He opened the door to the van and helped me in, and for a moment, I sat in the silence and tried to parse what had just happened. I was fired—that was clear. Addison would get what she wanted after all. I’d been controlled in a ruse orchestrated by at least half a dozen people, strictly for their amusement.

And I’d hurt Kash, the one person who mattered.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as he climbed in and started the van.

“I … I’m—”

“Please,” he clipped, pulling out of the service parking lot. “Don’t try to explain. I don’t know if I can bear it.”

I paused, unsure as he took a shaky breath.

“Lila, I am sorry—so sorry—that they did this to you.” His teeth ground together, the steering wheel squeaking under his grip. But he wasn’t soft, and he sounded anything but forgiving. “Of all they could have done, this is too much, too far. If I could have ruined every one of those useless skinbags, I would have. I don’t care what they do to me. Fuck them. Fuck every last one of them.”

“Your job,” I breathed. “I won’t let them hurt you. I won’t let them hurt Longbourne.”

“I don’t think you have any choice in the matter. But even if you did, it’s not your concern.”

“What do you mean, it’s not my concern? Everything having to do with you is my concern.”

“I heard what you said to Addison,” he answered after a pause, his voice somehow both soft and hard. “And I’m not surprised. I hate it, but I’m not surprised. I can’t pretend I didn’t know you were out of my league.”

“What? No, it’s not about that,” I insisted. “You can’t honestly believe I meant that.”

He said nothing.

“Kash, I was trying to protect you. Protect us.”

“From what?”

“From Addison. She wanted me gone, any way she could get it. She would have used you to get to me.”

He shot me a look. “You sure you were worried about protecting me?”

I drew a breath sharp enough to sting. “Yes, you. And Longbourne.”

“I’m not afraid of them—especially not Addison Lane—and I don’t give a goddamn what they think. But you seem to.”

“Stop it. Stop saying that. I don’t care about them, how could I?” My breath hitched and hiccuped. “After … after w-what they’ve done to me, I hope every last one of them goes to hell.”

“You know,” he said as if to himself, “I didn’t think you were anything like them, but you proved me wrong, as you tend to do. They’re a den of snakes, a nest of liars, and I thought you were honest. But you lied to her about me. And you lied to me about Brock.”

I stilled.