My phone was ringing again. Like I had the first time Cain had called me, I ignored it. I was partly embarrassed after the way we'd left things, but mostly just over it all.
I was done.
As I brought the last of my things out to my Lexus, I took one last glance at the place I'd called home since I was twenty. For so long, I'd loved living in my penthouse. It made me feel like a real princess, having my needs met and my own privacy away from my parents.
But it was time to say goodbye.
It wasn't about Keith. I wanted to be with him, I did, but for the first time I had to see the whole picture. Was my inheritance worth my freedom, even if only for three years? Was it worth the disregard for my personal feelings? The blatant disrespect? Was it worth my right as a human being? As a daughter?
What good was having everything you could ever ask for if you couldn't have what you wanted? If life was lived within the confines of a gilded cage?
I loved that Keith challenged me as much as Jadyn, but even if things didn't work out, I knew I was making the move for me. That I wouldn't go back for a second.
So, I cried like a baby as I made the hardest decision I ever had to make in my adult life: to walk away from my family.
It wasn't quite leaving with just the clothes on my back, but after stowing a few bags of my belongings into my Lexus, I climbed in behind the wheel, set to leave for good.
This was real. I was really doing this. I'd never committed to anything wholly in my life. I dropped out of my sorority before leaving college altogether. I ran from Gaius when he wanted to be more. I felt overwhelmed and nauseous at the thought of moving out and into my own space. It was all too easy to fall back and just accept what was happening to me.
But no more.
It was time to be a big girl and choose me.
"I'm doing this for me," I said to myself as I caught my reflection in my rear-view mirror.
If my father wanted a casino more than he wanted my happiness, he would have to find another way to broker this deal. I was leaving, and thankfully, I had Jadyn to cling to. She'd been all too ready to take me in. What would happen next, I wasn't sure, but this step was the most important. The first major move I'd ever made in my life.
My cell phone rang again and I only answered it to properly tell Cain he could go now fuck himself.
"What?" I snapped into my phone.
His musical chuckle greeted my ear. "It's a very good thing you picked up this time, Kennedy."
I was so fucking done with this shit. "Look, Cain, this—"
"I'm having car trouble," Cain cut in casually. "I need you to pick me up."
I rolled my eyes. "Send one of your henchmen to do it."
"Nah, I want you for this. Hold on a minute, I'll send you the address."
Half a beat later my phone pinged with a notification from my Maps app. I clicked on it only for my heart to drop to my stomach.
He'd dropped a pin. He was currently at Rod's Repair.
"I...I don't understand," I let out.
"Do not play fucking stupid with me." It was a cool threat that sent terror dancing down my spine.
Cain knew. He fucking knew.
"O-Okay," I stammered.
"Do you remember the first lunch we ever had?" Cain asked.
"Yes."
"Do you remember what I told you I'd do if I caught you with someone else?"
My eyes squeezed shut at the memory. "Y-Yes."
"I'm about to test if Keith is bulletproof."
Oh God. Oh God.
My body began to shake at the possibility he'd really kill Keith. We'd parted ways, yet Cain was still intent to make me miserable. There was no way out of this. I was trying to leave, to put myself first, and here was Cain pulling me back.
"I was marrying you!" I cried.
"But you were fucking him," Cain responded dryly.
"Please!" I begged as my throat began to throb and I felt tears on the horizon.
"Better hurry up, my favorite way to relieve stress is by pulling triggers."
He said no more before hanging up, letting the warning hang in the air.
I let out the loudest scream as I began beating my steering wheel.
I was done. I was supposed to be done. It wasn't fair.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Tapping on my window drove my attention over to find security peering into my car worriedly.
"You all right in there, Miss Nichols?" the security guard asked as he shined his flashlight at me.
I shielded my eyes as I nodded my head. "Yes!"
The guard didn't look too sure, but he let me go.
With everything I wanted to call the police, but after being told that Cain had friends with badges, I knew better.
I sent Jadyn a quick text, telling her something came up with Keith and I'd be late getting in. I couldn't drag her into this mess the same way I had done so with Keith. If Cain did anything to Keith—I refused to go there. He couldn't be that unhinged he'd kill a man because he couldn't have me.
I drove like a bat out of hell to Bedford Heights, desperate to get there before Cain acted recklessly. By the time I pulled into Rod Repair's lot no other cars were around except Keith's. Leaning against it, smoking a cigarette, was Vino.
"Oh God," I whimpered as I slowly climbed out of my car.
Vino jerked his chin to the right. "Let's take a walk."
I shook my head. "Where is Cain?"
Vino made a face as he approached me and I backed against my Lexus. He went forth and patted me down, making sure I didn't bring any weapons, and as he peeked briefly into the sweatshirt I was wearing, I imagined he was also making sure I wasn't wearing a wire.
When he was certain I wasn't a threat, he took a firm grip of my arm and tugged me around the side of the building to the back where the garage was. On this side of Rod's Repair, I noticed a Rolls Royce Phantom and knew Cain was near.
One of the three garage doors was pulled up and one step inside sent the tears flowing.
"Keith!" I wasn't able to get to him as Vino's strong arm wrapped around my middle, holding me back.
Bound to a chair, bleeding from his brow, was Keith. Beans stood behind him and Cain stood in front of them. All around the ground was plastic sheeting. The perfect setup...for murder.
My hand covered my mouth as I looked on at Cain in shock.
"Nice of you to join us," he drawled.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Cain rolled his eyes. He went and flung a stack of papers at my feet. Closer inspection found them to be photographs. All in black and white. Of Me...and Keith.
My eyes snapped over to Cain who wasn't hiding his anger. "You...you followed me?"
"Not at first. Didn't have a reason not to trust you. You seemed like a compliant woman," Cain spat venomously.
"How did you know?" The photographs were from my trip to On Tap, of me going home with Keith, of us shopping the next day and getting catfish at Yvette's Kitchen.
"You were right not to like those women," Cain said. "I got a little phone call and then a very interesting video of you." His gaze flickered over towards Beans. "Show her."
Beans stepped from behind Keith and brandished a cell phone. On the screen was a video of me sitting with my mother at LeChé's. The angle was low, but there was no missing us.
"Keith is good to me," I was saying in the video. "I, uh— When I left the engagement party that night I went to Bedford Heights and caught a flat tire. He came to help me and we just sorta happened. He's such an amazing guy, he's hardworking, honest—"
Beans cut the video short as panic set in.
Betrayal. I'd been stabbed in the back. I was having a heart-to-heart with my mother, being vulnerable, only for it be stolen and recorded to share with my enemy.
"Elyse?" I asked as I got back to Cain.
He shook his head. "Stephanie. She even offered to be here for me in case I was having a 'tough' time dealing with this." He chuckled and his face lit up. "Now, that's a social climber if I've ever seen one." He became serious again as his gaze fell to the photos at my feet. "I hired a private investigator after that to confirm there was a Keith. I gotta tell you, I'm more than a little disappointed there is. Especially now that I know what's under all those clothes."
Keith's eyes raced to me and I shook my head, trying to let him know nothing had happened.
"Please," I begged, getting back to Cain. "This is between me and you. Don't do this."
Cain pulled his gun from his holster. "Uh-uh. I want you to see this. Keith's death will be on your hands. I warned you, Kennedy, and you didn't listen."
"NO! NO! NO!" I didn't think. I fell in front of Keith on my knees, not above groveling. "Don't do this!"
Cain cocked the hammer, his eyes empty as he stared down at me. He was going to do it. He was going to pull the trigger and shoot Keith.
"Take me! Take me! I'm not worth it. I'm not," I pleaded desperately.
I couldn't let Keith die. Not when he meant so much to so many people. Not when he made a difference in his community. Not when he mattered.
Behind me I could hear Keith's muffled protests as he struggled with his bindings, scraping the chair across the ground.
"Take me," I begged tearfully as I peered past the barrel of Cain's gun into his eyes. "Please, take me."
"Move," Cain ordered.
Refusing, I shook my head. "I won't let you do it. Take me instead."
I closed my eyes as the tears kept coming, prepared to take a bullet if it meant sparing Keith's life.
Keith's mumbles persisted as well as his movement and I declined to open my eyes. Too afraid of what I'd see.
"Take her out of here," Cain's voice commanded coldly.
A strong hand seized my arm and pulled me to my feet. Vino had me and he was taking me away from Keith.
"NO!" I screamed as I struggled against Vino's hold.
It was no use. He was much stronger. He took me out of the garage and reached for the door. It hadn't even shut all the way before the gun went off.
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Without You 💍 Lana Del Rey
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