Page 67 of Forbidden Bond

Katherine takes in a deep breath before speaking. “Were you actually going to shoot her?”

I can’t read the expression on her face. But I give her an honest answer regardless.

“I don’t know.”

She nods like she was expecting that. “Why do you keep guns?”

There’s only one answer to that. “Because I’m a D’Angelo.”

“Have you ever…” She pauses and looks away before her eyes find mine again. “Have you ever killed anyone before?”

“No, I told you I haven’t. I came close once, though,” I say.

“What happened?”

“What happened when we were in the elevator?” I retort.

She looks away.

“You can’t expect me to bare my heart and soul to you, princess, and not reciprocate. That’s not how it works.”

“I know,” she tells me softly.

“So talk to me.”

She gestures for me to come closer. I hadn’t even realized I was standing so far away. I guess a part of me was worried she wouldn’t want to be near me anymore, not after she saw me battling the urge to shoot someone. As soon as I sit down beside her, she leans into me, seeking my warmth. I let out a soft breath of relief and wrap my arms around her.

“I have a fear of enclosed places. Claustrophobia,” she mutters.

“Yeah, I figured,” I tell her.

“I didn’t always have it. It started when I was sixteen.”

“Why? What happened?” I squeeze her arm gently, trying to convey to her that she can trust me.

“My sister and I were kidnapped. You know my dad’s the director of the FBI but back then he was a regular agent. He had just closed a case involving a serial killer and things were relatively quiet. Until he started getting death threats from someone. Promises to destroy him and his family. They were later traced to a man named Charles Leeman. He was the serial killer’s younger brother.”

Katherine pauses to shift closer to me, and my grip around her tightens. When she shivers, I run a hand through her hair to soothe her.

“Charles grew obsessive after his brother was locked up. My dad wouldn’t let any of us out of his sight for so long. Tessa was in her second year of college. She had to have someone tailing her at all times, for her own protection. The threats continued for a week, but we were never allowed to see any of the letters so Tessa and I didn’t know how bad it was. We weren’t oblivious, we just didn’t realize it was that serious. She came home one day after ditching her bodyguard. She wasn’t as serious then as she is now. I guess the experience changed her a lot.” She pauses like she doesn’t want to say any more.

“Keep going,” I prompt gently.

“Tessa came home and managed to convince me to sneak out to a concert with her. It was supposed to be a few hours. Mom and Dad weren’t home; if they were they wouldn’t have let us. I guess we were both tired of constantly being watched. When we were driving back home, though, our car got a flat tire. Tessa stepped out to check it out and the next thing I knew, I was hearing her scream. I rushed out of the car and I guess I got hit in the back of the head because I passed out. When we woke up, we were in a basement. A really small basement.”

My breath hitches. It’s all starting to make sense to me. Katherine’s voice is strong as she relays the rest of the story.

“He fed us once a day. Every day, he would open the door and bring us some food. It was always dark so we never really saw his face. It was terrifying. Tessa would hold me and sing to me and tell me to be brave. She made so many promises to keep me safe, to protect me. She promised me that we weren’t going to die in that basement. We were in there for three days. He kept us hidden pretty well. He wasn’t stupid enough to get caught, and we realized we had to escape on our own. On the fourth day when he brought us some food, Tessa jammed a piece of wood into his leg. It worked momentarily. He went down in pain and we started racing up the stairs. But then—” She stops, her breath catching. “He caught her. I turned around and saw my sister get slammed down onto the stairs. I didn’t move but then Tessa was yelling at me to go. He pulled her to his side and held a knife to her and told me that if I left, he would kill her. But Tessa was insistent that I leave. She told me she’d never forgive me if I stayed behind. So I left.”

It takes me a moment to realize she’s crying softly. I tilt her head back and brush some of the tears away.

“Hey, that wasn’t your fault. You were strong, and you knew you had to survive.”

“He stabbed her, Toph. I got out and I got help, but by the time the cops got there, Tessa was almost dead. He was gone. They almost didn’t get him, but eventually, he was apprehended. Tessa was unconscious for almost a week. It was honestly worse than the time I was abducted. I was going crazy from the grief and the guilt. I would have never forgiven myself if she didn’t wake up.”

“She wouldn’t have wanted you to feel like that.”

“I know. I spent almost two years in therapy unpacking everything. Tessa only got therapy for a year and she was okay. I’m the one that became claustrophobic. She was the one that suffered the most and yet I’m the one still broken from what happened.”

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