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“The violin,” I said.
Another nod from Isaac. “I fell for his story that Nolan had stolen the Stradivarius from him hook, line and sinker. He painted Nolan out to be just the most horrible person and that Trey was the victim. And the amount of money he offered me to go to Nolan’s apartment and take the violin was more than I’d make in a week turning tricks. Between the money and wanting to help my boyfriend out, I did it.”
“And when you realized he’d lied to you, you set him up in order to clear Nolan of the crime.”
“I shouldn’t have fallen for his act,” Isaac said. “I was smarter than that.”
I doubted smarts had anything to do with it. I figured Isaac had been desperate for love and acceptance, not to mention he must have been unbearably lonely and scared. He would have been looking for anyone he thought he could trust with his secret who would help him get his life back and keep Newt safe.
“Do you know for a fact Gary is still looking for you?” I asked.
“I googled Newt’s and my name. It says I kidnapped him and the cops are looking for us. I don’t think it ever made the national news or anything, though. I tried to teach Newt that we needed to use fake names, but he usually forgot and then he’d do what he did when he got here–he’d point out what my real name was. I was sure the whole Isaac Newton thing would sink us, but most people don’t seem to notice it. Luckily, unless you know our last name, it takes a while to get past the real Isaac Newton search engine results to the stories about me and Newt. ”
“Isaac Newton,” I said with a smile as I realized I’d never even noticed it myself. “Like the scientist.”
“Mom was a fan,” Isaac murmured.
I let my fingers stroke over his hair and up and down the back of his neck. He was still tense and his skin remained a bit chilled, but the fact that he was leaning into me so heavily gave me hope that maybe he was past the worst of his near-breakdown.
“What’s in New York?” I asked.
Isaac shook his head. “Nothing. Just another place to get lost in for a while.”
“Don’t get lost again, Isaac,” I blurted. “Please, let me help you.”
“I’m quicksand, Maddox. I’ll just take you down with me.”
I sighed and wrapped my arms around his upper body, then dropped my head on top of his. “I have money, Isaac. Lots of it. More than I could spend in a lifetime. I’ll get you the best lawyers… a whole damn team of them, if that’s what it takes.”
“It’s not just me I’d be risking if I exposed myself, Maddox. I can’t let Newt go back to him.”
“If the lawyers can’t help us, we’ll run. We’ll go somewhere the law can’t touch us.”
Isaac turned so he was facing me. He sat cross-legged so he could be close to me.
“Running is so damn hard, Maddox. It’s not something I would wish even on my worst enemy.” When I went to open my mouth, Isaac gently covered it with his hand. “Are you really willing to risk giving up your home, your brother, to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder? Do you really want to worry that every second of every day you could do or say something, slip up somehow, and put not only me at risk, but Newt too?”
Did I want to do what he was saying? Of course not. Just like I didn’t want him and Newt to have to do it. But would I do it?
Hell fucking yes, I would. But I could see in his eyes he wouldn’t accept my words as truth. If I’d learned anything about Isaac in these past few weeks, it was that he was unfailingly stubborn.
Isaac’s hand went from my mouth to the side of my neck as he clasped me there. His finger brushed over the shell of my ear.
“Stay through Christmas,” I said. “Let Newt have that. Let yourself have that.”
Isaac began shaking his head, but I leaned down to brush my mouth over his. “He’s going to hurt whether you leave now or in a couple of weeks,” I said. “At least give him some more good memories to hang onto.”
I didn’t mention the fact that I had my own ideas about how I’d be spending the next couple of weeks.
For every second I wasn’t with Isaac, I’d be talking to every lawyer under the sun to see what could be done. The reality was that Isaac had broken the law. Kidnapping was a felony and if he’d never reported what Gary had done to him when he was growing up, proving the fucker had been abusing Newt would be tough. Even if Newt remembered some or all of the details of Gary’s abuse, he’d only been a toddler at the time, so his credibility would most certainly be called into question. And since Isaac had had him for the better part of a year, any prosecutor worth his salt would imply that Isaac had used that time to brainwash Newt against his biological father.
