The Revenge (The Insiders Trilogy #3)(69)

I wasn’t actively listening to him until I heard the words wait, team, and swarming the house. Then I focused on what he was actually saying.

I shot up to my knees, and my mouth was still gaping as I listened while he was arguing with someone else on the phone about waiting to go in and get my mother. I’d heard enough to get my blood boiling by the time he finished the call.

He turned, saw me, and stopped in his tracks.

“Are you insane?” Here’s my hissing part. “I did not just hear what I heard.”

He took me in, his mouth closed, and his jaw firmed. His shoulders lifted and rolled back, and his chin went up .

Oh yeah.

We were going to fight.

He tossed his phone onto the couch before turning back to me and folding his arms over his chest, and I wasn’t distracted by how his muscles moved and shifted from that movement. Or how he looked all hot and moody. And my loins weren’t stirring.

Nope. Not happening.

I coughed, clearing my throat. “You did not just tell whoever was on that phone that you need time to go and get my mother, did you?!”

Because that would be absurd.

That was preposterous.

That was going to make my blood pressure go from a good sizzle to a boil to exploding the blood pressure cuffs off of me.

I’m sure steam was coming out of the top of my head.

And all the while, Kash lowered his head, his eyes on me, and he shifted his feet apart. Oh boy. He was taking a fighting stance. This was going to happen. We were going to fight about this.

I said it quietly, but clearly. He had to hear how serious I was. “I want my mother.”

“You’ll get your mother.” Almost as quietly, just as clearly, and he was locked in.

We were going to battle.

“I want her now.”

“You’ll get her.”

He didn’t say “now.” He needed to say “now.”

“Kash.” A warning from me.

“Bailey.” His eyes cooled.

“Kashton!” A low growl started in the back of my throat.

His shoulders rose and held. He was tightening up. “I do not want the authorities to get my brother. I want my brother. And I have a team that can do it, but it’s going to take time. ”

“A team?” I remembered what he said last night. “How many more teams do you have?”

He blinked a little, like I’d thrown him with that question. He raked a hand over his head. “Like I said, I have one team helping with research, whatever that entails.”

Research. Whatever that entails.

Why did that not sound legal? Though I was not judging. At all. If I did, I might as well start sharing a cell with him.

“And I have a specialized team on my grandfather.”

My eyebrows skyrocketed up. “Are you kidding me?” More hissing from me. I shot to my feet, my voice rising. “You know where he is?”

He didn’t respond, not at first. Then a grudging nod. “I’ve known for a while.”

“Kash!”

His jaw tightened. “You have been in serious mourning. I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure I can move against my grandfather, but I can’t be stupid. I can’t go in without covering all my bases, and some of those bases are finding out if he has a death policy or not.”

Wha …

I sat back on my heels. “Death policy?”

“My grandfather has been in the game a long time. He has allies built over allies. Allegiances. Fucking plans on what happens if he dies. And while you’ve been grieving, I’ve been unearthing all of it. It’s a lot of shit to unearth.” Again that jaw was tightening, then flexing. “I’m close. I’m so close. But finding out about my brother was new, and every stone I turn over, there seems to be more under them. But I’m close. I can feel it.”

I swallowed over a lump.

I was getting it now.

“And this team you have on him, that’s the team you’re pulling for my mom?”

He nodded, his eyes cast off. “Yeah. ”

Wow. I was really getting it now.

“You’re doing that for me?”

His jaw clenched again. He lowered his head, turning away. “I’m doing it for my brother.”

But he wasn’t, and I knew it, and he knew it.

I crawled over the bed, reaching for and catching his hand. I tugged him over to me, sliding to the edge of the bed. I moved in to stand in between his legs and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

He was giving up his grandfather for me.

“I’m not just doing it for you.”

But he was, and he was lying so I wouldn’t feel bad.

Kash was moving heaven and hell to help me find Chrissy.

I rose up on my knees, and holding his eyes, I pulled my shirt up and over my head. After our second round, I’d pulled on underwear and a top to sleep in. I was naked in front of him now, except for my underwear, and he took me in. His eyes darkened, lust filling them, and he moved forward, just beyond touching.

He pinned me down with his gaze. “Underwear. Off.”

The underwear went off, and then there was touching.

There was kissing.

There were moans, groans, and thrusting.

But mostly, there was nothing but good happening.