RUSH (Montgomery Men #1) - C.A. Harms Page 0,61

one foot to the other.

“What are you doing here?” She didn’t sound angry. She looked as if she’d barely slept. One word came to mind: defeated.

“I told myself that no matter what you had to say, it wouldn’t change anything.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, keeping my eyes on hers. “I told myself that when I left your place on Friday, I’d never look back. That I would just let go and move forward.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered hoarsely.

“I know you are, but it doesn’t make any of this any better. You’re married, and the woman I thought I was falling for is just a fucking illusion.” Her quick movements caught me off guard, and I sat up as she fell to her knees before me.

“My name is Kinsley Hellman. I’m married to one of the most powerful men in Miami,” she began, which I already knew. “But that man hurt me.”

I locked my gaze on hers. The strong woman I’d been attracted to in the beginning had disappeared. Now she was desperate and frantic.

“For years he beat me and forced me to be a woman I wasn’t. If I fought back, he got angrier. If I threatened to leave, he made sure I couldn’t.” Her throat bobbed when she swallowed. “He’s a dirty man. He convinces innocent people that he can help them with whatever they need—money, fame. And he does, but then he takes that power away when you’re in so deep that you’re in debt to him and his father. I was one of those people.”

“Kinsley,” I whispered, taking her hand in mine.

“I used to dream of hearing you say my name. Hearing you call me Kiera was so hard.” Tears filled her eyes. “I know that you think you don’t know me, that the woman you have feelings for doesn’t exist, but you’re wrong. Ashton, for the first time since I graduated college, I felt like the Kinsley I’d tucked away safely was back.”

“I don’t understand.” This entire thing was still so fucked up. I didn’t know what to believe, because I still struggled to trust what she said.

“My father grew very sick when I was in college. He was always in and out of the hospital, and the doctors were worthless. No matter what I did, it was never enough, but that’s the reality when you’re poor.” She wiped away the tear that had escaped. “I used to think I was lucky Jase had found me, but now I know I was only an easy target. It never truly had anything to do with love. He preyed on the weak, and during that time I was vulnerable. When I couldn’t care for my dad, Jase and his father swooped in with their money and made everything seem so easy. They fooled us both.”

She took a deep breath and refused to look at me. “They’d convinced my father and me that they could provide the best care and the best doctors for him. So my father handed over the decision-making to them, feeling as if finally he would be able to live without so much suffering. They gained control of his finances, and soon they had the ability to make all medical decisions as well.” She looked up at me. “Like I said, they were very convincing.”

When she shrugged she looked so frail. Completely lost and so fucking alone. And just like that, my anger melted away. All I wanted to do was grab her and hold her close. But I held back because I still needed to understand why she lied about everything.

“Why couldn’t you just be honest and tell me these things from the beginning?” I asked, fisting my hands on my thighs to keep myself from reaching out for her.

“The last night I was in Miami, I found out Jase had hidden my father’s death from me.” I wrinkled my face in confusion. I wasn’t sure how something like that was even possible. “I know, hard to believe, but it is true.”

She took a shuddering breath as if to compose herself. “He rarely let me visit my father at the nursing home he lived in. Jase and Bruce placed him there because of the twenty-four hour care, or so they said. But it was just their way of keeping the hatefulness of their world hidden from my father. I know now I should have left and taken him with me, but at the time I felt he was getting