Page 27 of Keep Me

Lachy clenches his jaw, and his eyes dart out to the horizon. He looks a little uncomfortable with the question. “Anna really hasn’t told you much, has she? I mean about Killian.”

I shake my head.

“The truth is…” he mumbles quietly. “We don’t think Killian has left the house in nearly ten years.”

My jaw drops. Suddenly, I’m replaying every interaction I’ve had with him. The argument over the wedding being at the house instead of the church.

“Why wouldn’t Anna tell me that?” I say, staring straightahead, unfocused and in shock.

He shrugs in return. “Don’t be mad at her for that. Like I said, she just…thinks in black and white. To her, getting the house away from Killian is the same as getting Killian out of his grief.”

“From your parents’ deaths?”

He gives a noncommittal shrug. “In a way, yes.”

“In a way?”

Lachy laughs uncomfortably. “This conversation is too heavy for a wedding.”

“I deserve to know these things. I’m about to be stuck in a house with this guy, and I don’t even know him,” I argue, stepping closer to Lachy.

He puts up his hands in surrender. “Hey, I don’t want to overstep, but I can assure you that you’re safe with Killian. He might act like a brute, but he’s not really one.”

I take a step back and shake my head. “Anna told me we’re supposed to make a public appearance next month. How does she expect any of that to happen?”

Lachy heaves a sigh. “Wishful thinking,” he replies with a tight smile.

It suddenly feels like I’m going to have to work harder than I thought for that ten million.

“Ugh.” I let out a groan, suddenly remembering our argument the other day when I ridiculed him for being able to go wherever he wanted without a driver while I was stuck here. I feel like an idiot. “Everything makes so much sense now,” I mutter quietly to myself.

Not having a car for myself must be Anna’s way of ensuring that I don’t abandon him here. Maybe she’s hoping that Killian and I can go places together or that having me with him will give him the strength to leave the house.

“Listen…” Lachy says carefully. “I don’t want to tell you Killian’s business, and I think there’s a lot that Anna is hoping he’ll tell you himself. But I do want you to understand that my brotheris a good man. He’s just…been through a lot. He’s hurting, and there’s nothing any of us can do to help anymore. But I think having you around might.”

“He hates me,” I reply without turning toward him.

“Killian hates everybody,” he laughs. “But I don’t think he really hates anyone, ye know?”

I let my eyes drift closed, and I force a few deep breaths into my lungs. Because I know exactly what Lachy is trying to say. But I also know what it’s like to hate everyone. He’s just sweet and naive, so he might not understand what it’s like to be so filled with hate that it blooms like flowers in your bloodstream.

He might not think Killian truly hates anyone, but I think it is quite possible he does.

Because I do.

“I better get inside,” he says with a nervous laugh. His footsteps crunch in the gravel as he walks toward the stairs that lead to the veranda.

“I’ll be in in a minute,” I reply.

When Lachy is gone, I open my eyes.

And just like that, dusk is over.

Now it is night.

Chapter Ten

My feet ache, and the lace of this stupid dress has rubbed a patch of skin under my arm raw. When everyone except for Anna and a few other stragglers have left, I escape up to my room.

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