A small crease appeared between her brows and she blinked. “Yeah, I’ve suspected that, too. And lately the letters have been getting worse. They’re saying if I don’t respond to the subpoena, then it will become a warrant and I’ll be arrested or held in contempt of court.” She bit her lip for a moment then let out a light squeak. “I just can’t believe they’d take it this far. That my parents would rather see me arrested than Derek. I never did anything wrong. I don’t even speed, for fuck’s sake.”
“Come here,” I said, moving closer to her and pulling her shaking body into my arms. She wasn’t crying, but clearly upset. I held her shivering form close to mine, closed my eyes. That silky hair rubbed against my cheek. There was a feeling pooling in my chest, sympathy, understanding and solidarity for her. And something more, I wanted to protect her from these assholes who didn’t deserve to be related to her.
Didn’t deserve to have her in their lives at all.
Fuck ‘em. Fuck. Them. All. My arms tightened around her reflexively and her body immediately relaxed against me. “I know what it’s like to feel betrayed by your own parents, Kat. It fucking sucks. You have the right to be upset.”
“You don’t judge me?”
“Judge you? Why would I judge you? You did the right thing.”
“Because it wouldn’t take much for me to save my brother from something that could be very bad for him.”
“From facing consequences… It’s like my parents screaming at me to take Claire back when she had consequences of her own to face. And in no way caring about my own well-being. They saw that time as some kind of weakness or lapse. I was ‘mentally ill’ according to them and they couldn’t handle it. When it’s something that happens to thousands—probably even millions—of people in this country.”
I drew back so I could look at her. Aside from some paleness, she seemed fine and dry-eyed.
I took her shoulders in my hands. She looked up at me with those beautiful big blue eyes of hers. I met her gaze with my own, holding it steadfast. “When they stop caring for our welfare and happiness, they are no longer worthy of being acknowledged.”
Something shifted inside of me then, or opened. Like a stubborn, rusting lock clicking its tumblers, the hinges whining as if forced to move after being practically rusted shut in a closed and locked position. And the key that had managed it so quickly? Her raw and open honesty. Her sharing that deepest darkest fear inside of herself with me. Her trusting me that much…
I took a shaky breath and dropped my hands, then pulled away completely. That warning I’d repeated to myself when she’d first moved in was screaming through my mind. She was dangerous. I’d grow too close to her and the danger warnings were no longer just paranoia talk in my head.
It was reality, damn it. I hadn’t heeded my own warning.
She blinked and put a palm on my cheek. “We’re family, Lucas. At least for a little while longer. And I’ve got your back.”
My throat tightened and some strange and unknown emotion welled up. All previous exasperation toward her dissipated. I leaned forward and, without realizing until I was doing it, I kissed her on the forehead. “You’re sweet.”
Then I did the next logical thing and ran like hell. Okay, I didn’t really run. Instead I got up slowly and calmly left the room, as if I’d make a bathroom pit stop my excuse to extricate myself from her hold on me.
There was a myriad of emotions swirling in my chest and I needed a minute or a thousand to sort them out. I didn’t do emotions well and so it might take a good moment to deal with them before I could stuff them back into cold storage again.
Unfortunately, she rose and followed me up the stairs and into the bedroom. Damn. I’d have to come up with an excuse to get some distance between us, and quickly.
In the next second, she was beside me, her arms wrapped around me. She lay her head on my shoulder and I stood there, wooden, my arms dangling at my sides. “Thank you, Lucas. For being there for me. And I want you to know that I’m here for you.”
“For the short little while we have left, right?” I had to say it. I had to remind us both