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She shakes her head. “I don’t understand what’s happening. W-Why would you help my father? How do you know him?”
The truth is the only way she won’t run from me so I ask, “Do you know who the Five Points are?”
Her nod is hesitant.
“I’m one of them. My boss, he’s the head of the Points, well, he felt like he owed your father a favor after he performed a successful reconstructive surgery on him.
“Your father told Aidan that you were being held captive by this MC in L.A. and that you were in danger and basically, he sent me in to rescue you.”
“That was my home. I was safe there. I didn’t need rescuing,” she shrieks.
Despite the situation, I shake my head at her. “You weren’t safe there, Belle. I get that I’ve burned a bridge with you, and I know I’ll be lucky if you give me a chance to earn your forgiveness, but don’t let yourself believe that you were in a good place among people who didn’t care when you were mentally fragile and who fired you when you were at your lowest.”
“Charlie didn’t fire me,” she mutters.
I shake my head at the thought of it. “I watched you overdose in front of me while Joy was yelling at you about serving your tables.”
“Don’t bring that up so you can use it against me. I know what Father would have told you—that I’m fragile. That I-I can’t live on my own. I know I make stupid decisions! I’m looking at one at this exact moment—”
Ouch.
“Burn,” Kitty mumbles under her breath.
I shoot her a glare, noticing that she isn’t heading to her apartment to give us privacy. No, she might as well bring out a bowl of fucking popcorn.
“But I’m of sound mind even if I do make mistakes. I know what my father is—he’s a murderer. I won’t go back to him, Cade. I won’t.”
Raising both hands, I surrender to her. “And I’m not about to make you.”
“Then what’s going on? Why did you bring me to New York? What, between me getting on a plane and watching you and your brother beat the shit out of each other, has changed?”
I swallow. “You know what.”
Derision stamped onto her features, Kitty snorts. “Was it love at first sight, Cade?”
My jaw clenches at her scorn. “You know what, Kitty? It was. It fucking was, okay?”
Belle gasps then whispers, “How could you do this to me, then? That’s not love!”
“I’m sorry, Belle. I’m fucking sorry, and all I can do is try to make this right. Whether you take me at my word or not, I won’t let your father get his hands on you. I promised you that you were safe with me and—”
“The only reason he could hurt me again is because of you. Sorry? You think my friends are bad? They’ve dealt with years of my drama and have loved me through it. Their lives aren’t easy. Charlie’s got a new baby and Joy’s been carrying me for years—every friendship has ups and downs, and we’ve gone through a rough patch. But that’s all it is.
“As for you, you startedthiswith the intention of taking me back to a man who tormented me throughout my childhood, who beat my mother in front of me, who destroyed—” She pauses. Sucks in a breath. “Do you know what? You’re not worth this. You’re not worth wasting my words or my oxygen.” Then, with that regalness I know she’s capable of, she tilts her chin and condemns me, “I don’t accept your apology.”
When she storms toward the elevator, I close my eyes and rub them tiredly. Cade from a week ago would have blamed anyone but himself for what’s gone down. The Cade of today knowsheand he alone is the one who fucked up.
Kitty, because she likes to kick a man when he’s down, steps over and punches me in the arm. “That’s for manipulating her. But that was on the way to being a semi-decent apology, Cade. Keep up the good work. Six out of ten.”
Glowering at her, I watch as she follows Belle to the elevator.
Massaging the back of my neck where a tension headache is building, I find my other arm being punched.
Twisting around, I grab the person’s hand and find Lucas there, staring at me like I’m an alien. “You just told her you’re in the mob. Are you an idiot?”
I scowl at him, but I don’t get a chance to lay into him—the dishrag is already whipping through the air, and Lucas jolts as Ma clips him around the back of the head. She’s better than Indiana Jones and his whip with that fucking thing, so when he hisses at the sting, I merely smirk at him.
Not for long, though, because she deals with me next.
