The Insiders (The Insiders Trilogy 1)

Every single cell and nerve were in agony. I could hear them in my head. They were all saying, “Bailey, what did you do to us? We want a spa. Bailey. Spa. Bailey. Spa. Spa … spa…”

I was going nuts. My mind was bruised as well, apparently.

I tried to tame my hair, what I could, and I pressed a washcloth over my face. Raccoon eyes were a real thing. It looked like someone had tried to clean off my makeup, but not all of it was gone. The eyeliner decided to go through a rainstorm.

Catching a whiff of my breath, I wrinkled my nose.

“Bailey?”

I turned, or I started to. The room decided to race me, and it won. I grabbed the bathroom counter, holding on, and Kash was at my side in a flash. He caught me.

He lifted me up and carried me back to bed. After settling me down, making sure I wasn’t going to topple out of the bed, he returned to the bathroom.

He came over with my own teeth-cleaning setup. It was a whole thing.

A new glass of water, two towels, and a toothbrush and paste ready for me. I brushed my teeth, spit into the glass I’d spilled. Kash cleaned it up and handed it over. New water. And I wiped my mouth again. My mouth was refreshed, and now all the kissing could commence.

Kash took everything back to the bathroom. He came back, hitting the lights, and I heard his clothes being shed.

I didn’t want to process anything.

I knew maybe I should, but I was on strike on the emotional front.

I wanted to sleep. I wanted to sleep in his arms, because he was my man and no one was going to take either of us away. And because I was still having a hard time forming words, I closed my eyes as he pulled me into his arms.

I let the warmth take over. Again.

* * *

I was lying in Kash’s arms the next day.

I first woke around five in the morning. Brushed my teeth. Bathroom.

Went back to bed.

The next time we woke, it was because someone was knocking on our door.

A guard stuck his head inside, keeping his eyes averted. “Guests have arrived, and they refuse to leave.”

Kash sat up. “Her mother?”

“Yes, sir. Matthew. A girl named Torie.”

I grinned at that.

He kept on. “Her father.” He hesitated now, before saying, “And a police detective.”

Kash hauled himself out of bed, crossing to the closet. “Lawyers?”

“They’ve been here since eight this morning.”

A second grin from me. I had a picture of three lawyers sitting on a couch together, hands on their knees, backs sticking upright, dressed in their fancy long coats, with their briefcases at their feet, and then sitting, sitting, more sitting as the hours literally ticked away.

“Okay.” Kash pulled on pair of pants and a Henley.

Good God. That Henley.

Mouth not dry anymore.

There’s a fair chance I was doing everything I could do not to focus on what had happened to me, but the cavalry had literally arrived. They were outside, in the living room of wherever we were, and my vacation away into Sleepland was done.

Time was up.

Kash nodded, saying, “Give us another minute.”

The guard nodded, pulling back and shutting the door.

Kash swung those piercing eyes my way, and he stared. His brows pulled together. The seconds ticked away before he sighed. “I have things to say to you, but none of that’s happening with the brigade outside. I just need to know, are you ready for all of this? If you’re not, shake your head and we’ll slip out without anyone knowing.”

Oh man. When he said things like that, I was drooling.

But I sighed too, and nodded. “I’m ready.” My voice came out hoarse. His eyes darkened, but he just nodded, raked a hand through his hair, and stepped into the bathroom. I had gotten up and gone through a bag my mother must have packed. All sorts of Brookley clothes were in there. I had on an old pair of jeans and a sweatshirt when he came back out.

He stopped, taking me in, before his top lip tugged up.

“What?”

Amusement flashed in those eyes. “Nothing. I just got a glimpse into how you must’ve looked in school.”

I flushed. “I was a nerd in school.” Well, kinda.

“I doubt that.”

Yeah. His voice dipped low, sending tingles through me, going low as well. I tried to school my features into a scowl. I was sucking at it. My lips kept curving up, and then I just sighed and lay back on the bed.

He came over, leaning over me. His arms rested on both sides of my head. He held himself up, just gazing down at me, and all sorts of promising swept over his face. “Your mother is going to come in and fuss all over you.”