isPc
isPad
isPhone
Hot For Her Ex-Con (Dark Desires #7) 9. Killian 82%
Library Sign in

9. Killian

CHAPTER 9

Killian

I ’ve done dumber things…

The thought crosses my mind for the second time in as many days. Only this time, heading back to Carol’s feels like the right thing to do for a different reason.

The nagging memory I can’t reach, like something in a dream on the tip of my tongue that’s kept me up all night, feels so close to making sense. I have to follow my instincts.

Even though going back sounds like an idea Trap would have, it feels like the only way I can have a clean slate with Allison.

Breakfast is me shoveling food, watching Allison push some around her plate. When the highway diner fills up with enough cops seeking to do the same, I know it’s time for us both to leave.

We drive in silence, one of my arms around her and her hand in my lap the whole way.

I click my tongue loudly, sucking air in between my teeth once we turn into her street, feeling her tense up as her fingers claw into me.

“Killian?”

“It’s all right. It’s?—”

It’s shit is what it is. A sinking feeling grips me harder than Allison ever could—the familiar-looking van parked at an odd angle out on Carol’s front.

The state troopers block the road ahead, lights pulsing. It’s what I feared most all along—finding the girl who slept in that room and then having her taken away.

I can’t exactly blame Trap for this one, though. I can’t blame him for anything anymore.

Pulling up and killing the motor, I’m surprised when everyone outside the car puts their hands palms up, pressing the air in front of themselves as they all move closer.

“It’s all right, Killian. Allison? You’re all right. We just wanna talk, okay?”

I look down at Allison, watching her try and piece all of this together. Her eyes leave mine long enough to read the bold lettering on the van.

Woodside Psychiatric Hospital.

Carol emerges from inside, an officer holding her back when she makes to rush for the car, rushing for what has kept her up all night as well as me.

Her only daughter.

“I’m not leaving you, Killian. I’m not!” Allison growls protectively, looking mad as hell, but not with me.

“I’d better go talk to ‘em,” I explain, motioning with my chin for her to go join her Mom.

“It’ll be all right, Allison. Just do what they say for now. For me?” I ask her, not wanting to see her eyes when I tell her, not even knowing myself if I’ll ever see her again.

A tall man in a white coat comes into focus. That tip-of-my-tongue memory pops like balloons in my ears, leaving a familiar bad taste in my mouth.

Dr. Stanton.

The hospital…

Mom… Dad…

Jesus…

He waves hi casually, almost absently, before checking his watch. I watch Allison being herded towards her mom.

The pit of my stomach sinks. Why couldn’t I tell her? Why couldn’t I remember?

Because nobody wants to remember something like that, let alone share it with someone as amazing as Allison. She’d run a mile.

“Wanna come talk about it?” Dr. Stanton asks, squatting on his hams outside the car.

“I-I can’t go back, doc. Not now.”

“Just to talk, Killian,” he says clinically. It’s something I always liked about Stanton. He does his job, but it’s clear he couldn’t give a shit either way.

“Was it Trap again?” he drones knowingly, almost glancing at his wrist again but shooting me a disarming micro smile.

“Isn’t it always?” I groan. My hand balls into a fist until I realize there’s no point denying it a second longer.

“Why don’t we head inside, huh? Have a talk. Allison can sit in if you want.”

It’s a different walk of shame, but it could have ended in restraints. The front door’s been replaced, and the smell of freshly shaved lumber fills my nostrils as I head inside.

Stanton walks a few steps behind me, Allison rushing into my arms as soon as she spots me, leaping up from her seat in the living room.

Carol’s not hiding her disappointed look, but she hasn’t wasted any time either by the looks of it. A man stands by her side, his arm around her in defiant support.

It’s Carol’s husband, Mark. The house is still dotted with enough photos of the couple for me to recognize him in person.

It’s the face of a supporting husband giving his wife a second chance if I’ve ever seen one. Both parents narrow their protective eyes once I have Allison in my embrace.

But nobody’s pulling us apart or even saying a word. We’re all invited by Stanton to take a seat. The remaining troopers are waved off by him, thanking them for their time and assuring them the situation is well at hand.

Allison grips my hand firmly and squashes up next to me.

All eyes in the room shift to me, and Stanton gives his nod of approval. This is my only real chance at making any sense of this, for Allison’s sake more than anyone else.

The good doctor gets me started, reminding me of something that stings every time I hear it. His tone is firm, almost accusing, but it finds its mark.

“Trap isn’t real, is he, Killian?”

My head shakes from side to side rapidly. Carol’s suddenly sympathetic look shifts from me to Allison, and I feel her hand gently pressing my arm, giving me the instant calm only she can.

“No… No, he’s not,” I stammer, feeling the air sucked out of me. Allison’s hand moves, and she rubs my back.

Stanton already told Carol everything about me and my past. She told Allison enough to help her make her mind up if a maniac like me is something she really wants in her life.

Stanton gives me a brief summary of what everyone here already knows, skipping the gruesome details, thankfully.

The part of the story where I’m nine years old, coming downstairs to see what all the noise is. Finding my parents, their bodies barely recognizable. Everything else of value in our very well-to-do house was untouched, but the killer—or killers, whoever they were—took the only thing worth anything to me.

Family.

That was the night Trap was born. The shadow that’s haunted me since, mocking me at every turn as I try to find and punish a ghost.

Allison’s been the only thing to stop it, to still that storm in me.

“Killian was in custodial care in a maximum security prison. A terrible example of a man slipping through the cracks into a place he didn't belong. It was by sheer chance the hospital happened across his case, and I’m glad we did. It took some doing, but through his family’s legal team, we arranged for his sentence to be completed in our care.”

“So he’s going back, right?” Allison’s dad frowns, looking braver once he sees a chance to put some distance between a man like me and his daughter.

“Not unless he wants to,” Stanton says, keeping his eyes on mine and lifting his brow. “Killian’s a private patient now. His unsupervised release from the hospital is his sentence served. And when he’s well enough, his family’s legacy is waiting for him. Pending approval from shareholders, of course.”

“And what about all those cops?” I grunt, still expecting the worst when it comes to me and Allison.

Stanton gives a real smile, looking extra pleased with himself. “Oh, don't worry about them. Your neighbor at number sixteen is keeping them busy enough. They only came down to see what we were doing here, which was waiting for you. I knew you’d come back.”

I give him a quizzical look.

“Well, you might have some explaining to do about the car,” Stanton cautions me. “But the man they’re here for is a few doors down. Wanted in three states. Your own little stunt is the least of their concern right now.”

I feel Allison’s hand finding mine and squeezing it again. I turn to face her, stuck for words as much as I’m relieved this has worked out.

“We’ll get through this, Killian. I told you I’m not going anywhere that you’re not.”

I crease a smile. “I will do better,” I remind her, feeling some of the old me returning.

“We’ll do better together,” she corrects me, kissing me gently as if we’re alone, showing the doc here firsthand just how easily she can manage me.

“I’d like you to come back to the hospital, Killian,” Stanton says, getting up like he's already done here. “But I think you’ve found the one thing that therapy can never give you.”

“And what’s that?” Carol asks suddenly, sounding just as surprised as I do that this the worst is over.

“A stable, loving relationship,” Stanton clips, as if we should all know that already.

He pumps my hand, letting me know he’ll wait outside if I want to go with him to the hospital. “But better than that, a family of your own is going to be the best therapy of all.”

Allison’s mom and dad don't look so easily convinced, but both of them have the same question for me once the good doctor steps out.

“W-what did he say about a family legacy?”

I stifle a groan, wishing maybe Trap had been real after all. The whole business of my family’s money is enough to drive anyone crazy.

“Maybe that’s a story for another day,” I suggest, but both Mark and Carol sure do seem a little more at ease with me all of a sudden.

And Allison?

Well, she just feels better by the second. Like a man’s true destiny should.

Chapter List
Display Options
Background
Size
A-