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

I started to put his gun back on the table, but he stopped me.

“No! You have to. You must be the one. You must.”

I had never done this.

I lifted the gun.

Peace came over his face.

He closed his eyes.





FORTY



Bailey


Something was wrong.

The first day in Aspen had been fun.

Some of the guys went snowboarding while some of the girls stayed back for wine. But in the evening, people had split off into groups. Matt’s group took the main sitting area, with shots being passed around, rap music blaring. Tony somehow found drugs to score. He pulled those out, too.

Also, everyone was coupling up.

Torie was on Guy’s lap.

Tamara was on Tony’s lap.

Matt disappeared early on with Fleur and Cedar, and everyone seemed to know about the threesome that was currently happening in his room.

My friends had retreated to the small living room area of their cabin. I checked in, saw Melissa and Hoda laughing in the corner with Liam and Carl. Dax and the guys had their computers out. They were buzzing about a new video game that had come out on Friday.

I went to my room, ignoring the sounds and smell of sex coming from Matt’s room, and curled into my bed with my phone in hand. I’d sent Kash a few text messages, and called, but he hadn’t responded.

And now it was dark and this feeling … I’d felt this feeling all day long. It sat on the bottom of my stomach like a boulder. I kept wanting to remove it, to shrug it off. Nothing.

It wouldn’t move, and now whatever it was had come to fruition. And it wasn’t good.

I knew. I just knew something bad had happened.

I sat up, seeing it was close to midnight my time.

Grabbing my phone, my heart pumping in my eardrums, I hit Kash’s name. Then waited. Then held my breath.

A second later, “Hey.”

God.

God.

“What happened?”

He didn’t respond, not right away. “I’m heading to Berlin. I need to get something. After that I’m coming to you.”

“What happened?”

“Bailey.”

That made my heart even worse. I heard the pain, the longing, and I heard how he was keeping it all locked down, all to himself.

“Kash.”

He sighed. “I got things to tell you, but I can’t over the phone. I don’t know who’s listening.”

Shit. I couldn’t say anything to that.

“I want to help you.”

Another sigh, this one sounding warmer, if that was possible. “I know, and that means everything to me. Trust me. Once I’m done here, I get what I need, I’m coming to you. Nothing’s going to stop me.”

I whispered, clutching that phone so tight. “Okay.”

That phone was my lifeline to him. I knew he was going to go, but I didn’t want him to.

“You okay there? Anything happen with Matt or your friends?”

I eased back down in bed. He’d moved on to other conversations so I could relax as much as I could. “Yeah. You know what Hoda said, but the rest is all fine. You got us an extension so we can Skype into our class tomorrow? That was sweet of you.”

He was silent a beat.

“I didn’t do that.”

“What?” I sat back up, my heart starting to thump hard again.

“I didn’t. All I did was relay to Peter that you and Matt needed a trip out of town. He said he’d take it from there, so … My guess: your father made two calls. One to his executive assistant, for her to arrange everything for your trip, and if it was needed—and it sounds like maybe it was—a second to the head of graduate programs at your university. Them getting a call from someone who is about to donate seventy million to their school, I’m sure it’s no skin off their noses to have a couple grad students Skype into a class for a day.”

I eased back onto my bed. “That’s nice of my dad.”

I expected him to say something in return, maybe something funny, or even just a “babe.” He didn’t. My alarm began to spike for a third time in that conversation.

He was quiet again, just a split second. “How about your friends fly back tomorrow night but you stay? I’ll come to you, and mention it to Peter, so it could be a family trip, too.”

Now my heart really was pumping.

My hands even got sweaty. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I was seriously missing him. “I wish you were here.”

“Me too, Bailey. Me too.”

I whispered one last time, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He hung up, and I ached.





FORTY-ONE


Knock!

Knock!

Those were more like Pound! Pound!

I rolled over, grabbed my pillow on the way, and let it loose. The door was opening just as my pillow was in the air, and smack! Right in Matt’s face.

I grinned, my head on the other pillow, and one eye opened at him. “Score.” That came out as a croak.

I was tired.

I didn’t want to look in the mirror. I was sure the bags under my eyes would be down to my mouth line.

He rolled his eyes, bent, and grabbed the pillow. Tossing it back on my bed, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Got a call last night. Got an update on new plans, too. Aspen was supposed to be my getaway, and you were supposed to come along for the ride.”