The Fearless King (The Kings #2)(33)
“I don’t think she knows.” Her mother had taken losing Kingdom Corp hard, and leaving Houston even harder. They still spoke once a week, but Lydia flipped between asking five hundred questions about how the company was running and not asking at all. This most recent week had been one of the latter, which was just as well. She knew for a fact that Anderson hadn’t told Lydia that their father was back, and Journey sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to mention it.
“That’s for the best. If she comes back to Houston, Beckett will do what he has to do and…no one wants that.” Samara cursed. “What’s Elliott up to?”
She couldn’t tell Samara his plan, couldn’t reveal just how flawed Journey was, right down to her core. If she was better adjusted, even a shrink who had been paid off by her father wouldn’t be able to unsettle her enough to declare her unfit. She was the weak link, and if she confessed the truth, Samara would realize it. The only other time Journey had been perfectly honest with someone outside the family about the abuse she and her siblings had suffered at her father’s hands was with her ex-fiancé.
It was the beginning of the end of their relationship.
Every time he looked at her after that, she’d catch a glimpse of a toxic combination of pity and disgust in his blue eyes. He might have really believed she was a victim instead of being damaged goods, but he wasn’t prepared to deal with the level of baggage she brought to a relationship. So he’d bailed, leaving her to pick up the pieces and put on a brave face in the midst of a media storm that would have knocked her on her ass even on her best day.
If Samara reacted the same way upon hearing the truth…
Journey didn’t know if she’d survive it.
Samara reached out and took her hand. “Is there anything I can do? Or, if not me, then Beckett? He’d be happy to help in any way he can.” No censure in her friend’s tone over the fact that Journey had been dodging her cousin’s phone calls ever since he ran Lydia out of town. She might not hold that against Beckett, but she wasn’t ready to take the first step in mending their broken family. Not yet. Not while she was so damn broken herself.
“This is one of those problems that needs to be handled internally.” She squeezed Samara’s hand. “I appreciate the offer, though.”
“Uh-huh.” She narrowed her dark eyes. “In that case, why don’t we talk about the fact that you spent the weekend at Frank’s place? Because I did not see that coming. How do you go from hating his guts to sleeping over?”
She didn’t want to lie to her friend, but if Samara knew the truth, it would just spawn more questions Journey couldn’t answer. Better a little lie now than the alternative. The lies are adding up so freaking fast. Soon I’ll be drowning in them. “We’re dating.”
Samara blinked. “I’m going to need you to go back to the beginning and explain, starting with the fact that we talked last week and you didn’t mention that you and Frank were seeing each other, let alone that it had progressed to the weekend sleepover stage.”
Journey studied the photograph on the wall above their heads, the oak tree’s leaves painted all the colors of fall. It usually calmed her, but she could feel the flush spreading up her chest to her cheeks. “We didn’t want to tell anyone at first while we figured things out.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And this weekend wasn’t like that. I had a fight with Elliott, and Frank just happened to show up right around the time things were getting ugly. He took my plans to hole up in a hotel personally and offered his house as an alternative.”
Because it was Samara and because she and Journey were friends, her very real frustration crept into her voice. “He barely touched me the whole weekend. I slept in the guest bedroom for God’s sake. And I didn’t see him most of the time because he was holed up in his office working.” She started to mention that he’d held her hand and listened to an audiobook the entire night, but it felt like revealing too much. Journey still wasn’t even sure how she felt about it. She’d woken up Sunday morning with Frank’s fingers still entwined with hers and his big body wrapped around hers.
Protecting her.
“Hmmm.”
“Don’t hmmm me. I can’t help that I have terrible taste in men.” She spent the entire time in Frank’s house switching between obsessing over what waited for her back in Kingdom Corp on Monday and obsessing about the feel of Frank’s mouth on hers. The end result was a shitty mood in which she wasn’t inclined to give Frank the benefit of the doubt.
Samara shifted back and leaned against the side of the couch. “I mean, I can’t say that I blame you. He’s gorgeous and there’s the whole helping me save Beckett’s life thing, which puts me firmly on Team Frank. But normally when someone is still in the honeymoon phase, they tend to be less…cranky.”
Journey gave her the expression that comment deserved. “You know me. Since when do I gracefully begin to date anyone ever?”
Instead of laughing, Samara sighed. “I know Adrian did a number on you, but—”
“Nope. Absolutely not. We are not invoking the name of my ex. It’s been ten years, Samara. Does it still sting sometimes? Sure. But this isn’t about him. This is about Frank being infuriating to the utmost degree and me dating him despite my better judgment.”