him either.

Frustration was swelling under my ribs as if I were going to explode at any moment, so I left Rook in the hall and headed up to my room.

My father wouldn’t listen, and my mother was too floaty to focus on the serious implications of what he was doing. I didn’t blame her. That was just how she was. But it really made me feel like no one was on my side. As I collapsed into bed, I considered calling Rook in here and venting to him, but I knew he had even less control than I did.

And there would be nothing he could do.

I lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling and running over everything in my mind. From that angry man in the grocery store to sex with Rook and then the argument with my father. Everything came back to the highway. Hell, Rook wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for that.

I sat up slowly. There was one person who could help, but we hadn’t been in touch for a long time. Rook’s arrival had stopped me from communicating with them until I was sure no one was monitoring my email, but at this point, I didn’t care if they were.

Sliding from my bed, I sat in front of my computer and within a few clicks, I had an email waiting and open. I quickly typed out all the information I could remember about my father’s upcoming meeting, including the time and location, and then I hit the address book.

Darius was the only name I knew him by. I’d come across him online not long after my father secured the highway contract. He was the most vocal protestor against the construction, and since the deal was secure, his group had grown in number and popularity. It wasn’t enough to make the rich assholes take notice, but then again, they’d never had access to the information I could provide.

I filled in Darius’s address and hit Send , which sent my heart into a flurry of nervous, rapid beats.

I waited for the yelling to start and security to break down my door, furious that I was spilling secrets. I waited for my father’s yelling.

None of it came.

No one broke down my door. No one yelled. There was just silence and the gentle patter of rain against my window.

Then, a single bleep rose from my computer.

It was a thank you email from Darius.