Page 127 of Risky Obsession

“Kane!”

It was going to be a long fucking walk.

“Please, will you let me explain?” Her shrill voice drifted my way, but I focused on the rhythmic pounding of my boots on the pavement.

My breaths clouded with each exhale. Her lies cut so deep, that I wasn’t just cold. I was chilled to my fucking core.

I’d fought long and hard to heal the mental wounds my family had inflicted on me. Tory’s deceit had shredded those barriers.

Maybe some wounds could never heal.

Lacey’s shoes and suitcase thundered behind me. She was running to catch up.

I kept my pace, staring at the moon and clenching my jaw so hard my teeth hurt.

She sprinted up to me. “Kane, please, ask me anything. I’ll tell you the truth, I swear.” The anguish in her voice tugged at my resolve.

“I don’t want to know you.” I forced my gaze forward, refusing to look at her.

“But you already do. I’m still me. I couldn’t lie about who I really am, Kane. That’s who you saw.”

“I saw a lying bitch. That’s what I saw.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” Her voice was raw with desperation. “I broke your trust. What can I do to fix whatI’ve done?”

I glared at her. “Nothing. I don’t know who you are. And I don’t want to.”

The erratic beat of her suitcase wheels stole all other sounds as she somehow matched my strides.

“I never wanted to hurt you, and my lies are unforgivable. I need you to understand why I did it. Why I pretended to be Tory Parmenter.”

I sure as shit didn’t want to hear her bullshit, and yet I couldn’t make my legs sprint away.

“When I was a kid, I was a brilliant student,” she said. “My parents were constantly on my case to study harder and do something with my life that they could never do. The pressure to please them was brutal. I was put through an accelerated learning program and entered university when I was sixteen to study chemistry. I was studying day and night, forced to learn and do what everyone else expected me to do. I was trapped and felt like I was going to implode.”

The cold moonlight stabbed through the branches, casting shimmers of light over her tear-streaked cheeks.

“Kane, I’m sorry. Will you listen? Please?”

“Fuck off!” My breath came out in heavy puffs as I tightened my grip around the handle of Pops’ leather duffle.

Her ragged breaths shot in and out as she raced to keep up with my angry strides.

“When I was seventeen, I met this guy, Axel. He was twenty-six, and the leader of a motorcycle gang.”

I almost turned to face her, but I kept my gaze rigid, forcing my legs to stride harder.

“Axel became my life. I would do anything for him. He showed me how to have fun, and we partied hard. I thought I was in love, but I was a fool. He didn’t love me. He used me and even though I knew it was wrong, I used my chemistry skills to make drugs for Axel’s motorbike gang.”

I shot my gaze to her.

“Yeah.” She sighed. “I was fucking stupid.”

Her eyes pleaded with me, but I yanked my gaze away. None of that justified her lies.

“My best friend, Tory Parmenter, overdosed on my drugs, Kane. She died in my arms, and it was my fault.” Her voice broke with emotion.

The hurt in her tone clawed at my heart. I clenched my jaw and forced myself to keep walking.