Page 97 of Taken By Storm

Rather than speak, he closed her door, then crossed in front of the truck and climbed in. He started it, driving her to her house, the silence in the cab suffocating.

Once he pulled in front of her house, she turned to look at him. “I need you to let me go.”

“Never.”

“Scottie proposed and?—”

Levi barked out a laugh that was pure fury. “And you’re not accepting.”

“Please,” she begged. “Please…trust me when I say ending things here is for the best.”

“No.”

It was a simple response, two lousy letters, but it was laced with a power that told her Levi had no intention of ever letting her go.

How the hell could she combat that level of determination? Especially when she wanted the same thing he did. She hated sitting here, fighting for something she didn’t want at all.

Kasi bowed her head and closed her eyes, digging for something that would convince him. She had nothing, nothingbut lies that would hurt him and she refused to do that. It simply wasn’t in her.

“Twenty-four hours.”

Kasi lifted her head, confused by his words. “What?”

“You’re running on fumes, little bear. I can see that. And something bad is going on inside that head of yours. I won’t press you or force you to tell me what it is because I want you to trust me enough to tell me on your own. So you have twenty-four hours to sleep and wrap your head around what comes next. I’ll be back tomorrow night at this same time, and I hope you’ll give me the real reason you’re pushing me away. Please, Kasi,” he started, the gentleness in his tone her undoing. “Trust me.”

She already did. But he was right. Her head was in a million different places right now and none of them were good.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kasi got out of the car and turned away, walking toward her house, praying he didn’t change his mind and follow her, then hoping that he would.

When she reached the front door, she resisted the urge to turn and look at him. Instead, she opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her, trudging wearily to the kitchen.

She should go to her bedroom and crawl into bed, exhaustion kicking her ass. However, her overwrought mind wouldn’t let her sleep.

An hour passed as Kasi sat at the kitchen table, staring at the wall in front of her, tears streaming down her face. She’d hit P!nk on her Spotify playlist, hoping the music would cheer her up or at least energize her enough that she could tackle the baking that still needed to be done.

What she hadn’t braced herself for was listening to P!nk’s “When I Get There,” the song the artist had recorded after her father passed away. Thanks to the beautiful melody and hauntingly painful yet familiar words, she had dissolved into apuddle of tears, and nothing short of a boat was going to save her from drowning in them.

Kasi swiped at her eyes, hating that she couldn’t stop crying. She’d managed to keep the tears at bay for months, but now that the dam had broken…

“Stop,” she murmured to herself, taking several deep breaths. “Stop.”

“That’s a pretty song.”

Kasi startled at the sound of her father’s voice behind her and quickly reached for her phone, intent on turning off the music.

Daddy stopped her. “Leave it. I want to listen to the rest.”

“I don’t think?—”

“It’s fine, Kasi,” Daddy said, sitting opposite her at the table.

They sat in silence as the song played out. Kasi grabbed a tissue, lowering her face, not wanting her father to see her like this. After too many hours of crying, she could just imagine how bad she looked with her blotchy face and swollen eyes.

When the song ended, Kasi tapped the pause button. She took a few moments, trying to compose herself until she felt comfortable enough lifting her eyes to face him.

Daddy remained quiet, but she felt the weight of his gaze on her.

“Daddy,” she started, uncertain what she planned to say after that.

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