As she tries to push to her feet, I grab her waist and hold her still.
“But it’s you that’s going to kill me,” she sobs. “Just like you killed my parents.”
And there it is.
The secret that has haunted me for years is about to unravel.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ASHA
Thump-thump…
thump-thump… thump-thump.
Love the sound of his heart.
Peaceful, calming.
Warm body. Enveloping me, feels safe.
That smell, it always tells me I’m home.
I’m asleep in Kurt’s arms, listening to the noises of the ocean, it’s such a dream.
But I can’t hear it. Why can’t I hear it?
His bed is not the same. Harder than normal, and it feels like we are moving.
There is a loud noise, a hum I don’t understand.
Forcing my eyes open, nothing looks familiar.
Kurt’s talking and puts a straw in my mouth, telling me to drink.
Ahh, that feels good on my throat, it’s so dry. My tongue is thick and almost stuck to my roof of my mouth.
I’m confused.
“Kurt.” My voice isn’t as strong as usual.
“Yeah.”
“Why does it feel like the bed is moving and I can’t hear the waves tonight?” I’m trying to understand, there is also a vibration I feel running through my body that somehow seems to match with the dull humming noise I hear.
“Because we aren’t at home, we’re on a private plane so I can take you into hiding. To keep you safe from everyone who wants to kill you.” Kurt’s words strike a pain in my brain.
I can still hear Davina’s voice echoing, “I’m sorry to tell you, Asha, but your parents are dead… Kurt killed them.”
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Get away, I have to get away.
It’s you.
You told me to love you, trust you, but you lied.
I’m trapped. Get your hands off me.
I knew I’d never get out of this nightmare, but I never expected you to be in the nightmare.
“But it’s you that’s going to kill me. Just like you killed my parents.”
I’m yelling now. I can’t hold it in anymore. “I can’t believe this. Why, why did you do it? They were innocent, it’s my fault they were even involved.”
I’m talking so fast, Kurt is just staring at me and letting me ramble, but he won’t take his hands off me no matter how hard I’m struggling to free myself.
“Why would you do this, make me fall in love with you, when you were just going to destroy me like this?” I’m screaming, my hysteria kicking in.
I try to fight, but my energy is quickly disappearing, and I’m getting weaker.
“Say something!” I choke out.
“Remember that day at the beach I told you that no matter what happened and how hard this got, you had to promise to trust me? You knew there would be danger, but you said you would always trust me.”
“Yeah, fat lot of good that did me,” I whimper to myself but loud enough he can hear me.
“Well, we can talk about that later. Right now, I need to explain everything to you, so stop struggling and listen.”
“Why! So you can tell me how you killed my family, and then what you will do to me?” The words spit out of me, yet in my gut I don’t know if I really believe everything I just said.
“Asha.” Kurt’s voice booms inside this room, wherever we are, not in anger, but the tone that makes me stop and listen.
“Two things.” He gets closer, his face only inches from mine. “I didn’t kill your parents. And I would rather die myself than hurt you. I can’t even think of a world without you in it, so I could never kill you. I love you more than I knew it was possible to love another human. Trust your heart, Asha.”
A little of the fight slides out of my body.
I want to believe him, I really do, but I’m so scared my brain is still fuzzy and not thinking clearly.
Yet all the parts of me that are saying no, he’s lying, are quickly disappearing inside me. Has he ever done anything to make me doubt him before today?
I’m so confused, and the only way I think I can make my mind up is to let him talk.
My head still hurts, and the truth is, I can’t go anywhere if we are on a plane.
If he really wanted to kill me, then there is nothing I can do to stop him right now. I don’t even know who is on the other side of that door.
“Let me go and start talking,” I say. I can see the reluctance in his eyes but slowly his grip softens, and I scramble back on the bed to the wall, away from him. There isn’t much distance between us, but it’s enough and more than is normal.
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I curl into a ball so I can protect myself as much as possible. I don’t know how we got here, but it’s the weirdest feeling. No plane I’ve ever been on has a bedroom that looks as plush as one of the rooms in the Warringtons’ house where I worked. This plane speaks of money in an amount I will never see in a lifetime.
Which in itself scares me.
What is Kurt tied up in that he has access to this sort of plane?
“Just take a deep breath, Asha. This is not a simple story, but I promise you by the end, you will understand and believe me.”
I want that more than anything in this world right now, but my defenses are up nice and high. He has a tall wall to climb.
“Mhmm,” is all I can reply.
“We think Davina is trying to kill you or is involved with someone else getting to you.”
“No! I don’t believe you!” I can’t help screaming back at him.
“I know it’s hard to hear, but
