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Why are they telling the judge that Gareth and I are married?
My head snaps in Gareth’s direction. He refuses to make eye contact. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. I pull my hand out of his before he has a chance to tighten his hold. Before the judge can comment on the objection, Calista starts speaking again.
“Kennedy Ainsworth, Boden, or Worthington, whatever name you want to give her is a disgrace. Not only does she have relations in public places with Gareth but also his other three friends as well. I have video proof.”
Callum stands up suddenly, yelling in outrage at Calista. “It was you that sent that video to us? You were stalking Kennedy?”
The judge bangs his gavel some more and has Callum escorted out as he continues to yell. He accuses Calista of being the one that trashed my room. To everyone’s surprise, she continues to speak.
“Yeah, it was me that trashed her side of the room. She shouldn’t have been at Groveton. The ungrateful bitch didn’t deserve what Hastings provided for her. He was going to marry me but wanted to wait until Kennedy was married off. I was the one who suggested he pawn her off on one of those four so we could finally be together,” Calista yells out.
The judge turns an angry glare in Calista’s direction. “I am not going to warn you again, Ms. Robinson. Watch your language, or you will be removed from my courtroom.”
Calista ignores his warning. “After Hastings was arrested, I spoke to my uncle. He slipped the paperwork in for Kennedy to sign, giving him full control. I was going to be getting what was owed to me, what rightfully should have been mine. Once the company was sold, the ungrateful whore would be penniless.”
“Bailiff, remove this woman and remand her for contempt of court. We will have a thirty-minute recess.” The judge bangs the gavel once. As everyone rises, I make my way out of the courtroom, Kassidy hot on my heels.
Removing my heels, making it easier to walk, I enter the closest stairwell, sprinting down to the lobby as fast as possible. Kassidy does the same so that she can keep up with me. So many things were revealed in the past hour, and I feel betrayed. Taking a side corridor, we end up in the City-County building. Pushing open a side door, we run two blocks and jump on the first bus available out of town. It takes me a minute to figure out which bus we are on and what part of the city it will end up in. Using the ride share app on my phone, I order a car to pick us up in half an hour. That will give us more than enough to get to where we need to be.
Once we get into the car, the driver starts taking us north of the city. Kassidy, bless her heart, hasn’t said a word, sticking by my side as I get us away from the guys. It isn’t long before both of our phones start going off with text messages and phone calls. I shut mine off, taking the battery out for good measure, noticing Kassidy doing the same.
The car comes to a stop about twenty minutes later. The area is dark as we exit the car. The driver pulls away, Kassidy looking over her shoulder at the disappearing taillights. She finally breaks the silence, and trepidation laces her words.
“Kennedy, where are we?”
“This is my house.” Her body seems to sag in relief. “No doubt they will find us soon enough, but I needed to get away from them. They lied to me. All of them. They knew. They knew about the video and didn’t tell me.” Digging through my purse for my keys, my mumbled rant continues. “I am so fucking STUPID! The way Judge Peters phrased everything. My answer was, ‘I do.’ Unfuckingbelievable.”
We get inside and punch in the security code, praying John didn’t change it. I crank the furnace up, as it is freezing in here. Leaving most of the lights off, we make our way up to my room. Kassidy is about the same size as me, so finding her something to change into is pretty easy.
“Are you hungry?” Asking is a courtesy, as food is the last thing on my mind.
Kassidy waves me off, making herself comfortable on my bed.
“Sooo,” she says, drawing out the word. “You and Gareth are married. How’d that happen?”
“Gareth found an envelope in my desk. He took it and had his dad look at it. He said that John Robinson, Calista’s uncle and my father’s former lawyer, was in the process of selling the house and company. There was some papers he got me to sign. Gareth said that his dad arranged for it to be taken care of, but we had to go before a judge. He asked me a few questions, and it was done.”
As Kassidy considers her next words, processing the info dump I just grazed over, and my body jack-knives off the bed. “Son of a bitch!”
Kassidy continues to lean against the headboard, a soft smile playing on her lips as she watches me pace around the room.
“Are you more upset that you didn’t have something more elaborate? Or that you asked for help, got it, but are now tied to a hot guy for the rest of your life? You can’t tell me that you don’t like Gareth, or any of them for that matter.”
Collapsing to the floor and scrubbing my hands over my face, my thoughts are jumbled.
“I think my biggest issue is that they didn’t just tell me what was happening. They were sneaky. My father has controlled my life up until I set foot out the door on my way to Groveton. Back in July, part of the business deal between my father and the guys’ was for one of them to marry me. Father made me a line in his business deal.” Taking a deep breath, my word vomit continues. “If things were still the same, Father would have never let the two of us be friends.” Kassidy pouts at my words, and I let out a scoff. “Yeah, he would have fully approved of Danica and her group, though, so that tells you something.”
My anger is beginning to drain. “They need to stop keeping things from me. I am tougher than they think I am.”
We get comfortable on my bed, getting under the blankets because it’s taking the house longer than expected to heat up. We both fall asleep to whatever crime show we found on TV.
CHAPTERFIFTY-FOUR
The fathers went back to court while the four of us went in search of Kassidy and my wife. Yeah, that was my father’s big plan. We were covertly married by Judge Peters. All of us knew except Kennedy. Hindsight, we should have told her. It was a shitty thing to keep from her, but after a lot of discussion, it was decided the best way to proceed.
We split up, wandering around the building, hoping they were still in it. Any unlocked door was checked, but all ended up being pointless. We have repeatedly called both of them, only for the calls to go to voicemail. Stepping outside the building, I look around the street just as my phone rings. There is no media in sight, and some of the other buildings look off. Pulling the phone from my pocket, the caller ID tells me it’s Callum.
“Yeah, did you find them?” my words are almost panicked.
