Page 51 of Captivating

“How can you be so unconcerned with your own life, Lilah?”

“I’m not unconcerned. I just trust my team,” I snap but then walk into his chest and wrap my arms around his waist. “I don’t tell you how to fight. You can’t tell me how to run my tour.”

He kisses the top of my head. “Sounds like someone has to, princess.”

What the fuck?

I pull back, officially pissed. This is what I get for being comfortable. “I’m sorry. Do you think fucking me for two days gives you the right to tell me how to run my business?”

“This isn’t your business, Lilah. It’s your life,” he yells. “This man is stalking you.”

I tilt my head and look at the gorgeous man in front of me and play his words over in my head. “That’s the second time you used that word.” My throat gets dry as something clicks in place... followed by a hit of denial. “I don’t have a stalker.”

“Yeah, you fucking do.” He closes the distance between us and cups my face in his hands.

He’s too close, and I can’t think.

I can’t rationalize what he’s saying.

“No. I don’t.”But...“I’d know if I did.”

“Yes, you do.” His thumbs strokes my jaw, and I feel like I’m hearing everything in a tunnel as cars fly by. “Everyone’s so worried about upsetting you and protecting you, they don’t even realize that by hiding it, they’re putting you at risk. Fuck, Lilah, nothing scares me, but I’m scared for you.”

His words start to slowly sink in.

A stalker.

The bomb . . .

“How long?” My voice is barely a whisper, and when Killian’s face sinks, I feel crushed. “Killian...”

“I don’t know. Noah didn’t tell me how long.”

“What?” The scared whisper is gone, replaced by loud and shrill and pissed off. “Noah knows?”

When Killian doesn’t answer me, I push back against his chest and out of his hold. “Who else?” I demand and storm over to my closet and grab a pair of jeans. “Who else knows, Killian? Do my parents?”

His face blanches, and I want to scream.

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.

I throw on my jeans, stuff my feet into Uggs, and take a deep breath that does nothing to calm me down or clear the storm. “Can you please drive me to my parents’ house? I really don’t want Xander there for my messy family drama.”

“They’re trying to protect you, Lilah. That’s all any of us are trying to do.”

“You don’t get to make that call. None of you do. I get to decide. And I can’t do that if I don’t have all the facts. Now either come with me to my parents’ house or don’t, and I’ll go by myself. But I’m leaving, so you better decide now.” I don’t know who I’m more upset with... Everyone who’s kept this from me by making decisions about my life without including me in the process or myself for letting them.

“Damn it.” Cars line my parents’ driveway. More cars than I was expecting.

“Looks like your whole family’s here,” Killian murmurs as we pull in behind Addie and Leo’s car. It’s the first words we’ve spoken since we left my house. I’m not even sure if I’m mad at him or at everyone else and Killian is just being lumped in with them.

I don’t answer before I throw open the door with the raging strength of a woman pissed on a visceral level. No one can hurt you more than the people you love.

“Lilah,” he calls out as I pass more cars, marching toward the door.

I don’t knock.

They’re already expecting me, even if they have no clue how pissed I am.

---