I go to step away from him, but he reaches out and grabs me. “I regret I lied to you,” he whispers. “I regret I didn’t meet you sooner.” Fresh tears start to sting my eyes. “I regret I allowed any man ever hurt you.” He reaches up and wipes the single tear from my cheek. “I regret I can’t be the man that you deserve.”

“What?” I ask in disbelief. “Case, you are …”

“I forced Mr. Binsen to fire you,” he announces.

“What?” I ask pulling away from him. I must have heard him wrong.

His hands fall to his side. “When you called me and told me that you were broke down on the side of the road, I panicked because my first thought was what happened to my sister. That’s why I told you to get in your car and not to let anyone help you. I knew at that very second I had to do something drastic to keep you close to me. For me to keep an eye on you. As soon as I hung up the phone, I called your boss and threatened him. He’s a buyer of mine, and he chose my drug over his best employee. That’s when I realized I was the only one who could save you from a world dependent on their next high.”

I stare up at him wide-eyed and half-dazed. “You set all of this up?” I ask in disbelief.

“I did,” he admits, and all I can do is shake my head at him.

“You planned all of this?” My brows pull together. This can’t be happening.

He sighs heavily. “The only thing I planned was to keep you safe. Your house had been broken into and your brother was working for me, an undercover cop. The possibility of you being sucked into my world was high. I was willing to risk you hating me when the truth came out.”

“What about me falling in love with you?” I whisper. “Would you …?”

“It was the only plan I had,” he interrupts me. “It wasn’t a good one, but it’s all I had.” He gives me a smile. That one he knows makes me weak in the knees. The one that makes my heart beat faster. The one that gives me butterflies. “I never intended to fall in love with you. But I did. As I told you earlier, you made me believe I could finally move on from my past. You didn’t numb my pain. You took it away completely. Somewhere along the lines, you became my drug, Taylor. You became the very thing I try to take from others. I get lost in your eyes. I burn from your touch. And I love you with all I have. I know I don’t deserve you, but give me another chance and I will prove to you I can do better. I will be better.” He closes the space between us and wraps his arms around my waist. “I am a man who had sinned. I am a man who knows they come at a cost. And one day, I will have to pay for my sins. And I’d gladly go to hell for this one.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

 

TAYLOR

The following morning I walk into the kitchen to find Blane and Savannah sitting at the table. They’re laughing and hugging on one another until they spot me. Savannah lets out a little cough and pulls away from him.

“I see you guys have made up.”

Blane snorts. “I could say the same about you. Considering what we heard last night and then again early this morning.” He shudders. “Maybe you can keep it down next time?”

I smile in satisfaction. “Maybe,” I say with a careless shrug. But doubtful. Case fucks like he fights. Ruthless and my body loves it.

“So what do we do now?” Savannah asks, running her hand through her hair. “Just hang out here until when …?”

“I have a few leads. I will make sure it is handled soon.”

We all turn to see Case walking into the kitchen. He stops beside me, places a hand on my lower back and leans down to give me a soft kiss on the forehead. I wanted to be mad at him last night. I wanted to hate him for all the lies and deceit. He had set me up, after all. But  I couldn’t because he was also right. Somewhere along the way, we fell in love.

My heart still breaks for him after what he told me last night. How much loss he’s suffered in such a short amount of time. And I know it must still affect him every day. This life has to take a toll on you.

I turn to face Blane. “Why did you do it in the first place?” I wonder out loud. “You said you went to Case in order to get Dad out of jail. Did you ever stop to think that maybe that is the best place for him?”

“You just don’t get it,” he mumbles.

“Obviously, I don’t,” I say sharply. “Why am I the only one who thinks he’s better in jail than free?” I ask confused.

“I don’t think he deserves to be free,” Case replies to my question.

I eye him with a tilt of my head. “But you are the one who was willing to make the deal.”

“I turned his deal down at first.”

I look at Blane and then back at Case. “Obviously, he talked you into it.”

He shrugs carelessly. “After I thought about it, I realized I would let the little fish go in order to catch the bigger fish.”

What does that even mean? I don’t dare ask. I look back at Blane. “You know making a deal for Dad was like a death sentence? Do you understand what could have happened to you?” His face still bears the bruises from getting his ass kicked the other night.

His eyes narrow on me. “It was the only option I had.”

“Bullshit!” I hiss. “You could have just left him there.”

He grinds his teeth. “When did you become someone who gives up on others?” he demands. He looks over his shoulder at Case and points an angry finger at him. “Hell, sis, you have been fucking Case for a month now and the entire time you thought he was a drug dealer. So you can fall in love with one but you can’t help your dad out when he’s one.” He gives a dark laugh. “Mom would be so disappointed in you.”

When did he turn into Dad and bring Mom up? “Fuck you!” I shout. “Case has saved my life! Twice! He’s never called me in the middle of the night to bail him out of jail. I haven’t gotten a call from the hospital at five in the morning informing me he was so high he passed out and hit a light pole. I haven’t walked in on him passed out cold on the floor. He has protected me. He has been there for me. And he sure as hell doesn’t bring up my mother every single time I tell him no!” I’m so mad that my body is literally shaking. “Let me ask you, Blane. Did you contact Case on your own? Or was it Dad’s idea for you to put your life in danger to save his own ass?” I demand.

“I knew I could get the job done.” He snorts.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I snap. Looking over at Case, I ask, “Did he contact you on his own, or did my father contact you and offer up his son?”

Blane looks over at Case and narrows his eyes. “It’s a little more complicated than that,” Case says slowly.

“How so?” I demand.

“Blane called me because I was the one who put your dad in jail in the first place,” Case announces.

“Excuse me?” I ask stupidly.

Blane places his face in his hands and lets out a sigh while Case continues to talk. “I was in Pekin taking care of some business when a car ran across the center median and almost hit me head-on. I swerved out of the way, and he hit a tree when his car ran off the road. I pulled him out of the car and called it in. I put him in handcuffs and waited until an officer arrived to take him in. The car wasn’t registered to him, and when we searched it, there were drugs in the car and several loaded guns within reach of the driver’s seat.”

I feel tears start to sting my eyes as I look over to Blane. “Guns?” I rasp. “What are you gonna do when he kills someone, Blane?”

“He’s suffered loss, Taylor,” he replies softly.

I look back at Case. No one in this room understands the loss he has suffered, not even me. I may be the only who knows, but that doesn’t mean I understand what he went through. “That gives him no reason to put others in danger,” I reply.

“That’s why I’m trying to save him.”

“You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved,” I say slamming my fist on the table. God, it’s like talking to a brick wall. “He’s never gonna change, Blane. We were only kids when Mom died,” I say a little softer. “He wasn’t there for me. You were. He wasn’t there for you. You had to be. It’s been nine years, and you still have to pick up his mess.” I shake my head.