Seeing her again was a selfish decision on his part. He wanted back in her bed, back in her arms. The memory of her sweet taste brought his cock to full attention. He forced himself to stay and work. She was a heady distraction, but that kind of attraction didn’t last.
He shouldn’t give in to it.
He shouldn’t let it control him.
But, God, he couldn’t wait to see her again.
Chapter Ten
Kenzi snapped her fingers, and Taffy moved up to sit on her lap on the couch. She petted her gently and said, “I know what you’re thinking. He said he’d call me and I should have waited. That’s the way the game is played. But I don’t want to play games with him. I’ve never felt like this with anyone. I don’t have to hide with him. I don’t have to pretend. When I’m with him, I feel like I am finally me—the me I was supposed to be, and I can do anything. Is that crazy?” Taffy looked at her in adoration and wagged her tail. She scratched behind the dog’s ear. “I shouldn’t ask your opinion. I have a feeling you’d agree with anything I say today.”
Kenzi reached over and took out a notebook. She made a list of what she wanted to do over the next few weeks. She definitely planned to speak to another school if the director thought her message was needed. She also intended to raise money for the school program. She looked down at Taffy and listed ways she could help animals that had been in her situation. The list included as many questions as it did action steps, but Kenzi felt empowered when she read it over.
Kenzi petted Taffy’s head again. “You’re going to heal up quickly, Taffy. When you do, don’t be like me. Don’t waste all your time thinking about yourself and wishing your life had been perfect. That won’t make you happy. It doesn’t change anything. But this”—Kenzi held up the notebook—“this is changing everything. We’ll have to find a way for you to do some good when you are better. Would you like that?”
Taffy licked Kenzi’s hand and cuddled closer. There were a hundred things Kenzi planned to do, but just then she was happy letting Taffy find comfort in her presence. She took out her tablet and read with her new friend happily tucked against her.
A while later, Kenzi’s phone beeped with a message. It was from her father, and he said he was downstairs. Kenzi stood with Taffy in her arms and buzzed him in. She hadn’t heard from her family since she’d made her speech at the school. Lance might have said something to her father, or her father might have heard about it in another way. There was a chance he didn’t know anything and was coming to check in with her simply because she hadn’t seen him recently.
As soon as her father stepped out of the elevator, Kenzi knew he knew. His expression was drawn tight, and he looked about ten years older. Angry or sad. Kenzi wasn’t sure which. He looked both. “May I come in?” he asked.
“Of course,” Kenzi said and held the door open beside her.
He sat down on her couch and slumped forward, his hands between his knees. He looked as if he was about to say something then stopped himself and ran a hand roughly over his face. Kenzi stood beside the chair across from him. She’d never seen her father look so upset. He’s always been the rock of the family. She hated that she was the reason he looked broken.
He didn’t meet her eyes. He looked at the floor in front of him and blinked several times. “When we lost your twin—Kent, I thought that was the worst pain I would ever feel. I couldn’t make things better for Sophie. All I could do was try to hold the family together while she fell apart.” He was quiet for few minutes as if memories from that time were more than he could bear. His face contorted with pain, and Kenzi almost stopped him and told him he didn’t have to say it, but she didn’t. The past needed to be faced, by Kenzi and by her father. “I never wanted any of us to go through that hell again. I tried to protect her from everything I thought could hurt her.” He hit his thigh with a fist. “Maybe I went too far. You’re right, it was all for Sophie.”
Kenzi put Taffy down on the dog bed. “You did what you thought you had to do. I know that.”
“When I think about what you went through and how we sent you away. How could you not hate us—me?”
“I don’t hate you, Dad.”
“I told your mother. She wanted to come, but I asked her to let me talk to you first. She was hurt when you said you needed time away from her, and then devastated when she heard what had happened to you. I’m worried about her. She doesn’t understand how she missed it, and she feels like she let you down. It wasn’t her, though. She doesn’t know what I asked of all of you for her benefit. She would have never put her needs above yours. I did that, Kenzi. She loves you.” He clasped his hands together and met her eyes. “I do, too.”
Kenzi moved around the chair to sit down. “I know, Dad. How did you find out?”
“Lance took me aside and told me. I thought Asher had a sharp tongue, but Lance made sure I understood my role in your silence. It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow, but I needed to hear everything he said. I understand now what you were trying to tell us. All I can say is I’m sorry, Kenzi. Sorry for all of it.” His hand clenched on his knee. “I was so blind. I thought Dean was pulling you into a bad crowd. Lance said the boy he almost killed was the one who did this to you. Is that right?”
Kenzi nodded. “Dean warned me to stay away from him, but I didn’t listen. He must have said something to Dean because I didn’t.”
“You should have told us,” her father said huskily.
“I tried,” Kenzi answered, her voice broke with emotion. There was more that Kenzi could have said, but she held it back. It didn’t matter who had been right or wrong that day. Placing blame on either of them wouldn’t change what had happened. It also wouldn’t help them move past it. And that’s what Kenzi wanted to do. She’d broken free of the hold the past had had on her. She didn’t want to go back. “It’s okay, Dad. I’m finally okay.”
Dale nodded slowly. “Lance said your talk was amazing.”
“That’s what happens when you’re the daughter of a politician. Public speaking must be in my blood.”
“I want to say I’ll go listen to you, but—”
Kenzi had never seen her father so close to tears. “You don’t have to, Dad. I’m not even sure I’ll do another talk like that. I needed to get the truth out there, but now that it is, I see that there are many ways I can help people. I thought I’d ask Mom to help me organize a fundraiser for the program I worked with.”
Dale brought a shaky hand up to his forehead. “Your mother would love that.”
To ease the tension of the moment, Kenzi snapped her fingers to call Taffy to her side. “Do you want to meet the newest addition to my family? This is Taffy. I got her today.”
Dale leaned forward and gave Taffy another look. “I assumed you were watching her for someone.”
“No, she’s mine.”
Dale looked the dog over. “She’s—she’s—”
“Healing, Dad. Just like me.”
Dale cleared his throat before saying, “Where did you get her?”
“A friend of mine knew I wanted a dog. He surprised me with filling a pet shop with puppies for me to choose from. They were adorable, but when I saw Taffy I knew she was meant to be with me. Sometimes it’s that simple.”
“This friend of yours, do I know him?”
In the past Kenzi would have hedged or lied. Not anymore. “Dax Marshall.”
Her father’s eyes widened. He didn’t look happy with the news. “I know him by reputation only.”
Kenzi shrugged. “I don’t know his reputation, but he has been a good friend to me.”
Her father didn’t say anymore on the subject. He stood and walked over to a photo Kenzi had of her with her brothers when they were younger. “What do you need, Kenzi? What can I do now that would make any of this right?”
“Time to figure myself out. That’s all. And I need to know that you still love me. I tried to be the perfect daughter, Dad. I really did.”
Dale turned fr
om the photo, and this time there were tears in his yes. “Oh, baby, nothing could ever change how much I love you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Kenzi let out a long breath. “I didn’t know if you’d all be angry that the story went public. I know Ian is always trying to keep our personal lives out of the papers.”
“No one is anything but concerned about you, Kenzi.”
She wished she could believe that. Kenzi looked up at the ceiling in frustration. “I’m not Mom. I can handle the truth.”
“That is the truth. Everyone in the family knows now except Andrew. We didn’t want him distracted, but I have a feeling he’ll react the same as we all did. We thought we’d kept you safe, Kenzi. A part of me died when I realized how I’d failed you.”
Kenzi crossed to stand beside her father. “It wasn’t your fault, Dad. Just like it wasn’t mine. Bad things happen, and who can make sense of why? But good things happen, too. I’m finally in a place where I can see that.”
The buzzer surprised both of them. Kenzi rushed to the door. Oh, no, don’t let it be.
“It’s Dax. Buzz me in.”
