"THAT'S WHAT HE SAID."

Riley's statement runs on a relentless loop in my mind throughout the entire drive to West Bay.

When I finally arrive, the fog in my head is so thick I can barely recognize my surroundings. I stomp straight to the locker room, quickly changing into a West Bay shirt and pulling my hair up into a tight ponytail.

Tomorrow, I have to skip school to go to the bank. I need a credit card and a new phone, even a cheap burner phone will do. I just need a way to stay in contact with Mom.

I am about to leave the room when the door swings open and Kate walks in.

"Hey, I was talking to you out there but you completely ignored me," she says, pouting.

I blink, realizing I must have completely tuned her out when I walked into the restaurant. "I'm sorry, I was just..." I drift off, the words dying in my throat as my eyes lock onto the item in her hand.

It is my backpack. The exact backpack Caden took off with.

How?

"Where did you get that?" The words rush out of me, my eyes widening in shock.

Kate hands it over to me. "Earlier, some hot, messy-haired guy showed up. He said you left it with him."

"Caden was here?"

"Is that his name? Honestly, I envy you. How are you fishing out all the hotties in California? I wouldn't even be surprised if Channing Tatum walked in here next and claimed you left your panties at his place."

"When did he bring this?"

"About thirty minutes ago. Look, I have to go, we have triple the customers today. Rob says they all go to your school, so get your ass out there quickly and give me a hand." She disappears out the door, leaving me alone with a heavy silence and a throbbing heart.

I need to leave. Right now.

But the thought comes a second too late.

A wave of human warmth radiates right behind me, bringing an abrupt, terrifying stop to my existence.

"So, your murderer of a father has returned?" His voice is ice-cold, dripping with an ancient anger and a desperate need for vengeance.

How does he know about that?

I freeze, wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

"Daisy Esteban, you have no idea how perfectly this works in my favor," he sneers, his breath hot against the back of my neck. "You see, I can kill you right now without delay, and watch your old man bury you. It's going to hurt him more than any imprisonment. He would prefer rotting in hell over breathing on this earth."

Now, this is what they mean when they say getting caught in a crossfire. What is my offense?

"You're just angry," I whisper, my voice trembling. "I know how you feel."

"You don't fucking know a thing!"

Suddenly, his hand clamps around my throat. He hurls me backward, thrusting me violently into the wall. A sharp, blinding pain strikes the back of my skull, penetrating deep into my brain.

"Do not tell me a thing! You and I are nothing alike," he snarls. His grip tightens hard, completely crushing my windpipe. The air locks in my throat. I can't breathe. I can't speak. Tears blur my vision as my hands claw desperately at his wrists, struggling to push him away.

He slams my head against the concrete wall a second time. The impact echoes in my ears, and the room splits, everything turning double and opaque.

"You didn't have to be suffocated by your mother!" He whacks my head against the concrete again. I am certain I am bleeding out now. The third strike shatters the last of my defenses, conquering my body, I can't fight back. The pain is blinding.

"You didn't lose a sister!" Another brutal crack against the wall. "You didn't lose everything! You didn't grow up lacking love and family!"
He continues to crush my head against the concrete with every word, a rhythmic, agonizing torture until the sound of his shouting fades away. The world is turning pitch black. I am slipping.

My body completely fails.

***

When my eyelids drag open, the world is a blur of harsh, sterile white. The simple act of focusing my eyes feels like driving nails into my skull. A wall clock swims into view. Eleven.

What eleven? Have I been out for hours, or days? Is it night or morning?

I try to tilt my head to find a window, but a sudden, violent throb detonates behind my eyes. The room spins. Nausea rolls hot in my throat, and a ragged groan tears out of me as I breathe through the pain.

Where am I?

"Daisy?"

Before the blurry shapes can even come into focus, a pair of warm, trembling hands rush to cup my face.

"I'll call the doctor," a female voice offers from somewhere to my left, but the sound is completely cut off as a shadow crowds over my bed, blocking out the rest of the world.

Kay.

His eyes are wide, bloodshot, and frantic, scanning every inch of my face.

"Daisy. Oh god, Daisy, look at me. Open your eyes for me."

"W-what... Where am I?" My voice is thick, the syllables clumsy and slurred on my tongue.

"You're safe. You're in the hospital," he breathes, his voice a ragged, fiercely protective whisper. He brings his forehead down to rest against mine for a fraction of a second, his chest heaving. "I've got you. The doctor says you have a severe concussion, but I swear to you, no one is ever going to touch you again. You're mine to take care of now. Just rest, okay?"

Concussion. The word acts like a switch for my foggy brain, and the memories slam back in all at once.

Caden.

"He is going to kill me because... Where is my father?"

Panic fuels me. Forgetting the agony in my head, I shoot straight up in the bed. A sharp, painful cry escapes my chest as the sudden movement makes the room tilt violently.

"No, no, no, don't move!" Kay's hands instantly slam onto my shoulders, holding me. He is shaking harder than I am. "Stay down, Daisy. Please."

Realizing I won't lie back down, he shifts instantly, sitting on the edge of the mattress

"I have to warn my father!" I panic. "Caden will kill him if he finds out I'm still alive."

"Caden is in chains, Daisy. The cops have him, and I personally made sure he will never breathe free air again," he tells me, his voice dropping into a dark, fierce tone that sends a shiver down my spine. But the terror running through my veins makes it impossible to believe him.

"I have to go to my father," I insist, my voice cracking, trying to pull away from his tight grip.

"He is fine, Daisy! I swear it on my life!" Kay's grip tightens, forcing me to look into his glistening, utterly consumed eyes. "Your father is safe. I have my people locked down the whole building. I wouldn't let anyone harm a single thing attached to you."

I stare at him, my frantic breathing slowing down as a new thought pierces through my pained head.

Why does what happened consume him to this terrifying degree?

"Why are you helping me?" I ask, the confusion momentarily dulling the pain.

Kay swallows hard. His lips press into a rigid, straight line as his eyes track the movement of my mouth, filled with a hunger that frightens and thrills me.

"I have spent every waking second of my life wishing I protected you," he confesses, his voice trembling with a scary amount of emotion. "I love you.."

The breath catches in my throat. "You really love me."

"I do," he whispers, his thumb caressing the back of my hand. I want to succumb. His words are everything for my ten-year-old self... they are everything to me even now.

But a cruel spike of guilt hits my chest. This isn't right.

"Kay... what about Riley?"

"I don't care about Riley's like this. I don't care about anyone else," he says instantly, with no hesitation. His eyes burn into mine. "I hope she understands. It's you who I want. It's you I've been waiting for my entire life. I'm never letting you go again."

My eyes well with tears, a heavy sob building in my chest. "And what if she doesn't? Kay, I don't want to be alone."

"You will never be alone," Kay's fingers cupping my chin, directing my gaze so I can look at nothing but him. "I am yours. I will never be apart from you. Just give me a chance to prove it to you."

"Kay..." I choke out.

"Don't you want that? Tell me you want me, Daisy," he begs, his face mere inches away. Our noses are brushing, his warm, uneven breath fanning over my lips.

"It's complicated," I honestly confess, the tears finally spilling over. "I don't know what's morally right here anymore."

"Let me give you what you actually deserve," he murmurs, his voice like liquid warmth, completely erasing the icy terror inside me. "Right and wrong... it doesn't matter. Only us."

When the confusion and the pain become too heavy to bear, I lean towards his lips and he kisses me, the contact numbing the fierce throbbing in my skull.

He doesn't just kiss me back tenderly, he claims me. His hands slide down to my waist, crushing me against him to hold me steady against the dizziness.

We kiss for what feels like an eternity in the quiet of the room, until a sharp throat-clearing breaks the spell.

I pull back instantly, and the sudden movement brings the brutal discomfort in my head roaring back.

Kay growls softly under his breath at the interruption, his hands reluctantly loosening around my waist but remaining glued to my hips.

"Kate?" I gasp.

She has a proud smirk on her face.
"Told you he likes you."

I try to fight it, but I can feel the hot flush creeping up my neck.