Page 69 of Be With Me (Adair Family 4)

My hands tightened around my shoes. “Kia pushed me. She kept me dancing. And over the years, I got over most of my shyness. When I was nineteen, I was offered a spot with a touring dance company. It was the first time Kia and I had been apart. I hated it so much, but she kept telling me it was for the best and that she enjoyed her independence, so I didn’t want to seem weak by telling her I was miserable.

“I stayed with the company, and Kia started posting street dance videos to YouTube under the stage name Cadenza. It didn’t take her long to blow up. She had millions of followers,” I said with pride. “Talented, funny, beautiful. I always knew she would shine like that. She loved the attention.”

Arran glanced down at the photo album, his fingers brushing a photograph of Kia and me at our high school prom. “What happened to her, Ery?”

I took a shuddering breath. “First … Granny passed.” My voice cracked. “I’d been with the dance company for a year, and I felt so guilty that I’d missed out on that time with her. Kia was on the verge of signing a TV contract to host a new dance competition show. But when Granny died, Kia fell apart. I always thought it would be me, that my twin was the strong one, but she couldn’t handle the grief. She decided to stick with her YouTube channel and turned down the TV show. She was making a lot of money through sponsors and ads. But I think she made that decision because she knew she was spiraling, and she didn’t want to be responsible to other people.

“As soon as I realized how bad the drinking, drugs, and partying was, I quit the tour and went home to LA to try to get her back on track. I moved into Granny’s with her and got a job with a local theater.

“There were so many arguments, so many ugly words hurled at each other that I wish had never happened.” I shrugged sadly. “But I didn’t give up. I stayed and pushed, endured every time she told me she hated me, until finally, I thought we were making progress. She stopped drinking and taking drugs. But … instead, she fell into the most toxic relationship she could find.”

Hatred threatened to consume me as I met Arran’s gaze, and he flinched at whatever he saw in my eyes.

“His name is Ezra Jefferson. He tracked her down after watching her videos, and she thought that was sweet.” I scoffed harshly. “I told her it was creepy, that there was something off about him, but he swept her up in all his money and attention. They fought a lot, but it was a few months into their relationship when I started to notice the bruises. I tried to confront her about it, but she’d get so defensive and angry. One night I was sick at work, and they sent me home early. I walked in on them physically fighting, and she was giving as good as she was getting. I was horrified.”

“Fuck,” Arran said hoarsely. “That sounds beyond toxic.”

“I think she just wanted to feel anything but grief.” I shrugged, renewed tears soaking my cheeks. “I’m not making excuses for her. It took her a really long time to see how bad it was between her and Ezra. She just couldn’t see it.” I swiped at my tears. “They were dating for about nine months, and I got in between them during an argument, and Ezra punched me.”

Arran’s body jerked, fury filling his expression.

“That’s what broke her,” I whispered. “Seeing me hurt. It finally got through to her, so I would take that punch over and over again to get that result …” I struggled to get my next words out. “I … He wouldn’t let her go. He started stalking her, sending her gifts with threatening notes. We tried the cops … but here’s the kicker, Arran … he’s the son of a Supreme Court justice.”

As if he knew where this was going, his face paled. He shook his head in horror.

I nodded through my tears. “I found her.” Images of that night, the memories, flooded me, crushing my chest with their heaviness. I sobbed, and then Arran was holding me to him as I tried to cry through the pressure of such anguish.

After a while, Arran’s hushed words of comfort seeped in. My breathing calmed, and I kept my head on his chest, his shirt soaked with my tears.

Once I could speak again, I lifted my head but kept my fingers tangled with his. “He …”

“You don’t have to tell me the details if you don’t want to,” Arran whispered, brushing the tears from my cheeks.

“I need you to know. I need you to know how bad it was so you can understand why I am the way I am.”

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