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batted her hand and knocked a cup holding toothpaste and a toothbrush off the counter, sending it
flying across the bathroom. It hit the wall with a satisfying crash and tumbled to the floor.  If I had
just been brave enough to stand up it wouldn't have happened to her. I could have saved another girl
going through what I did, but I didn't. Even then  she wiped away the layer of tears shining on her
cheeks  I could have spoken up and backed up her word, but I didn't. My parents said there was no
need to drag me into it, and that the boys would pay because of what they did to the other girl. And
once again, I let them, even though all the way back then I knew it was wrong. Keeping quiet ate at
me, and festered in me, until it hit a point that I knew the second I graduated from high school I would
leave Keegan and never go back. Shifting her head on her hand, she finally connected directly to his
gaze.  I changed my mind because I missed my brother. He didn't reply to the letters I sent him, so I
went back once to see him and talk about it, but it didn't go well. I don't know what my parents told
him about why I left, but he thought I abandoned him for a glamorous life in a big city and didn't want
anything to do with him anymore.
 So, that's my secret. Kasey pushed off the commode and moved into the bedroom, quickly and
carefully sideswiping Canin's hands. He shoved up and rushed after her.  Can we quit boohooing
with each other now and put our minds back on the job?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.  I wish I'd known this before tonight, he told her.  I never would have
tied you up like that at the club. My God, Kasey, I held you open with a spreader bar so that I could
fuck you 
Kasey rounded on him and got right in his face.  Don't  she poked him in the chest with her finger
  bring that shit up again. This thing happened to me over twenty years ago. I handled that fucking
bondage room tonight like a pro. We had those people eating out of the palms of our hands and
begging for more. Hell, we've got people hitting on us left and right. She backed off and moved to
her side of the bed, dousing her lamp. He turned away, moving to his side of the bed, giving her
privacy as she slipped her pajamas on, leaving the robe covering her until she was finished.  Brett
wants us so badly he can taste it, Lora thinks you're nothing but all kinds of sweet eye candy, and
Jonathan wants me to discipline his wife. Hell, after tonight, he'll probably approach you about it
too.
 No thanks. Canin crawled in bed beside Kasey, but very mindfully gave her plenty of breathing
space.  It was all I could do to say no to Brett again tonight without wanting to punch him in the mouth
for his persistence.
 Right. Kasey shot him a knowing look, and Canin's heart swelled at the way she bounced back
from sharing her terrible history.  And that doesn't even count that we're having dinner at the home of
a pair of swingers tomorrow night, for God's sake. Grabbing a small tube of hand lotion out of the
drawer in her nightstand, she went on,  We've got the club buzzing about us, which is exactly what we
went in there to do. We're doing great. Don't behave like we're not, or as if I'm deficient in some way
because you know this piece of me now. Don't presume that you know me well enough to make that
kind of judgment or assessment about me.
 But  Canin opened his mouth and snapped it back shut, speechless by the jumps in her complex
mind.
 But nothing, Canin. The phone rang, and Kasey held up her finger, the familiar embers of fire
sparking in her eyes.  Don't be that guy; that judgmental, know-it-all guy. You don't want to be him.
She put two fingers over his mouth before he could speak.
Putting the cell phone to her ear, she said,  Hello? This is Kasey.
The heavy breathing came right through the earpiece, even reaching Canin's ears. Kasey kept the
phone to her ear but reached up, pushed a button, and suddenly the breathing sounded like it was in
stereo.
 Listen, you pervert  she shot a quick look to Canin, and he nodded discreetly  I've got a real
man here ready to breathe right up close to my ear. I don't need 
 You'll pay, bitch. An eerily digitized voice filled the room, making Canin growl under his breath,
and Kasey shiver.  You and your bastard of a husband are gonna get what's coming to you, and there
won't be any way you can stop it.
 Who is th  Click. The line went dead, and the drone of buzzing filled the room.
Kasey ended the call and put the phone down, her eyes wide on Canin. They didn't even have to
discuss that she hadn't been on the line long enough to triangulate the call.
 So. Her voice barely registered as a whisper.  We did it. What now?
Canin slid down in bed. Stacking two pillows behind his head, adrenaline popped and snapped
through every pore of his body.  Now, we go to sleep. And we wait.
When Zin hopped in bed with them five minutes later, they both jumped about a foot off the
mattress. Heat suffused faces and curses spewed in short bursts, but neither commented or called out
the other for the tell.
They both settled back in their pillows and admired the ceiling, the cat purring between them.
* * *
Kasey stroked Zin's soft fur over and over again, unable to keep still. Glancing at the digital alarm
clock on her nightstand, she groaned at the hour. Sunrise would hit soon, and she had yet to get even
five minutes of sleep. She knew this bastard wouldn't attack them tonight; it was too soon. The logic
in that knowledge, however, hadn't been enough for her to close her eyes and sleep.
 So you faked it all night too, huh? Canin's voice rumbled from his side of the bed, snapping
Kasey to attention. She darted a quick look his way, and noticed he still stared up at the ceiling, just
as she had done all night. He said,  The last time I spent an entire night staring into space waiting for
someone to come who I knew wouldn't show was when I was a kid and my dad left us. I'd just lie
there every night wondering how I would confess to Rhone that Dad went away because of me.
What? Her brow crinkling, Kasey rolled to her side. Canin stayed stock-still as he was, his gaze
turned upward.  How do you figure that? she asked.  I thought you said your dad left because he
couldn't handle your mom's death.
Canin cleared his throat, and his Adam's apple bobbed visibly.  After Mom died, before Dad
checked out for good, he would go out and not come home until the next morning, or sometimes not for
a day or two. We had our grandmother there by that point, so it wasn't like we were unsupervised.
Still, when you've just lost your mother you want your dad to be right there at your side all the time.
Especially me.
Kasey held her breath, her hands knotted under her cheek, praying that he wouldn't snap out of it
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