Page 97 of Campus Crush
“Dad—” I tried to interject, but he cut me off, his tone cold as ice.
“I will destroy her if you don’t break up with her. Fall back in line, and get your shit together. Youwillcome to thismeeting tomorrow, and she will no longer be a part of your life. Your focus needs to be on what’s best for The Kane Group, which means being at this meeting tomorrow. And let’s not forget, son, I’m friends with powerful people and I can destroy her before she even gets a career going. I could have her fired as an intern from Holt. I could blacklist her in this community faster than she can blink. Do not push me. I expect you to end it and to end it immediately. I will see you tomorrow at four.”
He hung up, but I was frozen, still holding my phone to my ear as I stared unseeingly at the wall in front of me. My heart hammered against my ribs, and I felt a cold sweat break out across my skin. A nurse asked if I was okay as she passed, but I barely managed a nod.
Goddamn, I hated my dad.
But what was worse was that I knew it wasn’t an empty threat. Hedidhave friends in high places and could easily sideline Abby’s career before it ever got a chance to start. The Kane name carried weight in Montana and the surrounding areas—my father had made sure of that with his ruthless business tactics and strategic “friendships” with the right people.
She’d already lost so much, and she was about to lose more.
I slumped into one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs lining the hallway, my head in my hands. I couldn’t stomach the idea of bringing more pain to her life by breaking her heart when she was already being faced with a mountain of grief. The thought of walking back into that room and going back on my promise to be there for her made me physically ill.
But as I walked back into the hospital room and saw her with one hand holding Gram’s while the other arm waswrapped around her brother’s shoulders, all I could think about was how much I fucking loved her.
I loved her quiet strength, her brilliance, the way she bit her lower lip when she concentrated, how she brought out the best in me.
My life would be a black void without her. Maybe it made me weak, or maybe loving her was finally making me strong, but I couldn’t risk losing her.
She looked up as I entered, her eyes red-rimmed but dry for the moment. She gave me a small, tired smile that broke my heart and pieced it back together all at once. Mason nodded at me, the small gesture of acknowledgment significant from the typically withdrawn teenager.
I couldn’t give her up, but I couldn’t be the reason she never got the career she’d worked so hard for.
I had no idea what I was going to do.
FORTY-EIGHT
Foster drove us back to Gram’s house at the end of visiting hours, the silence in the car heavy with unspoken tension. I’d noticed the change in him after he’d stepped out to take a phone call earlier—his shoulders had stiffened, his easy smile replaced with a tightness around his eyes that he tried to hide whenever I looked at him directly.
Something was wrong, and after watching my grandmother’s health deteriorate while she pretended everything was fine until it was too late to do anything about it, I was sick of people not telling me what the hell was going on.
As soon as we got home from the hospital, Mason grabbed a duffle bag I hadn’t noticed he’d left on the stairs earlier. “Where are you going?”
“Colt offered to let me stay at his house. He’s already on his way here.”
He hit me with those deep brown eyes that were far too weary for someone his age. “Please, Abby. I-I can’t stay here tonight. It’s hard to be here without Gram.”
I swallowed thickly because I knew what he meant. I nodded, even if I was still worried about him.
A few seconds later, headlights swept across the front windows, and with a thank you and a quick wave, he was out the door.
I stood there for a moment, staring after him, then turned to find Foster standing in the kitchen with a distant look in his eyes. Maybe it was for the best that Mase wasn’t here because clearly something was going on with Foster and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice coming out more demanding than I’d intended, but I couldn’t handle any more secrets.
Foster leaned against the counter, arms crossed defensively over his chest, his gaze locked on the floor as though the answers to whatever was troubling him might be found in the pattern of the linoleum.
“I’m a selfish dick,” he finally said, the words falling between us like stones.
I frowned, confusion washing over me. After the last few days, “selfish” was absolutely not a word I would use to describe Foster. He’d stepped up and taken care of me and Mason in ways I had never expected of him—bringing us food when we forgot to eat, holding me through tearful nights, making Mason crack the first genuine smile I’d seen from him in days. He’d been my rock when everything else was crumbling around me.
I closed the gap between us and placed my hands on his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart beneath my fingertips. He grabbed my waist, his large hands spanning my sides as he pulled me against him, almost desperately.
“Why would you say that?” I asked, keeping my voice soft.
He looked so defeated it made my chest ache. “I wasgiven an ultimatum today,” he said, his voice low and strained, “and I’m a selfish dick because I can’t let you go.”
“What?” The word came out barely above a whisper, confusion and fear swirling inside me.
