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“Of course, it was. I’m growing impatient.”
“I need time,” I said, my voice shaky.
“Bad news, kid, you don’t have any left.” He tried to cajole me. “And if you think about confiding in the biker you’ve been hanging out with…” My eyes darted to him. “Oh yes, I’ve been watching you, Taylor. I know you’ve been hanging out with those bikers. At their clubhouse.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone anything.”
“Oh, I know you won’t.” He stood up and gave me that cold, psychopathic smile. “Because if you do, you’ll never see your brother again.”
I stood up so quickly my chair crashed to the floor. “Leave Noah out of this.”
“I’m sorry, did I forget to mention that he’s gone?” His smirk was cruel. “Oh, don’t worry, he’s somewhere safe. Your silly little babysitter didn’t even notice he was gone. While I distracted the ditzy little girl, Jean-Paul took your boy.”
A cold chill shot up my spine. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
Terrified, I tore down the hallway to Noah’s room, an overwhelming wave of fear crashing over me when I saw his bedroom was empty.
Alex came up behind me.
“Don’t worry. Like I said, he’s safe. It’ll be good for Noah to have a holiday away from …” He looked around the little apartment with distaste. “The boy deserves more than this, don’t you think?”
Inside, I trembled with overwhelming fear, but outwardly, I was rippling with fury.
“If you hurt him, I will kill you.”
“Oh, he won’t be hurt. I find that so unnecessary.” He waved the idea off as if it was ridiculous. But then his eyes sharpened. “But you’ll never see him again if you don’t give me the right decision.”
My knees buckled and I had to grab onto the doorknob to hold myself up.
I didn’t want to work for Alex anymore, and he knew that.
He stepped closer. “You have one day to give me your answer. Then I take the boy.”
When the man who had once been my world disappeared out the front door, I fell to my knees.
Alex had finally caught up to me.
And now my brother was gone.
TAYLOR
If Alex thought I was going to sit back and let him take my brother, then he had another thing coming.
When he left, I waited less than a minute to follow him.
He was hardly difficult to tail. There weren’t too many limited-edition Mercedes SUVs in this part of town.
I hung back, careful not to be seen, my stomach churning as I followed him out of Destiny, toward Emerald Lake, a fancy lakeside community where the holiday houses of the rich and infamous dotted the shoreline. Alex pulled into an enormous gated home and disappeared into a garage, the automated door dropping down behind him.
I parked up the street and slipped into the darkness, making my way through shadows and avoiding the light, until I was on the shoreline directly outside of Alex’s house. A massive boat was moored on the pier, and the smell of garlic and melted butter drifted across the evening to where I stood watching.
I was hoping to see Noah, but the windows of the lake house were dark. My hands curled into a fist, and I choked back my fear.
I wanted to go in there and confront Alex for everything.
I wanted to yell and scream at him for everything he put me through.
For everything he made me do.
For every lie he made me believe.
Then I wanted to tell him that my debt to him was paid, that I owed him nothing, that I would no longer do what he wanted me to do.
And if he resisted or told me no, then I wanted to put a bullet in him.
But I couldn’t. Because I had to be very careful about how I played the next hand.
My life depended on it.
Noah’s life depended on it.
With my heart a heavy weight in my chest, I backed away and slipped back into the shadows.
My phone vibrated in my pocket but I waited until I got back to my car before I opened it.
My clients always said you were their favorite.
Resisting the urge to vomit, I quickly messaged him back.
I have your word you won’t harm Noah?
I have no intention of doing something so unavoidable. Do this for me and you are both free. You have my word.
With tears falling down my cheeks, I drove toward Destiny, back to the tiny apartment I shared with my brother, feeling terrified that if I played my cards wrong, I could lose him forever.
When the tears got too much, I pulled over to the side of the road and with my heart breaking, I picked up my phone and dialed Bull’s number.
Bull answered on the second ring. “Taylor?”
The sound of his voice tightened the knot in my chest. “Can I see you?”
“Is everything okay?” He sounded sleepy.
Tears welled in my eyes. “I’m sorry about this afternoon…”
