The Damaged (The Insiders Trilogy #2) - Tijan by Tijan

“I love you.”

His eyes grew tender. “I love you, too.”

There were words to say. I wanted to know more about my meltdown. Kash was going to avoid it, but it was because he knew that wasn’t a good experience for me to relive. But I was okay with it.

In that moment, warmth seeped all over in me, and I didn’t think it was the wine.





TWENTY-NINE


We were no longer newsworthy.

With Quinn being released, her face was front and center on every news program, every magazine, and every blog I saw. News of her impending divorce from Peter Francis was the second story trending on social media. There were still mentions of Kash and me, but it was mostly Quinn, then Quinn and Peter. Because of his connection, because he’d slept with Amanda Bonham, whose husband had had an affair with Quinn, Matt was getting a lot of attention on the gossip sites as well.

The affair world was going round and round.

I was happy. Things at school got a lot more manageable. Not so many people lingering outside the building. We could go for lunch with two guards again.

So things were getting relatively more normal, and that word was subjective because my “normal” would never be what it used to be. That extended to my classmates, too. I worried how they’d react, my first day back after the meltdown, but nothing was said. No one acted differently. The only odd thing was that Hoda seemed less hostile, but I was still avoiding her, so I couldn’t be certain that was true.

It wasn’t until the next Friday, when Melissa was leaving our last class with me, that my suspicion was confirmed.

Erik had the day off, so Scott was walking behind us. Fitz was in the car, and Liam was going ahead of us, as he’d taken to doing since that first trek to lunch with everyone.

“Kash”—Melissa blushed saying his name—“didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“He lit into your dad that day. You know.” She moved closer, her head ducking. “The bathroom incident.”

That was her phrase for it. Now I knew.

“Your dad was freaking out, saying, ‘My daughter has barred herself in the bathroom,’ and he was getting hysterical about it, but also kinda pissy about it. Like it was Kash’s fault or something. Then suddenly your guy rounded on him and was like, ‘She was kidnapped. By your wife.’ And I swear to God, everyone stopped what they were doing. It got eerily quiet in the hallway, but he didn’t care one bit. He went on talking about how you and someone named Cy had been taken, and it didn’t matter it was only a few moments, because you were taken. You were helpless, and you knew you were dead.

“When he said that, something happened. I don’t know what. I don’t think he noticed, but I looked back and Hoda was standing just inside the lab’s door. She heard, and her eyes were so big, they could’ve swallowed a bat if a bat had flown at her. You weren’t here the next day, but she came in different. Me. Liam. All of us. And Ms. Wells. Her, too.

“I guess just hearing about you being kidnapped was enough. The dangers you deal with … It all got scary real, and you’re no longer the cool and exciting Peter Francis’s daughter to us. You’re Bailey. You’re one of us, and I don’t want to lose you. Not like that.”

She cursed under her breath. “Not that you’re not one of us, but you know. Or. Maybe you don’t. I’m messing this all up. I’m just trying to say, all the dangers, the reasons you have these guards in the first place, got really real for us. We’re in. You’re ours. Dax. The guys were pissed about what Hoda did to you. They were just mad before. Now they’re scared. We’re all scared.” She looked at me, stopping in the sidewalk. “We’re all scared for you. And I need to stop repeating myself. You get my drift.”

Oh.

Jesus.

I didn’t know how to take any of that.

She might’ve seen my struggle, because she just mustered a smile. “Not trying to freak you out. I was trying to comfort you. I’m messing that up, too.”

“No.” I relaxed. I really did. “You’re fine, and thank you. I think.”

Her grin was crooked.

“Bailey.”

We looked back. Ms. Wells was coming out of the door. She raised a hand. “We need to talk about your upcoming schedule. Come to my office next week.”

I nodded, relaxing even more.

I loved this. Schoolwork. Talking about my schedule. A boulder of unease moved aside and my smile wasn’t forced. “I will, Ms. Wells.”

She grinned back, a small one, and her eyes narrowed on me a second.

Then Scott cleared his throat behind me. “We’re holding up traffic, Bailey.”

I shot him an approving look. He kept calling me Miss Bailey. I kept not responding unless he dropped the Miss part. My job was done.

“Be there in a second.”

He moved for the door handle.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Melissa asked.

I thought about it. “I don’t know. Kash hasn’t mentioned anything. What are you doing?”

“I don’t know if you’d be interested, but um, some of the others talked about going to the football game. I know we’re grad students, but the game is a big one. Liam knows some of the players on the team. It’s homecoming, too.”