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“I was making sure the cameras and system worked. Plus, I had to know if you would answer and just let anyone inside.” He stood still, waiting.
I shuddered. Kane looked like a dangerous predator, ready to shred me to pieces.
“What do you want?” I wasn’t sure who this Kane was at the moment, but he wasn’t the guy I’d met when his mom was here.
“Like you said before, we need to talk.” He easily pushed past me and into the house.
“You can’t just come in, Kane. What is the matter with you?” I closed the door behind me, but I didn’t lock it.
He stalked closer, never taking his furious gaze off me. “Cut the shit. Why are you at Whitmore?”
My heart raced, and my palms grew clammy, but I refused to let him know he was getting to me. I slipped past him into the open space of the living room. “To attend school and cheer. They have one of the best cheer squads in the country.”
Kane shook his head. “Not good enough.”
Who the hell does he think he is? “I don’t need it to be good enough for you.” I narrowed my eyes at him, growing angrier by the second. “You need to leave.”
“I’ll leave, but first you have to admit that you know who I am.”
Exasperated, I threw my hands in the air. “You’re Kane Cooper, the football god.”
He closed the gap between us and slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me against his muscular body. I gasped from the proximity, heat stirring in my lower belly.
Kane leaned down and whispered, “Jacob.”
Goose bumps danced over my skin, and I shivered against him. “I don’t understand.”
Kane grabbed my hair, forcing my head back.
“Stop lying!” he roared. “Marc told me how you liked to call him Jacob. You know who I am.” He pushed me down, and I landed with a thud on my ass and scrambled away.
Tears welled in my eyes, and my chin trembled. “I don’t know why I needed to call him Jacob.”
Kane knelt next to me, then wrapped his fingers around my throat. I clawed at his arm, desperate to breathe. “Do you know what they did to me after I helped you escape?”
I wanted to reply, but I couldn’t talk since his hand was cutting off my air.
“They threw me into a dark hole with no light for weeks. When I wouldn’t break, they raped me over and over, but I still protected you. Protected what I thought was anus.” He released me, and I gasped for air.
“Look at me!” Kane gripped my hair again, forcing me to look at him. “Do you see these little scars on my top and lower lip? Do you know what that is?”
Trembling, I stared at his mouth. The faint scars were barely visible, but they were there. “No,” I croaked.
“When I wouldn’t tell them where you were, they sewed my goddamn mouth shut.”
A small cry escaped me as tears spilled down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Kane. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
“I was raped, beaten, and tortured, but I never told them the plan. Every day that I lived in the hole, I held on to two things. You and football. It was the only reason I stayed sane. But …” His jaw clenched, fire burning in his gaze. “You never came back. You promised you would, and I waited … and clung to the fact that you loved me. I couldn’t even digest the thought of you betraying me. But I was wrong, and you left me there after I helped you escape. Goddammit, you left me to die!”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Kane.” My voice shook with his name. “I’m so sorry they did that to you. If I were in your shoes, I would hate me, too.” I reached up and touched his cheek, hoping to break through the intense trauma and bring him back to reality.
Kane jerked away from my touch and gripped my wrist. “Your real name isn’t Brie Langston. It’s Lyndsay Jennings, so don’t play like you have no fucking idea who we are and where we came from.”
I stared at him, everything he said shattering my heart into a million pieces. “Let me explain,” I pleaded.
“What is there to explain? It’s simple. You fucked me over, and now you’re back to make my life hell.”
It slowly dawned on me that no matter what I said, he wouldn’t be able to listen to the truth. I had to wait until he calmed down so he could hear past his anger and pain.
