Hard Dive (Paradise Lost Book 2) Read online

  Mom lay on her back sleeping. Her head tipped back and her mouth wide. For the first time I saw her gray skin, the hollowness of her face, the way her teeth seemed enormous. She was hardly more than a skeleton and I knew.

  After that, I kept up a false cheer for her benefit. She knew she was dying and I knew, but I didn’t want her to feel I’d already started mourning.

  I can’t go through that again. Not with Diana.

  I realize Zach’s shirt is wet from my tears. That isn’t going to help anything. Before I can step out of his embrace Zach jerks and inhales sharply. He swings me around and drags me back toward the ER door. “Damnit.”

  I try to pull my head from his chest but he palms the back of my head and slams my face into his shirt. “What the hell?” I struggle against him.

  “Hurry, Kylie. We’ve got to get you out of here.” He yanks me into the building and lets go.

  Half mad, half scared, I don’t know what to think. “What’s going on?”

  He casts around, studying the doors to the rooms in back. Finally, he shoves me toward the restroom. “Go in there. Don’t come out until I’m gone or it gets quiet. Or, hell, I don’t know, just go.”

  “What’s happening?”

  He’s halfway to the door on his way out. “The camera. I’ll take care of it, but you’ve got to hide. Now.”

  Sixteen

  Zach

  I look back once to make sure Kylie did what I said. She watches me over her shoulder but moves toward the bathroom. God, I hate leaving her alone like this. Her eyes are huge and dark-rimmed in a face gone pale with worry. She’s terrified for Diana and now I have to thrust her into this horror situation.

  Fuck you, Jonas.

  Thank god I saw the white van before Bob and Jeri were parked and on their way. Before the spotlight hits Kylie and ruins her life even more. How did they find me? What if they saw Kylie and can identify her?

  I charge outside and run for my car. But I’m not quick enough.

  Bob springs out of the van and flicks his light on. I hate that light almost as much as I hate Jonas Knightly. Lurch is on Bob’s heels.

  Liesa emerges from a taxi. She clicks to me in two-inch heeled sandals, the silky fabric of flowing pants swirling around her legs, her breasts free under the thin fabric of a halter top. When she sees me, she starts running, a sort of tippy-toe skip in her heels. “Zach! Oh, thank god!”

  What is this game? How does she know I’m here? I hold my arms out to her and she bounds into them, wrapping her arms around my neck and reaching up to kiss me. I play to the camera and kiss her long, but sweetly.

  She snuggles into me. “When I got the call I came as quickly as I could.” She jumps back and studies me up and down. “You look fine. Are you hurt at all?”

  I search her face, trying to read the signals she gives me. I open my mouth, fighting to say something, anything that will protect Kylie’s identity.

  Liesa gingerly touches a spot on the side of my head. “I can see the lump. Does it hurt much? I’ll bet it’s making it hard for you to think.”

  I tangle my fingers with hers and bring her hand down. “I’m okay. Just….”

  With her back to the camera, she gives me a stink eye worse than my sister Alicia ever could. Then she pours on sweetness. “I’m so sorry I didn’t let you in. And it’s so weird I thought you’d been in an accident earlier and you hadn’t been. And then, I sent you away upset and that’s when it happened. It’s like I willed it or something.”

  Okay. I’d had an accident. I hope like hell Bob doesn’t turn his camera on my pristine Mercedes. “You didn’t cause it. I was upset, sure. But it’s my fault for not paying attention.”

  “You poor thing,” she purrs, stroking my cheek. I hate that.

  So. Fucking. Much.

  She whips out her phone and punches speed dial. “The cab will be here in a minute. I’m taking you home and we’ll put ice on that lump.”

  She coos and picks at me, planting baby kisses on my face, telling me how much I mean to her. For my part, I do what I’ve been doing for a couple of months. I act. I pretend what she says and does means something to me. I don’t twist away from her or cringe, as I want to. Every touch reminds me that she’s not Kylie.

  The taxi arrives and she helps me in, then slides beside me and closes the door. As soon as we leave the spotlight, she taps the driver on the shoulder. “Go up here about a mile, then do a U-turn and bring us back.” To me, she says, “You need to get your car and get the hell out of here.”

  “Thanks for all of that back there.”

  She turns eyes full of fury onto me. “Go fuck yourself! Oh wait. You don’t need to fuck yourself with Kylie around, do you?”

  Shit. How did she find out already? “What?”

  She flounces back in the seat. “Don’t act so innocent. I smelled her on you.”

  Protect Kylie.

  “You’re imagining it because you saw her at Blue Heron the other night.”

  Her lip turns up in disgust. “You’re so full of shit. I know that smell. It’s that body wash she uses. I took a shower when I was there, remember?”

  I start to protest again, wanting desperately to leave Kylie out of this part of my life.

  She holds up her hand. “It’s all over you. How stupid do you think I am? You had that look in your eyes. That freshly fucked face.”

  The driver does his U-turn and we head back toward the hospital.

  “I didn’t—.”

  Liesa is madder than I’ve ever seen her on the show. This is honest temper. “I didn’t peg you for a typical asshole who lets his dick think for him.”

  “Kylie is—”

  “Would you just shut the fuck up? You can’t just cheat on me. You can’t let Jonas get his claws into anyone else, especially Kylie.”

  So, this isn’t jealousy.

  Liesa is angry because she’s afraid I’m going to get caught.

  Lying isn’t something that comes naturally to me, but I’ll do anything to protect Kylie. “I don’t have a thing with Kylie.”

  We pull into the parking lot of the hospital.

  She lets out a huff. “You sure as hell better not. Ever again. Jonas is three steps ahead of you. That little stunt in the Blue Heron, your whole deer-in-the-headlights thing could have been a disaster.”

  I think my best defense is to play stupid. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  This is not one of her hysterical fits on TV. She roils with intensity deep down, not a shrieking hissy performance. “What you pulled earlier, missing our date? You might as well give Jonas her address and social security number. And now this!” She waved her hand toward the hospital.

  I growl at her, not wanting to concede a point. “Look, Kylie’s friend is in bad shape. She couldn’t get in touch with Blake and she needed someone to help her. I’ll be more careful.”

  “Oh, no. There’s not going to be anything to be careful about. You’re not going to see Kylie, period.”

  I can’t accept that. “She’s my friend and right now she needs me.”

  She leans close to me. “I can’t control the narrative if there’s someone else involved. Too many moving parts. Jonas won’t let Kylie just be a friend and you know it.”

  “I think you’re overreacting.” She’s not but I can’t just abandon Kylie. Not after this afternoon. Not now that she needs me.

  She narrows her eyes at me. “You can’t be this stupid. Jonas knows more than you think.”

  “How?”

  The driver stops in front of the ER.

  “Mistakes happen. Like tonight. Kylie texted Blake and left him voicemails. He played one out loud. OUT-fucking-LOUD! I’m surrounded by idiots.”

  I stare at her, not fully getting her point.

  “How long do you suppose it took Jeri to roust Tom when she heard Kylie say, Zach brought me to the hospital?”

  I stop on something she said. “Blake was with you?”

  She tilts her head
. “Yeah. He’s my friend. The only real friend I have, as it turns out. Since I can’t trust you, I guess.”

  This almost feels like a real lover’s spat. “Why do you get to have friends, but I don’t?”

  “Because I’m Liesa Temple.” I can’t tell if she’s mad or sad. “Anyway, it was a mistake. Blake forgot the house is monitored and he checked his voicemail. And now we’re busted.”

  I need her to go back. “Your house is monitored?”

  “Of course.” She nods, her forehead wrinkled in thought. “Yours might be, too, although I kind of doubt Niles would allow it. Mother encourages it in our house.”

  I want to tell her to eat shit, but I’m starting to understand how she’s been living and how much I don’t know about this whole thing. “Okay. I screwed up. Tell me how to fix it.”

  “You can’t.” She rubs the bridge of her nose like a business executive planning delicate negotiations. “Go home. Tomorrow I’ll make you take me shopping. I’m going to fight with a sales clerk at a designer boutique because she won’t call the designer and tell him I demand a shorter skirt or some shit like that.”

  Great.

  Shopping spree tantrum.

  My favorite thing.

  My face must show my lack of enthusiasm. She lowers her voice. “I’m sorry, I really am—but it’s you and me against the world for the unforeseeable future.” She sounds about as excited at the prospect as I feel.

  I climb out of the taxi and start for the hospital door. Liesa rolls down her car window and demands, “Where are you going?”

  I point toward the ER.

  “To Kylie?” Her door swings open and she jumps out. “Jesus—you are stupid. Have heard anything I’ve said to you over the past ten minutes?”

  I don’t respond.

  “Where is she?”

  We lock eyes in silent combat. Again, she reminds me of Alicia, only much tougher. Kylie could use a friend and maybe Liesa can help her. “Bathroom off the waiting room.”

  She stomps off and calls over her shoulder. “Pay the taxi.”

  Seventeen

  Kylie

  I stand in a bathroom stall, wedged between the wall and toilet. Diana is somewhere in this place and I can’t get to her. Zach tore out of here so fast he scared me. I’ve been hiding for twenty minutes. Way too long. I’m done cowering.

  Whatever faces me outside these doors, I will walk out with my head high and tackle it head-on.

  With Zach on my side now, we form a solid line against anything that comes our way. Even Jonas Knightly. Because Zach stands in my corner, I know I can be strong for Diana, whatever that might mean. And I’ll be able to build a new life. One with Zach.

  I have to quit labeling this day. It started as the second worst, then became the best because Zach and I were together, and now it’s deteriorated with Diana’s attack. Where have they taken her? Is the surgery going well? I have no answers and no way of finding out.

  The door to the bathroom bangs open and the sound of high heels click in. “Kylie. Where are you?”

  I recognize Liesa’s voice. Go out? Stay hiding? Is she a friend or enemy? Before I can decide she bangs a fist on the stall door. “Get out here.” Anger laces her voice.

  I’ve been busted so there’s no reason to stay tucked into the stall. I flip the lock and push the door open.

  She steps back and folds her arms across her chest. Mad? Certainly. But she’s a hell of a well-dressed angry person. If I had the money she spent on the flowing pants and filmy halter, not to mention the sandals, I could pay my rent for a year.

  “Nice outfit,” I say. When what I want to say is, how the hell did you get here?

  She ignores what I said and what I didn’t. “How’s Diana?”

  An unexpected stone lodges in my throat and I manage to croak. “She’s in surgery but I can’t find anything out. Her spleen ruptured and she... she looked really bad when the brought her in.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  I try to process that she’s standing in the ER waiting room bathroom in the middle of the night. “Do you just follow me from one public bathroom to another to harass me?”

  She glances at the tiled walls of the bathroom and a smile tugs at her face. “Whatever works.”

  I can’t stand it. “How did you find out and what are you doing here?”

  “You called Blake.” She says it like she’s answering the dumbest question in the history of dumb questions. “I came to save you and Zach from yourselves.”

  “Blake’s here?” I move to get past her but she blocks my past. “I really don’t have time for this. Or the patience.”

  She holds up a hand. “Okay, don’t get pissed.”

  “Too late.” I give her my most irritated look and try to do an end-run around her.

  She blocks me again. “I know you were together today.”

  Zach told her? I try to pretend it doesn’t matter. That the fact that he told his fictional girlfriend all about us is totally cool with me but it’s not. Looking at me, Liesa rolls her eyes.

  “No, Zach didn’t tell me,” she says, probably reading my face. “I’m not stupid.”

  “Spoiled, self-centered, and immature, but not stupid.”

  Her gaze drops to the scuffed tile floor as if I’d actually punched her in the gut. “Thanks for that.”

  Quit feeling bad for hurting her feelings.

  I try again, unsuccessfully, to get around her. “Look, as much as I’d love to stay and chat, my best friend just got the shit beat out of her and is in surgery.”

  Liesa takes that like a hit. “I didn’t know you and Diana were close enough that she’s your best friend.”

  What, did Liesa think she was my bestie? “What are you doing here, Liesa?”

  “Like I said—” She lets out a deep breath. “Cleaning up your mess.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me just fine.” She scowls at me. “You and Zach want to do whatever, that’s your business but jesus, it’s like you two want to get caught.” She stacks her hands on her hips and cocks her head. “If you guys get caught, we’re all going down.”

  I know she’s right but I’m too worried about Diana to care. “Okay.” I bob my head. “We’ll stay away from each other until this freakshow is over with—happy?”

  “There’s no we here, Kylie. There can’t be.” Her hands drop off her hips and she shakes her head. “Zach is crazy about you and about three seconds away from throwing away everything—his family. His inheritance. His entire life—for you.”

  That stops me cold. “What are you talking about.”

  “You didn’t think he signed up for this bullshit on his own, did you?” She shakes her head. “His father and Jonas forced him into it. They brought him in to boost rating and if he doesn’t perform, he loses everything. His trust fund. His inheritance. His family—everything.”

  Jonas and my father have me wrapped up so tight I can barely breathe.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Stay away from him.” She looks sad when she says it. Like it’s the last thing she wants but there’s something else in her tone. Resolve. “You’re going to have to be the one to do it because he’s got this starry-eyed belief that he’s ready to give it all up for you and he’s not. He’s not strong enough.”

  I want to tell her she’s wrong. That Zach and I would be just fine without money. That all we need is each other but the words won’t come. All I can think about is Zach, living in my dumpy pink house, counting out pennies to buy ramen. He wants me, he might even love me, but how long will that last under the weight of his resentment overthrowing everything away, just to be with me.

  “Okay.” I nod my head, swallowing the bitterness that creeps up the back of my throat. “You win. I’ll stay away from Zach.”

  “None of us win.” Leisa sighs. “None of us get what we want, Kylie. None of us.”

  Eighteen

  Zach

  I circle the ho
spital with the intent of going back in as soon as Liesa leaves. Kylie is alone in there, waiting for news about Diana. She needs me.

  I admit, in the last year I haven’t been the kind of guy who’s there in a pinch. After Lexi left, I’d given up on everyone. Including myself.

  But Kylie makes me believe again. In the goodness of people, in the power of love. I want to be here with her. To help her and take some of the weight off of her. More than anything, I want to take care of her.

  I park as far from the light posts and doorway as possible and wait for Liesa to leave. I decide to give her ten minutes. If she doesn’t appear in that time, I’ll assume she’d taken off while I drove around.

  I pull the key from the ignition and my hand reaches for the door latch when Liesa saunters out, the swishy fabric of her pants rippling around her. A taxi arrives right on schedule, as if she’d called her private magic carpet. In no time she’s whisked away, and I bound for the ER entrance.

  I burst inside, searching for Kylie. My heart jumps and thuds to the bottom of my stomach when I spot her in the corner. Wrapped in Blake’s arms, her face buried in his chest. He holds her protectively, head bent to hers. I want to rip her away from him. Maybe rip his throat out.

  I want to be the one she needs. Keeping a lid on my jealousy, I approach them. “Do you have any news?”

  She stiffens and raises her head. Her eyes are red-rimmed and her face pale and tense. She sniffs and separates from Blake. “Nothing. It’s been more than an hour.”

  I reach for her hand, but she jerks it behind her. Is it because Blake is here? She doesn’t want him to know we’re together? A knot twists in my gut. After the time we spent in her room, after her saying we weren’t just fucking, did she really want Blake and not me? “I don’t know about ruptured spleens. But surgery can take a long time. It’s going to be okay.”

  I nod to Blake as a way of saying hi. He sticks out his hand and shakes mine. In another life we might be friends, but right now, he’s standing between Kylie and me and I want to kill him. “Thanks for being here for Kylie and Diana.”