Chapter 24: Honesty

KIANA

Why was I in Chase’s bed? Where was he? The memories of last night came flooding back…

Cooper…

The panic attack…

Chase…

I glanced down at the unfamiliar cotton shirt I was wearing.

He changed my clothes!

~He didn’t see anything, right?~

No, I remembered. He put the shirt on me first, then he ~left~.

Why would he leave me in his bed?

I was about to get up when I noticed a note on the bedside table.

~Kiana,~

~I’ll be back at five. The weekend starts tonight, so stay in and rest for the day. My driver can pick up anything you need.~

~PS I didn’t see you naked last night, and I slept in the guest room.~

I let out a sigh of relief at the last sentence.

Knowing Chase wouldn’t be back till late, I picked myself up from the bed and made my way to my room to take a shower.

I stripped and let the water fall around me. I felt so heavy, my body drained of energy, and my inner fighter was cowering in a small, pathetic corner of my mind.

I couldn’t shake the image of Cooper’s face.

I hated the hold he still had over me!

That smile made my insides twist, wanting to vomit and claw at my gut until every last tormenting memory was washed away for good.

I touched my collarbone.

That cursed scar served as an unending reminder of the monster who gave it to me. The horrors he had inflicted on me were permanently etched in my mind. The long-healed mutilation had carved the biting memory of his touch into my flesh.

It could not be washed away, no matter how hard I scrubbed.

~Rose Monroe.~

A name I hadn’t used in so long.

A name I despised and wished to kill along with almost every other memory of my past.

No matter how hard I tried, or how much I changed on paper, that name would forever haunt me, following me wherever I fled.

Why did Cooper have to come back into my life now? I was doing just fine, and now I might have to flee and change my identity all over again just to escape him.

I couldn’t afford to do that, not yet anyway. Besides, I didn’t even know where to begin. Last time, I’d had help.

The memory of Jackson’s surprised face surfaced, and I shook the thought away. It was just too much.

I found myself kneeling on the shower floor as hot water rained down on me from above. The steam created a sort of safety net of mist around me while unstoppable tears coursed down my cheeks.

My soft whimpers transformed into chesty sobs, my ribs constricting to the point of losing my breath. I was on the verge of collapsing…

Then Chase came to mind.

I wrapped my arms around myself, envisioning Chase beside me, holding me and whispering sweet reassurances in my ear. The security I felt as his arms wrapped tightly around me, soothing me back to normalcy.

I came down from my panic attack, my back against the tiled wall as I regained some semblance of control.

Chase knew something now. He wasn’t stupid. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to interrogate me as soon as he came home.

I had no doubt in my mind that I trusted him. My own body had decided to trust him before my mind had caught up.

But could I tell him everything?

No one knew the whole truth—no one but me.

Would he even want me around after finding out?

Fear stabbed through me at the thought of Chase no longer being part of my life.

~What should I do?~

CHASE

“Here’s the new proposal from Hammond,” Lucas said, placing the pile of papers on my desk.

“For his sake, let’s hope it’s better than the last.” I glanced at the documents in front of me, but my thoughts continually drifted back to Kiana, as they had all morning.

I really hoped she was feeling better today. She’d genuinely frightened me last night.

“What’s got you all distracted?” Lucas asked, leaning against the corner of my desk.

“Kiana. She had a panic attack last night. A bad one.” I briefed him on what had happened.

“Oh shit,” was all he could say in response.

“Can you track down the man I saw her with?” I asked.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. You have a name?” he inquired, shifting into serious mode.

“He gave me this card.” I tossed it next to him.

“On it,” he said, taking the card and turning to leave.

“Oh, and another thing. I need you to dig up any connection between Kiana and Jackson.”

He stopped at the door, turning back to face me. “Sure thing.” He smirked. I knew he enjoyed this more than he let on.

He left me alone with more work than I had time for, yet I couldn’t concentrate on any of it. My mind was all over the place.

I kept glancing at the phone and eventually decided to call home.

After a few rings, I was taken to voicemail.

I sighed.

Maybe she was in the shower?

Maybe she was getting dressed?

I decided to try again in another hour or so…

~Ugh! Who am I kidding? I need to know she’s okay. And I need to know now.~

With that, I left the office, ending my workday far sooner than I anticipated.

LUCAS

When the number on the business card turned out to be fake, I chose to retrace last night’s steps.

Whoever this man was, I’d find out.

Setting up a meeting with someone from security for the venue that hosted last night’s gala was a piece of cake.

“Whiskey, neat.” I sat at the bar.

While waiting for my contact to join me, I overheard a conversation between the bartenders.

“Bro, after I finished my shift last night, I went straight home. This place sucks sometimes, making us do double shifts,” the one with brown hair complained.

“At least it pays,” the blond one replied with a chuckle before attending to another guest.

I gestured toward the bartender with brown hair to come over.

“Anything I can get for you, sir?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes, were you working last night?” I asked.

“Yes, sir. Anything I can help you with?” he replied.

“Do you recognize this woman?” I pulled out a picture of Kiana. She was much more casually dressed in the picture, but it was one of the best I could find.

“As a matter of fact, yes, I do. Pretty thing. Is she okay?” he inquired, lifting a glass and offering it a polish.

“Why would you ask?” I inquired.

“I recall seeing her look shocked and frightened when a man approached her last night. Before I knew it, they were gone.”

~Gotcha.~

“Might you recognize the man if you saw him on the security footage?”

“Yes, sir.” He smiled warmly.

CHASE

I found Kiana at home, curled up on the sofa in quiet contemplation, her hair wet from a shower.

She didn’t acknowledge me when I sat next to her, but she didn’t flinch away. That was promising.

She was clutching a blanket around her, as if for protection as much as for comfort. She was wearing my shirt again. I couldn’t help but hope that she’d put it on because I made her feel safe.

I noticed the scar on her collarbone and gently ran my thumb over it. She closed her eyes and winced, as if it still hurt.

“What happened?” I asked softly. I wanted to help her, to ease her pain.

She tensed before slowly rising from her position. She held the blanket tightly to her chest. Her breathing quickened and her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing my face in frustration and sitting higher, giving her space.

~I shouldn’t have asked.~

“No, it’s fine. You should know…”

KIANA

The moment he touched my scar, the memories came flooding back.

I pulled away from him without thinking. It was pure instinct.

Of course he was curious. But I was afraid that telling him the truth would break me more than he could imagine. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and my chest tightening as another panic attack threatened to take over.

~I need to calm down.~

I hated that Cooper still had this power over me.

I wanted to move on.

I had tried repeatedly to erase that night from my memories, but something always brought it back.

I stood, walked to the bar nestled in the corner, and filled a glass with two fingers of the closest liquid I could find.

I looked at the glass of whiskey in my hand, my chosen source of confidence, and downed it in one gulp. The burning in my throat numbed the pain.

“Easy there, that’s strong stuff,” Chase warned, walking toward me.

Then, without another thought, I finally said the words that I had never spoken to anyone, ~not even to myself~.