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

Chapter 58

CHAPTER 58

KENNEDY

I watched the police cruiser drive away, taking my heart right along with it. I simply couldn’t believe Austin was in the back of that thing, on his way to jail because he had defended me . Then the car stopped on the side of the street, and I felt grateful they hadn’t left me there all by myself.

My head felt detached from my body, like I was watching the car disappear through someone else’s eyes. Only dimly aware of the commotion around me, I heard my mom say something and I shook my head, moving farther away so I wouldn’t have to listen to them anymore.

Blood rushed in my ears, a cold sweat breaking out across my brow. Austin is going to spend the night in jail. My parents have officially chosen Danny over me. He’s here, at my house, and my father is responsible for calling the police, but on Austin. Not Danny, despite hearing me say how scared I am of him.

I heard footsteps behind me, followed by the sound of Danny’s voice. My eyes narrowed. I didn’t even know what he was saying, but I didn’t care.

I spun to face him, shooting daggers from my eyes as I raised my fist, needing him to know I was willing to use it even if it meant joining Austin in jail tonight. “Get away from me. I don’t want you here, Danny. Not now and not ever. Leave and stay the fuck away, or I’ll give you a matching bruise on the other side.”

He opened his mouth, but as his gaze swept across my face, he seemed to realize that I wasn’t joking and he went to sulk behind my parents. After I turned back around, searching the street for any sign of Benji’s car, I finally saw them come around the corner. I breathed a sigh of relief but my ears were still ringing, my brain still weirdly sluggish.

Winrey came rushing toward me, pulling me into a tight hug. “Are you okay?”

“No, but I will be,” I murmured just before she released me. “Where are you going?”

“To have my say.” She gave me a tight smile, leaving me with Benji as she strode over to my parents.

I glanced at him. “What is she doing?”

“Finally confronting them for how terrible they are” he said, then took my arm in a gentle grip. “You should probably get in the car before things escalate again. I know your instinct is to defend her, but she doesn’t need it tonight and you’ve been through a lot as it is.”

Wordlessly starting to follow him, I opened the back door and I was about to climb in, but when he called to her, she didn’t join us. I paused, just not hardwired to wait in the car if she might need backup soon.

It seemed that tonight’s incident had been the straw that had broken the camel’s back. For years and years, Winrey had been silently stewing, taking everything they dished out without ever putting up much of a fight. She had always been the good daughter, the one who didn’t argue or rebel.

It had made her desperately unhappy, but she’d never once put a foot out of line until she’d met Benji. Even as she’d fallen in love with him, she’d done her best to make our parents happy. Gain their approval for her new relationship.

Eventually, as she’d realized that was never going to happen, she’d felt so guilty that she’d taken more shit than ever. And she’d kept taking it and taking it, until tonight, when our parents had chosen the side of the man who’d never had an inch of respect for either of us and who had blatantly turned me into a laughingstock with all of his affairs.

I didn’t care very much at all about members of their social circle talking and laughing behind my back. For me, it was about the fact that he’d had so little respect for me that he hadn’t cared enough to even try to hide it. He’d simply followed his cock wherever it led him and everyone had known.

I still didn’t think my parents had ever realized that the disrespect and disregard extended to them as well. Their friends had known and hadn’t thought to tell them.

All of that combined with our parents’ recent behavior and Austin’s arrest seemed to have finally made my sister snap. Part of me was proud of her, but the other part was scared.

Right now, she was like an unstoppable demon out of hell, confronting them for the stunt they’d pulled, but I knew that when the dust settled, she was going to be so hurt and disappointed by them again.

“I cannot believe you!” she ranted at our parents, every so often glancing at Danny as well. “Did you honestly think that bringing him here was going to make her take him back? After everything he’s done, did you really even want her to? He stuck his dick into everything that moved for years while they were together and everyone knew about it. All your friends, too. How was that not completely humiliating to you?”

Danny opened his mouth, but she gave him a murderous look and he instantly closed it again. “How is it possible that you want to be associated with him at all after that? He crushed Kenny’s heart, and don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that she didn’t marry him, but how are you, the people who should be genetically programmed to love and protect her no matter what, trying to force a second chance?”

Winrey scoffed. “I realize that his parents are higher up on the social ladder than you, but he’s not. You should hear the rumors out there about him. They’re crazy. He’s nothing but an entitled brat with a last name powerful enough to hide behind when he does things wrong.”

Mom sniffed. “Winr?—”

“I’m not done yet,” she snapped. “Do you even care that he scared the crap out your daughter just a couple of weeks ago? He’s a psychopath. A stalker. So spoiled that he’s physically incapable of considering anyone else’s feelings. You should’ve been protecting her from him, but Austin had to step in and do it, and you call the police on him? That tells me everything I need to know.”

She flapped her hand in their direction, seething at them. “All of you. One day, you’re going to get what’s coming to you, and when that happens, you’re not going to have anyone there who gives a flying fuck what you’re going through.”

Benji and I watched, and the longer she went on, the prouder I became. It was like I was watching her being reborn as a stronger, fiercer, confident woman who knew what wrongs had been done and wouldn’t stand by anymore.

With a hand on her pregnant belly, she shamed them for how they’d behaved and her big finish made me want to burst into applause. She regarded our parents in a way I’d never seen her do before, with such contempt that it looked like she might just take the next swing.

“What you’ve done, not only to Austin tonight, but to me, Benji, and Kenny for so long, is unforgivable. You will not know your grandchildren. I, for one, will be protecting this baby and any other I might have from you at all costs.”

Mom’s face finally fell, as if she was realizing for the first time that we were both serious when we said that we were done with them. “We had no idea things would go this far, honey.”

Dad nodded his agreement, grimacing as he looked back at her. “We were protecting Kenny, honey. At least, we thought we were. Just take a breath and?—”

“No.” Winrey planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t care about your explanations or excuses anymore. It doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t know. Things have gone too far. And instead of choosing your own daughter and sticking up for her, you chose her ex, who’s turned into a stalker who won’t take no for answer and who scares her.”

Dad glanced at Danny with his jaw tightening, but Winrey still wasn’t done. “Kenny doesn’t scare easily. You both know that. She’s tougher than all of us and you should’ve listened to her. These are the consequences of your actions, not hers.”

She turned to Danny. “And you . If I wasn’t pregnant, I would hang you upside down by your toenails and?—”

Benji intervened, taking his girl by the shoulders and steering her toward the car, where I was still waiting. He bent his head close to hers as he brought her to the same back door where I was waiting.

“That’s enough, my love,” he murmured. “They get it.”

As I slid into the backseat and he helped Winrey in after me, he shot Danny a look. “You fit the bill for a restraining order, man. You might not have been in cuffs tonight, but after what you did here, you’d better believe it’s only a matter of time.”

With that, he stuck his head into the car. “I need your keys, Kenny. I’ll go grab some things for you and toss out any personal items your parents might’ve left behind. Then I’ll lock up behind me so the place is secure.”

“My bags are still packed. By the door. I’ll have to do laundry, but that’s fine.” I hadn’t even thought of any of that, but I handed over the keys I’d grabbed on our way out, extremely grateful that he had a clear head. He jogged away from the car after shutting the door behind him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Winrey asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

She was breathing hard, her voice still trembling with the strength of her emotions. I turned into her, sliding my arms around her waist to pull her in for a hug. “That was awesome, Winrey, but I think the real question is whether you’re okay?”

A slow grin broke out across her face. “To borrow a line from you, no. I’m not okay, but I will be. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m just a bit worried about the consequences.”

“Don’t be,” I said. “We’re free of them now. I don’t think either of us could’ve been any clearer about where we stand. It sucks that we had to cut them off, but at least we still have each other.”

She asked for more details about what had happened while we waited for Benji to come back. As soon as he did, the three of us drove off. Once my parents were out of sight, I finally burst into tears.

I’d been doing my best all night to hold them back, but now that we were alone and not under their judgmental gazes anymore, I couldn’t fight them any longer. I was just so disgusted by their behavior and horrified that the person taking the fall for this whole mess was Austin—the one who least deserved it.

Winrey sat next to me, holding me while I cried. Benji was clearly angry, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. “At least Austin got a good lick in. That asshole is going to have a shiner for days. I wish someone had recorded it.”

Austin might be locked up for longer than it takes a black eye to heal. I groaned, everything in me burning to go down to the station to check on him, but I knew they wouldn’t let me see him tonight. A rich person might have enough money or clout to get themselves in, but I didn’t have either of those things.

I was just an ordinary person, and us ordinary folk had to follow the rules. Benji drove us back to their place, where we quickly set up the sofa for me.

After that, Benji smiled cautiously. “We’re here if you need anything, but for now, I’m taking Winrey to bed. She’s had enough excitement for one night. If she doesn’t calm down, we risk having to go back to the hospital.”

“Of course,” I said, giving them each a tight hug before I shot my sister a meaningful look. “Get some rest. Doctor’s orders.”

She sighed loudly but disappeared into their bedroom with Benji hot on her heels. When their door clicked shut behind them, I crawled onto the sofa bed and turned off the lamp beside it, crashing hard as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Tonight had exhausted me on levels I hadn’t even realized a person could be exhausted—and tomorrow was the start of a whole new chapter for me. The first without my parents at all involved in my life.

I desperately needed to get some rest if I was going to be waking up to a reality that, although it’d been inevitable for a long time, was pretty fucking depressing.