Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 54

CHAPTER 54

KENNEDY

I finally realized that I should at least brush my teeth and wash my face if I was going to have any luck falling asleep, so I heaved myself out of bed to do just that. My chest was still smarting, the tears never far from my eyes even if I hadn’t let them fall yet.

There still hadn’t been any word from Austin. My phone was as quiet as it had ever been as I’d lain there in bed, wondering how I was ever supposed to make this choice. Why had I gotten myself into a situation where I had to make the choice in the first place?

I loved him.

As sure as I was of my own name, that was how sure I was that my feelings for him ran as deep as they came. Childhood dream or not, I didn’t know if I could forget about love and focus only on starting up my business.

The trouble was that I didn’t know if I would ever be able to forgive myself if I gave up on the hotel either. Austin hadn’t asked me to do that, though. He wasn’t the one who’d said it had to be one or the other.

Thinking back, he’d seemed rather convinced we could have both—and I was starting to think he might be right.

After the good press we’d received, there was also still a chance that a different investor might climb out of the woodwork, but Austin clearly didn’t want to wait that long. He wanted to get things moving.

Plus, if I made him wait to see if another investor did come forward, he might think that I would’ve chosen business after all. That I didn’t love him enough to have chosen us over the hotel, and that simply wasn’t true.

Talk about getting myself caught between a rock and hard place.

As I was brushing my teeth, a knock came at my door and I started, my heart suddenly in hyperdrive. I hoped like hell that it was Austin. I abandoned my teeth about halfway through and quickly rinsed my mouth before practically running to the door.

Telling him that I was torn between us and the business had been a giant mistake. I never should’ve done it, but especially not like that. I could only imagine how hard and how hurtful that had been for him to hear, and after everything he’d done for me, I felt like a selfish dummy.

I’d panicked and I’d since realized that I’d been wrong. There had to be a way we could have it all, and that was what I should’ve been focused on from the beginning. Together, he and I could’ve worked it out if I had taken a moment to think things through.

Please be Austin. Please be Austin.

I needed to tell him that I’d messed up, and then I needed to get on my knees and beg for his forgiveness. I threw the lock and pulled the door open, ready to throw myself at his mercy, but it wasn’t Austin on the other side.

My face fell. All my hopes were dashed as I looked at the last two people I’d been expecting to see on my doorstep tonight. “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”

“We were in the neighborhood and we wanted to come see you,” Mom said. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” I said, but I stepped aside and let them in. Shutting the door behind them, I saw the way my mother turned her nose up at the sight of my small but functional kitchen, and how my father strode across to my windows, peering out and looking at the surrounding apartments and homes with judgment oozing out of him.

I wrapped myself up in my robe, getting smaller by the second under their scrutiny of my space. They wasted no time making themselves comfortable, sliding their arms out of their coats and setting down their things. I sighed, running my hands through my loose hair before I offered them a forced smile. “Would you like some tea? Maybe a frozen waffle?”

“Tea would be lovely,” Mom said as she settled onto my sofa.

Dad finally sat down next to Mom while I went to the kitchen.

I heard them murmuring to each other while I fixed the tea, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Probably for the best.

I walked back into the living room and took a seat across from them after setting down the tray on the coffee table. There was no way they were here for a random visit, especially at this time of night. They definitely had ulterior motives.

Mom picked up her cup, but she didn’t drink it. “You’ll never guess who we ran into this afternoon.” she said, eyes sparkling as she glanced at Dad.

Suspicion took hold of my heart, making it thrum as I tried to look into her mind. “Who?”

“Danny,” she said excitedly. “I don’t know how it’s possible, honey, but he’s even more handsome now than he used to be. Do you two still keep in touch?”

I had a flash memory of him cornering me at the mansion, remembering how scared I’d been with him towering over me and insisting that I sit down and listen. It made me feel like the walls were closing in, but I held Mom’s gaze and shook my head.

“No, we don’t really talk anymore. I kept picturing him fucking another woman in my bed.”

“Don’t be crude,” Dad said on a soft sigh. “He’s a good man from a good family, Kenny. Danny has access to everything you could ever wish for.”

Like the country club? I thought sourly, my lips twisting as I wondered what they would say if they knew their precious Danny had basically held me hostage the last time I’d seen him.

“You know.” Mom leaned back against the sofa before she seemed to remember where she was and quickly sat up straight again, glancing at the armrest like there was something living in it that might bite her. “He mentioned that he would love to see you again. That boy has always been so sweet and so polite. No wonder he’s so popular with the ladies.”

“We know he’s made some mistakes, but he’s definitely learned from them.” Dad took a small sip of his tea. “Besides, who hasn’t done a few things that they’ve come to regret? It’s part of life.”

“Agreed,” I said. “I certainly regret ever meeting Danny.”

“He told us all about the new projects he’s got on the books,” Mom picked up from Dad again, ignoring me. “They’re very impressive, darling. He’s developing properties from here to Kentucky. It sounds like he’s really making a name for himself.”

“How nice for him,” I said. “Half of what he told you probably isn’t true anyway and the other half will be greatly exaggerated, and even if that’s not the case, I still don’t care. He treated me like garbage, and I’d rather jump out that window than let him touch me again.”

My parents exchanged a look, obviously realizing that I wasn’t going to be swayed. Their tune changed then. Mom scooted forward a bit and flashed me an apologetic smile that was completely fake. “You’re going to be miffed at us, but we invited Danny over tonight.”

My heart raced and my jaw nearly crashed through the floor. “You did what ?”

Dad grimaced and nodded, checking his watch before he glanced back up at me. “He should be here any minute. We didn’t know how you felt about him, darling. When he said he’d love to see you, we thought we were doing a good thing by extending the invitation on your behalf.”

My spirits dropped to my feet. Dread coursed through me as I put together the implications of what they’d just said. Danny knows where I live now.

Judging by how he had shown up at the mansion and forced his way in, him knowing my exact address was not a good thing. My parents had no idea what they’d done, and fear chilled my blood at the thought that they would probably excuse themselves as soon as he arrived.

“How could you do that?” I almost choked on the words as I shook my head at them, immediately shooting to my feet. “How could you give him my address without asking me first?”

Mom’s head jerked as if she was affronted by the question. “What do you mean? Dad just told you that we thought we were doing a good thing.”

“You definitely didn’t,” I seethed quietly, glancing at my dad and lifting my chin. “Call him right now and tell him that you were wrong. I don’t care what you have to tell him to let him know that he’s not welcome here and that he never will be, but make sure he gets the message. If you really want to do a good thing for me, you’ll also tell him that you were wrong about my address and that I’ve moved. That this isn’t my apartment anymore.”

Dad sniffed. “I’ll do no such thing. Whatever you need to say, you can tell him in person. I’m not your messenger, Kennedy. You two kids need to work it out yourselves.”

“I had worked it out until you invited him to my house without my knowledge.”

Mom took a pointed look around. “This is hardly a house, darling.”

I scowled at the both of them. “Don’t you dare try to change the subject. You invited him, so you can uninvite him. Not as my messenger but as my father .”

“Don’t be so immature, Kenny,” Mom scolded me irritably. “Clearly, you and Danny have got some things to talk about, but that means sitting down and having a conversation with him.”

“He’s grown up,” Dad repeated impatiently. “Perhaps you need to do the same.”

My eyebrows shot up. “If either of you had asked me before you invited him, I would’ve told you that I didn’t want him here and it’s not because I’m having a tantrum. It’s because I’m scared.”

“Nonsense.” Dad scoffed, but to my surprise, Mom’s features actually softened.

“Oh, honey. It’s okay to be scared of trusting him again after what he did, but if you just speak to him, you’ll see that he’s ready to move on from that. He wants to be with you, and we truly believe that you might have a future with him.”

As she said it, a heavy, urgent knock fell against the front door, followed by a few more bangs. My stomach dropped and my hands started shaking. Part of me still hoped that it would be Austin out there instead of Danny, but I knew it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

As my mom rushed to get it, I resigned myself to seeing Danny—and then to start looking for a new home to move to just as soon as he left.

After what he’d done that day at the mansion, how agitated and demanding he had been, I wouldn’t ever feel safe here while he had my address. Thanks to my parents, he didn’t even just have that.

He had an actual invitation into my house and I knew there was no way I could convince them in time not to let him in.