Page 157 of Inside the Wicked

My heart picks up again at that, and I pull the stupid pulse monitor off my finger. “You don’t know him. You’ve never once tried to. Never askedwhy.”

“I’m asking now. Because Adam and Liam seem to be on his defense too. As much as I’m not sure I can trust Liam either after his father’s exposure.”

I turn my head, and my look isn’t friendly. “It took them saying something for you to finally listen? My word wasn’t enough. Telling you I loved him wasn’t enough. Because I’m just a silly little girl, too lovesick and emotional to make a valid fucking judgment.”

“Ana—”

“I told you he only ever protected me. I didn’t deny what you found out about him, but you wouldn’t hear his whole story. Youdon’t deserve to, because Rhett is a better man than you’ll ever have the privilege of knowing.”

Dad shakes his head, and I twist in disappointment. But he surprises me with his next words.

“If you’ll let me, I want to know. All of it, every truth, and I promise it’ll be held as your dad, not as the president. If you can trust me to tell me, I won’t take it as anything legal.”

“The truth? The truth is, Rhett Kaiser is exactly who you think he is and nothing like it at all. He kills bad people and saves innocents by sacrificing his own morals. He’s a criminal in your eyes, but a savior in far more. And he loves me—more than I can ever explain. There’s nothing he wouldn’t risk to protect me, no limit to what he’d do for my happiness. If you ask me to choose, I’ll choose him.”

Dad sits with my words in silence. I don’t really care what he does next, because my mind is made up. I’m ready for the next outlandish plan if we have to break Rhett out of custody, and I’ve come to terms with the fact I might have to sever ties with my parents to do it.

“Tell me why he took the job. Start right at the beginning. I need to hear it all,” he says.

I have nothing to lose in telling our story. So it comes pouring out of me. I’m lost in it as if I’m replaying the memories just for me. I laugh, and I cry, and my stomach erupts at all our firsts. I leave out a lot of details about our private life, but everything that brought us to now is so unique and terrifying and wonderful. By the end, I’m reminded of how bonded we are, and how inevitable we’ve always been.

When Dad stands, I don’t know how much time has passed. He smiles, and I don’t flinch away when he leans in to kiss my head. I whimper because I’ve missed him so much.

“So it was all a misunderstanding,” he says. Confusion knits my brow, but Dad merely heads for the door. “I’ll make sure thepress flips the story as soon as possible. Rhett Kaiser didn’t take you. He saved you from a trafficking operation led by Alistair Lanshall, which you got caught up in because of Gregory Forbes. They tried to frame Kaiser to get away with it and faked his death.”

Relief slams into me and my eyes pool. “Thank you, Dad.”

“I’ll get a coffee and meet your mother outside. I think there are some other visitors waiting in line for you.”

My tears fall as he leaves.We’re going to be okay.More than okay. We’ll have the life we’re owed for the hell we walked through to get here.

I’m not alone for long before Rix, Jeremy, Adam, and Allie all file in.

“Thank god!” Allie gushes, coming around to my side and leaning in for a hug. I wince, trying to return it. “Sorry. I can’t help it. I’m so glad you’re awake.”

“It’s okay,” I chuckle. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Allie’s eyes flood with yearning, and pain furrows her brow. It tells me there’s a lot behind what happened.

“Hey, I snuck you in a little pick-me-up,” Jeremy says, pushing his brother out the way. He turns, and I burst into laughter though it hurts. I reach a hand up to pat the Chihuahua heads poking out of his backpack.

“Don’t make her laugh, dude—she’ll rip her stitches,” Rix scolds. Then his face softens on me. “You really are a Kaiser to have survived this shit, that’s for sure.”

Pride bursts in me.

Adam sits on the end of my bed and squeezes my calf with a concerned smile.

“Are they letting Rhett go yet?” I ask.

“We haven’t heard anything,” Rix says.

“Liam?”

Allie says, “Don’t worry about him. He happens to have a damn good lawyer on his case.”

That reminder is a flood of relief. “You’ve really been with him all this time?”

A blush creeps along her tanned cheeks, and my intrigue piques.

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