Fearless (Broken Love, #5)(69)

I was fucking this up. She looked at me as if I disgusted her, and I deserved it. The lie I told to get her close and keep her there had been a thorn in my side for five years. I wanted to come clean every time she looked at me with love and trust, but it never seemed like the right time.

My brother unintentionally brought it to light, and now I’d been backed into a corner. The only thing I could do now was to try to make her understand, but as I said, I was fucking this up.

“It’s late and you have nowhere to go.”

“Nowhere to go or nowhere you’d let me go,” she questioned, seeing right through me.

“Just stay tonight and hear me out in the morning.” When she didn’t budge or soften, I added, “Please.”

“A few hours won’t change anything.” She sounded sad and wouldn’t meet my gaze. She walked past me and into the house. My relief was short lived when I returned to the kitchen just to find her empty seat and five sets of eyes watching me.

“She said goodnight and went upstairs,” Sheldon offered. I nodded and stood awkwardly in the doorway. They all watched me closely, but I didn’t see them. I was torn between finishing my first dinner with my grandparents and un-fucking-up my relationship once more.

“Well, I think I’m stuffed,” Daniel announced and stood. He pulled back Wendy’s chair and helped her from her seat.

“Yes, I think we’ll go now,” Wendy said, taking his cue. They said goodbye to Kennedy and promised to see her again before leaving.

As they passed, Daniel clapped a hand on my shoulder and mumbled, “Do the right thing.”

The front door closed behind him, and the momentary silence was broken my Keenan. “You want to tell me what I just walked into?”

“Ditto,” Sheldon chimed.

I scrubbed a hand across the back of my neck and forced myself to speak. “I set up the fight with Sean to get Lake to leave her school and transfer to mine.”

“You rat bastard.”

“Damn, bro. Why didn’t you tell me and how are you going to fix this?”

“I don’t know. Do I go up there and be honest by telling her I’m sorry for lying, but I don’t regret what I did?”

“That’s one way to ensure you’re single for the rest of your life,” Sheldon answered.

“You could promise never to do it again,” Keenan suggested and earned a glare from Sheldon that I’m sure shrunk his balls.

“I’m not sure how you could fix this,” Sheldon argued. “But if anyone can, I think it’s you. Just don’t go up there and be all growly and mean.”

They started laughing and brainstorming ways that Lake would likely tell me to fuck myself instead of forgiving me, so I backed out before my irritation got the best of me and slowly took the stairs. They didn’t see the way she looked at me as if I had betrayed her. I rehearsed in my head how to apologize but none if it was sufficient. By the time I reached my old bedroom door, I was still stuck on stupid. I heard her crying and leaned my forehead against the door.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” My plea would never reach her. She continued to cry on the other side, and I couldn’t stand being the one who caused her tears.

“Uncle Keke, what are you doing?” Kennedy inquired, surprising me. Lake’s crying instantly stopped, and I knew she heard and would also know I had been listening. Shit.

I turned and found Kennedy standing at the top of the steps, smiling up at me with spaghetti sauce all over her face.

“What are you doing up here?”

“I asked you first.” She giggled.

“Does your mother know you’re up here?” She shook her head with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Can you read a story goodnight?” I hesitated, torn between my hurt girlfriend and hurting my niece, but I found myself taking her hand and leading her to her room. She made me read her the same story twice before she let Sheldon clean her up for bed. The uneasy feeling that settled in my stomach when I stepped into the hall and found our bedroom door cracked had me moving quickly across the hall in vain.

Lake was gone.





Chapter TwentyFive


LAKE

ONE MONTH LATER



I left that night as soon as Wendy and Daniel left for the night and Keiran’s guard was down. Kennedy had chosen him to read her a bedtime story before he disappeared. I had to find out through Willow that Wendy and Daniel had stuck around, getting to know their grandsons and great granddaughter. They also confessed to giving Mitch the money, not knowing he would use it to hire men to kidnap Kennedy. Learning that almost made me go back.

Almost.

I should have been there in case Keiran didn’t take the news well but then I remembered that I couldn’t be his conscious

A few days after I left, I received a phone call from Cassie. She wanted to talk to me about her new friends at school now that Ryan was no longer bullying her. I couldn’t tell but it seemed as if she made have developed a crush on him. I spoke with Laurie who told me she moved the girls back home since Robert was dead. She’d gotten a new job with the local hospital and had even joined the PTO at school to keep a better eye on Cassie’s progress at school. She also told me Keiran had visited the day before and told her about what I did for them. I expected anger—if not or Robert then for Greg but she only said thank you before hanging up.