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“Lily?” Jane says when she doesn’t say anything. “Hello? Are you there?”
“J-Jane.” Lily sounds terrified, like it’s an effort to breathe, let alone speak. “Puh-please…”
“Enough of that,” Sergei says, and my blood freezes.
“We had a deal,” I growl.
“That was before somebody passed a certain recording to the police. Billionaires, ha! Your trust in the law would be admirable if it weren’t so stupid.”
I close my eyes and feel the loss. They’ve got contacts in the police. He knows I was going to trick him.
“I am going to do terrible things to this woman,” Sergei continues.
As cruel as it is, these words don’t trigger something in me. It’s the moan of agony that comes from my woman. Worse, I can read her tone, the pain, and the specific type of agony. She already feels so guilty about Christopher. It’s not as if she liked her roommate, but in her mind, it will be her fault if Sergei does anything to her.
That’s wrong. It’s my fault. Bully or not, this woman is a civilian. She’s got no place in this seedy underbelly.
“You will come to the address I send in a text,” Sergei says. “You and your woman. If you do not come within an hour, I will take little Lily somewhere even more private. She will not die quickly. She will suffer for many weeks in the most depraved fashion.”
Jane is crying. I reach over and touch her hand, furious at these bastards for making her cry again when she so recently let go of past pain.
“You will bring at least one million in cash or valuables.”
It sounds like you’re up against it, I almost say, but taunting is the last thing I should do. It’s the truth. He knows the police are closing in—the ones not loyal to him, anyway. Maybe he has cases against him I’m not even aware of. He just wants to get out of town.
“An hour,” he says, then hangs up.
“We have to do it,” Jane says right away. “Please. Oh, Jesus, I never liked her, but she tried to warn and save me. She did the right thing in the end. I can’t let anything happen to her.”
“Neither can I,” I growl, “but I can’t risk you either.”
She might hate me for this, but at least it will save her life. Standing, I pick up her cell phone. The text arrives, and I memorize the address, then quickly delete the text.
“Luke?” she yells, snatching her hand out.
“I’m not taking you with me,” I snap.
“But he said that—”
“He’ll get his cash. That will have to be enough.”
“Luke!”
I grab her shoulders, squeezing so she can feel how serious I am.
“I need to run to a nearby apartment to raid the safe, then get to Lily within an hour. We don’t have time to argue about this. You’ve got to let me go.”
“But—”
“I can’t let anything happen to you!” I roar. “I’ll never let anybody hurt you. You’re going to be the mother of my children. You’re going to be my wife. I—”
Screw it. This might be the last time I ever see her.
“I love you,” I say, and she gasps.
There’s something in the gasp that tells me she feels the same. It’s buried deep like a hidden code, a message of complete belonging. Then she leans away from me, refusing a kiss. “I won’t say it, not until you come back.”
“I love you, Jane. I loved you the first moment I saw you.”
She sits on the bed, folding her arms and glaring at me. Her lips are trembling.
“You can’t go alone. Please, take me with you.”
“I can’t…”
She runs for the door, but I’m quicker. I close it and hold it tightly as she hits it with her fist.
“Stop,” I roar. “You don’t even know the address. You’re staying here where it’s safe.”
Finally, she calms down.
“You better come back,” she says, “so I can tell you… but not until you’re safe, not until the future’s safe. I could ask you to leave her, you know, to let Sergei have her.”
“You could, but you won’t, and you never will.”
I march from the bedroom, then realize I’m still in my underwear. When I return to the bedroom, she’s sitting on the edge of the bed in her PJs, anxiously biting her fingernail.
“Forgot my clothes.”
She smiles shakily, but after I’ve dressed, she looks more determined. She walks up to me, wraps her arms around me, and stands on her tiptoes.
“I love you too,” she says, her voice torn with emotion. “The first time I saw you, and I’m not talking about the café. I’m talking about before, about the crush, so you better come home to me. We’ve got babies to make. We’ve got a future to get ready for.”
“I promise. Nothing could keep me away from you.”
I hug her tightly, ignoring the ache in my shoulder. “Say it again.”
