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LUCAS
This is a goddamn nightmare. Just when I think I have everything in place, somebody has to come along and throw me a fucking curveball.
In this case, the somebody in question happens to be the daughter now facing me with defiance. “Do you want to tell me why there’s footage of you helping her escape?” I bellow at my daughter. I can’t control my anger, faced with the knowledge Aspen was the one who made this happen. “She was locked up for your sake!”
“That’s not true.”
“And do you think you’re in any position to know whether or not that’s true? I put her in that cell because of what she did. She set you up. You would be dead by now if things had gone according to plan!”
“But she doesn’t deserve to be kept in a cell like an animal. That was why I helped her. And honestly, if I never had to see her again, I wouldn’t mind. I don’t need somebody else’s death on my conscience, either, and we both know that would eventually happen if she stuck around here long enough. Rules or no rules.” She folds her arms, jutting her chin out in a way that’s far too reminiscent of my family.
“You had no right to do that.”
“I think if she was locked up because of me, I’m the only one who did have the right.”
She’s too smart for her own damn good. “You know what, I can’t even see you right now. Go back to your room.” I’m afraid I’ll say something I can’t take back, and that’s the last thing I want to do. Especially when we’ve already come so far.
But goddamnit, I’ve never been so fucking furious in all my life. I truly cannot remember a time I’ve been this close to losing my shit.
She’s gone. She actually got away. All thanks to Aspen’s conscience, which she certainly could not have inherited from me. This isn’t the end of our discussion. We will definitely revisit this, and soon.
Right now, I have bigger problems like a fugitive on the run. That’s the only way I can think about her now. I need to find her. No way am I letting her go. Why does she get to be free after what she’s done?
How could I let her go free after what she did to me?
There’s only one person I can call, the only one who makes any sense in a situation like this.
“I have a problem,” I tell my brother, pacing my apartment now that I’m alone. Like a caged tiger, unable to do what comes naturally. In this case, that would mean tearing somebody’s fucking head off. Starting with the pilot who took her out of here in the first place. He had no such orders from me.
“Another one?” Nic asks with a short laugh. “What is it this time?”
“For starters, there’s an escapee on the loose. And I need to find her immediately.”
Heavy silence greets me, and every second of it is like a blade inching deeper into my chest. I can only imagine how he must be judging me. How disappointed he must be in his fuck-up of a brother. I couldn’t get this right. I haven’t changed at all.
“Let me guess. She snuck out, and now she’s somewhere in North Woods, most likely.”
I come to a stop, staring at my reflection on the TV screen. “You already knew before I called, you bastard.”
“What would ever give you that idea?”
“Don’t fuck with me. You aren’t the least bit surprised.”
“No. You’re right.” He sounds sympathetic, but that’s not what I need from him right now. I don’t need anybody’s sympathy, not ever. “I’m not surprised because I got word of a single student getting on the plane to North Woods. Alone. Unscheduled.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“Do we really have time to go into this?”
“Right now? I didn’t think we did, but I’m starting to reconsider. Tell me,” I bark.
“Fine. We’ll do it your way.” He sighs, and I hate the sound. The exasperation in it. “Did you think I wouldn’t make it a point to keep a close eye on her? That I wouldn’t make sure my contacts knew to watch for a girl of her description with long, auburn hair?”
“What would make you do that?”
“For starters, the fact that you fucked her in your office, Lucas.”
It hits me with all the force of a cannonball, rocking me back on my heels. “How the hell—”
