Wrecked for You

by Mayer, Kristin

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Hayden

  Kory’s parents hadn’t moved an inch since we left the room. Mariah’s low growl obviously added to their mounting concerns. Kane waved his hand and Mariah stopped. After he took a seat, Kane stared at Kory’s parents. “I’m glad you made the right choice. I hate messes.”

  Good ol’ Kane.

  Nervously, Kory’s mother fumbled with her clutch. “We really need to go.”

  Enough is enough. “I’m tired of playing the games. Where does all this leave us? I think your daughter has a right to know.” Even to my own ears, I sounded aggravated. I was aggravated.

  Kory held my hand tighter, and we waited.

  Kory’s father took one step forward, and I gently pulled Kory behind me. “I’ll ask again. Where does this leave us?”

  “We want to help our daughter. We’ll search for something that will allow Kory to be free. But she can’t mention she knows about the Fraternity. Ever.” Tate turned to Kory. “You can never mention it. If they find out, the Fraternity will claim you. Or worse yet, kill you.”

  I got the impression that wasn’t an empty threat but the truth of their world. But I’d be damned if that ever came to pass. Kane leaned forward. “Are you going to double-cross your daughter?”

  I hadn’t seen any sign of that from them, but Kane must be looking for something.

  Kory’s parents shook their heads. Though they seemed hard on the outside, these two people were most likely broken on the inside. They might be beyond repair from the brainwashing they endured.

  “How will we communicate? The Fraternity watches everything of ours,” her father asked.

  That was a good question. We would need to figure out something. Kory spoke up. “We could use the temporary phone I got over the summer.”

  After I loaned Kory my phone, she remembered the phone was hidden in the lining of her suitcase in case her parents looked. It was easier to keep letting her use the spare until we added another line to my account.

  I nodded. “That might work.”

  “Let me get it.” She hurried up the stairs.

  Taking this as my moment, I stepped forward. Her parents needed to get their heads out of their asses. “I’d suggest you not hurt your daughter more by betraying her. If you do, I swear there won’t be anywhere you can hide. Do you understand?”

  Her father leaned forward. “If you don’t think it hasn’t killed my wife and me to see Kory suffer, you don’t know us at all. But what we’re doing now is for her. We’re trying to save Kory. Everything we’ve done has been for her. It might not be what you’re used to, but we’ve kept her best interests at heart. Just because it’s different doesn’t make it wrong.”

  Oh, hell. It was like arguing with a fence post. But at least he cared for Kory in some capacity. That would help keep them loyal to her. Her mother touched her father’s arm as Kory came back down the stairs. I took a step back, and so did he.

  “Here’s the phone. I’ll get it turned back on and text you when it’s done.”

  Her mother took it. “Thank you. We’ll try to do everything we can, Kory. For what it’s worth, I am sorry we weren’t able to be better parents and show you the love you deserved when you were a child.”

  Kory stiffened. “I won’t say it’s okay. But at least I have an explanation.”

  I was glad she hadn’t excused it away. They had made the choice to abandon their daughter. Now they had to live with it.

  “Can I hug you?” her mother asked.

  Hesitantly, Kory took a step forward, and I readied myself in case they tried anything. It was an awkward hug, but I saw the emotion as her mother closed her eyes and savored the moment. Her father opened his arms, and Kory walked into them. When she came back to my side, there were tears running down her cheeks. It gutted me to see them.

  Her father’s phone chimed. “We really must go. What’s the plan?”

  Kory chewed her lip. “Can I ask one last question?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know if I can answer,” he said.

  “You mentioned my grandparents were part of it. But I don’t remember them being cold to me.”

  Her father pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’ve chosen to stay out of this life. It’s best if you don’t know the details. But your grandparents refused to cut you off emotionally when the rest of us had. There was a price to be paid for the disobedience.”

  Kory gasped. “They were murdered? How can you be part of the Fraternity if they murder people?”

  Our world is cruel at times. His words from earlier came back to me.

  Her father shook his head. “Kory, you either want in our world or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways.”

  I squeezed Kory’s hand, reminding her I was there for her. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she tried to choke back the emotion. What a fucked-up situation. It was her choice to press or not. She took a step closer to me. “No, I don’t want in. Hayden’s going to tell you the plan.”

  They’d lost Kory. I saw the emotional detachment as it happened. “Kory’s going to invite Landon up here this Saturday. Let’s hope you find something that gets her out of this mess.”

  “We’ll try.”

  They stepped toward the door hesitantly to see if anyone would stop them. They were free to go. We had what we needed for now. I went to follow them, asking Kory, “Can I speak with them for a moment alone?”

  “Sure.” Her left eyebrow lifted in question, but she stopped walking.

  Out on the front porch, the colder weather had set in. I should have grabbed my jacket. I folded my arms over my chest and met their gazes. “One question. When all this is finished, where does this leave your relationship with Kory?”

  They both looked down.

  Their world is cruel at times. And they are still part of the Fraternity. They will always be part of the Fraternity.

  “So, your true allegiance lies with them?”

  How can we trust them? I couldn’t tell if they would turn in their daughter to save their own skins.

  Her father shook his head. “You have no right to judge me or my wife. We love our daughter, and make no mistake, we wish things could have been different, but they aren’t. This is our life. And we’ve tried to make the best of it.”

  And yet they will walk away from Kory.

  There was nothing else to say. I called to Kory, and she stepped outside. “Safe travels, Mother and Father. And thank you for seeing if there’s anything that can end this.”

  Kory gave them each a quick hug, but she was more distant. They waved good-bye and walked toward Doug’s waiting truck, the snow crunching beneath their feet. At some point, Kory would realize she’d never have a relationship with her parents. And I’d be there for her in whatever capacity she needed.

  After they pulled away, Kory turned to me. “I heard it all.”

  Shit. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

  “I was curious myself. And now I know.” She wiped a stray tear away. “I wish things could be different with them, but it would be nearly impossible. I never want to be involved in the Fraternity and they love their organization. My grandparents’ car accident was most likely not an accident. It hurts knowing that they’ll turn the other way. But it’s probably for the best. I wouldn’t want my kids near it. What if some future leader saw our kids and decided to claim them?”

  I was grateful we were on the same page. No one would be claiming my child. “I agree. How are you doing with all this?”

  She blew out a ragged breath. “I’m dealing. It’ll be better once we have a plan and I have time to just process everything. Right now, I feel like I’ve got a knife in my chest.”

  I pulled her closer to me and hugged her hard. “We’re going to get through this, sweetheart. And I’m going to be by your side the entire way.”

  “Thank you.” The wind whipped around us, and Kory shivered. “Let’s go inside. I have one more phone call to make. It’s going to be rough beca
use I hate him more than I’ve hated anyone in my life.”

  The feeling was mutual.

  Inside, Kane was leaning on the windowsill. “Got the phone turned on. Also, Dad is going to follow them to the airport to make sure they leave.”

  “Good.” Since I wasn’t the owner of the airport itself, it wasn’t necessary to contact me to land. If someone wanted to use a hangar or refuel, then they had to reach out.

  Kory took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” She dialed the number, her lips turned down in a frown. I hated that she was in this position. “Landon. Hey, it’s Kory. Mother and Father just stopped by, and we got to reminiscing. Yeah, I told them where I was. I know. I don’t know, I just felt the need to reach out to see them. I know it’s crazy. Me? Meh. You know some day I just… I don’t know. I’m in Skagway, Alaska. I thought I needed a change, but I miss home.”

  There was a long pause. I noticed Kory wasn’t able to look at me while she spoke. It would be hard for me to have this conversation with another woman, playing a part. “Oh, that would be nice. How about Saturday? Sooner? I don’t think I could. I’m so busy. Saturday works. Yeah. That sounds good. I look forward to it, too. See ya then.”

  She ended the call and shivered. “I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.”

  “He sounds like a sack of shit,” Kane murmured.

  Kory gave a small, tired chuckle. “He is. Let me call my parents and tell them.” She dialed the number Kane handed to her. “Hi, Mother. Yes, it’s working. I talked to Landon. He’s going to come up on Friday. I mentioned you guys came to see me, and we got to reminiscing about old times. No, none of that was mentioned. No, none of that, either. Yes, only the overall and my location. Okay. Sounds good and be careful.”

  Hanging up, Kory looked exhausted. “Well, that’s done.”

  It wasn’t completely, but we were getting closer. Now we needed to come up with a game plan. There was a chance Landon would ignore her request the way her parents had. We hadn’t discussed what we were going to do in the interim. I threw some ideas out, not knowing how my brothers felt about the situation. “I think we all need to get under one roof for the week. Strength in numbers.”

  “Agreed,” my brothers echoed.

  Kane added, “Dad asked if we could meet him at the house when we were done. I’m sure they have a lot of questions.”

  No doubt. I looked at Kory because I wanted her to be part of the decision-making. She looked down at her fingers. “They deserve to know. I want them to know.”

  I hated putting Kory in this position. But she was right; they had to know.

  Chapter Thirty

  Kory

  I had never been more nervous in my life than I was at that moment as I watched everyone’s faces. My spine was stiff as a board as I sat in the chair, facing the Foster family. Hayden held my hand, rubbing soothing circles on it, but it wasn’t helping. Hearing him relay the story to his family made it seem a little surreal. These were my parents. So much of what I knew of my life had been untrue, and it hurt.

  To hear my parents confirm that they would not leave the Fraternity cut deep. And the possibility that my grandparents had been murdered, no matter how much they’d been caught up in this mess, stung even worse. I knew I’d never have the relationship with them that I wanted, but at the same time, they were sacrificing for my happiness. It was a tangled web, and I really couldn’t wrap my head around it. I couldn’t even tell if they were telling the truth.

  It helped having Kane and Drake already up to date on the situation. They’d been there, and they hadn’t said one word of criticism. If anything, they were beyond supportive. I was most afraid of what Amie would think. She was the cornerstone of this family and loved her boys.

  To her, I was a stranger bringing unnecessary stress into their lives. And my world colliding with theirs could get someone hurt. From the way my parents described Landon, he sounded dangerous. And in a few days, he would be coming to Skagway. Who knew what that would bring? The family had barely had time to get used to the idea of Hayden having a girlfriend, let alone one with a crazy past.

  I hate this.

  If they wanted me out of their lives, I would understand. It would hurt more than I could imagine, but I would respect it. I worried that, at some point, Hayden would realize he’d had enough. I came with more strings than a puppet. And it was exhausting to keep those strings untangled.

  Finally, the story came to an end. To my right, Kane watched his mother’s face closely. Across from me, Drake studied Alexa. Her brows were drawn. I cleared my throat. This was getting to be too much. I needed them to know they had a way out if they wanted one. They had a choice not to be part of this craziness. “I’m so sorry this has happened. I had no idea, and I would never want to put you guys in danger. I—”

  Amie stood. I felt the blood drain from my face as I waited to hear what she had to say.

  “Oh honey, I can see you’re worried. Don’t be. We’re going to figure our way through this because that’s what family does. We don’t choose our family. Lord knows, I wish I wasn’t blood to some of my kinfolk, but it happens. And we make the best of it.”

  My eyes brimmed with tears. It was the best response I could have asked for. They accepted the good with the bad. This is what I imagined a family was like. It was what I dreamed about as a kid.

  Amie walked over to me with the kindest smile on her face. “Don’t you fret for one second about what we think. You and Hayden are a unit now. And I support my boy’s choice. I always have and always will.” And then she put her arms around me and hugged me tight.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  It was all I could manage to get out. If I spoke any louder, I might cry. And once I started, I might not be able to stop. Truth be told, I was only hanging on by a thread.

  Pulling back, Amie looked at me. “As far as I’m concerned, Landon is the asshole of all assholes.”

  Everyone gasped, and I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. It wasn’t like Amie to cuss. But after the stress of the day, hearing her pop off an A-bomb was too funny. She turned to her boys. “Take note, my dear sons, that’s how you cuss properly. It has dramatic effect that way. You don’t have to throw it out there willy-nilly all the time. If you’re going to cuss, make it count.”

  The boys grinned at their mom. Kane said, “Good one, Mom.”

  She patted his head, and he rolled his eyes lovingly as she walked behind him. “Kane, I can tell you’re rolling your eyes at me. I know all and see all.”

  Drake looked at Hayden and tsk-tsked. “Eye rolling is a girl thing.”

  “Hey, it is not.” Alexa slapped Drake’s arm, and he grinned.

  Beside me, Hayden folded his arms. “It is kind of girlie. Maybe the princess title should be transferred.”

  “We have a deal for when I get the princess title, which isn’t happening. Stop being di—dopes.” Kane rocked back in his chair and gave his mom a satisfied smile. “I saved it, Mom. I’ll use the D-word when it can be more dramatic.”

  Amie let out a sigh. “Lord, give me strength. How about we have some pie? I made some homemade apple pies this afternoon. I think we could use some while we discuss our options.”

  Everyone raised their hands. Apple pie sounded delicious. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t eaten a bite all day. Food might help settle me some.

  Ike stood. “I’ll help, darling.”

  She gave him the sweetest smile.

  One day, I wanted to have what Ike and Amie had. Ike worshipped the ground Amie walked on. Someday, Hayden and I would have this… hopefully.

  They left for the kitchen, and Alexa hummed something to herself. She definitely had something on her mind as she toyed with a piece of blond hair that had escaped from her messy bun. Drake watched her work it out. It was sweet how he gave her space when she needed it. Setting the wedding date was an example. They’d be married already if it had been his choice. Instead, Drake let Alexa come to him when s
he was ready to talk about it.

  I had heard Alexa had a temper, but so far, I hadn’t witnessed it. There had been stories about poor Hollis getting a book to the head because he’d been grumpy. And one about her chopping wood to work out some frustration. That one was hard to picture. I hadn’t seen Hollis be anything but cheerful. But apparently if you took away his Starbucks, that awakened the ugly bear inside.

  Finally, she said, “So Landon wants to marry you?”

  The thought made me sick to my stomach. “Yes, that’s what my parents said. From the way he spoke on the phone, it seemed like he wanted to reconcile.”

  Hayden gritted his teeth. When I glanced his way, I saw the veins in his neck bulging. His hand tightened on my knee. If I were in his shoes, I would feel the same way. The thought of him with another woman nearly drove me mad. I placed my hand on top of his to soothe him.

  Alexa held up her hands. “Just bear with me for a second. I have an idea that might solve—or at least delay—Landon wanting… forcing… the marriage thing.”

  “Go ahead. I would do anything to keep him away.” My palms were sweating from the anxiety.

  She scrunched her forehead. “What if you married Hayden? That would keep Landon from being able to marry you. Legally, you can’t be married to two people. And Hayden would have to sign off on the annulment or divorce. Otherwise, it becomes a lengthy process.”

  Marriage.

  To Hayden.

  We’re not ready yet.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. That had been the farthest thing from my mind.

  Marriage.

  A wedding.

  An instant headache formed.

  Alexa held up her hands. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

  I glanced at Hayden, who was as pale as I felt.

  Drake leaned forward and steepled his fingers. “There’s some merit to the idea. It’s not bad, and it solves one issue.”

  But marriage? That seemed so… drastic.

  Amie came back into the room with the pie. Ike set down the plates and utensils. “What did I miss? You guys look like you’re having a serious discussion.”