“Come on, I want to show you the most special place, in the back.” He leads me by the hand, and I follow willingly.
We walk past beautiful tattooing alcoves. The hallway colors alternate black and red in different areas, but the inner alcoves are different colors, maybe more personized to the artist’s tastes? And the artwork! From exquisite realistic drawings and paintings of landscapes and people to animation and fantasy work I swear I’ve seen in movies.
“The art on the walls is gorgeous!”
“It’s all Liam and Talon. Talon’s work is mainly freehand.” Connor stops at one of the pictures and points out Talon’s signature. “Liam draws freehand, but he also paints,” he explains and points to another piece across the hall.
“This is our sanctuary, The Cave.”
“Man-cave?” I tease a little.
“Absolutely. It’s where we hold our most intimate conversations and loudest arguments. When we come in here, we’re just ourselves, without all the hype. We never bring women in either.”
“You’re kidding.” I don’t believe him. Then I see his expression. “Oh.”
“The first woman to ever come into The Cave was Sophie.” He looks like he’s recalling the scene. “It was after Josh had gotten really serious about her.”
All of a sudden I feel like I’m experiencing something sacred, or like I’m being initiated into a very special club. Connor is still holding my hand.
“Does that mean you’ve gotten really serious about me?” The words slip out in the moment. They’re meant to be light—sort of—but now I’m embarrassed and wish I could take them back.
Connor turns his body towards mine and pulls me flush against him. “Yes, most definitely. I am indisputably and unquestionably really serious about you, Elle.”
The gravity of his admission and the closeness of his body makes me dizzy. His arms hold me strong, and his eyes stay on mine as he leans in for a kiss. Just as his lips brush mine, a phone rings shrilly behind us.
“Do you need to get that?” I ask softly.
“It’s not my shop.” His hands caress up my arms and over the curves of my throat to cradle my face. “Now, where were we?”
“You were telling me how serious you are about me.”
Oh, his smile! Gets me every time. It just melts me. He kisses me and I’m lost in his touch.
“House of Ink and Steel,” a disembodied female voice says. “You’ve either called when we’re with other clients or after hours. Please leave a message and we’ll get back to you. Thank you.” A loud beep follows.
“Connor, if you’re there, you’d better pick-the-fuck up and fast!” a man’s voice stresses urgently.
Connor’s spine goes straight as he pulls back. “Liam,” he states. “Excuse me.”
“Of course.”
He rushes to the phone. “I’m here.”
I try to give him space.
“Jesus Christ!” he exclaims and looks towards me, all the color drained from his face. “Fuck. How long ago? What!?” Connor waits for Liam to finish. “I’m with Elle.” He’s nearly shouting with panic as he grasps his cell phone from his back pocket. “Shit! My battery’s dead. We’re on our way.”
We?
He drops the phone hard into the receiver before coming cautiously towards me. He looks scared.
“What is it?” I try to swallow, but it sticks in my throat.
“It’s Jackson. He ran away.”
That can’t be. I shake my head, thunderstruck. “Why would he do that? They’re all safe at North House.”
Connor shakes his head slowly. “They’re not.”
“What…?” I stutter. “What do you mean?”
“About an hour ago, a couple social workers arrived with a police officer who had a court order to remove them.”
It’s like the room is filling with thick mud. It’s closing around my ankles. Climbing up my legs. Cementing me to the floor.
I shake my head incredulously. “How is that even possible?”
“Prescott must have pulled some strings of his own.” Connor’s strong hands hold me at the shoulders. “When they came for them, they had separate vehicles waiting outside. Jackson saw what was about to happen and took off.”
It can’t be real. The mud reaches my ears. When Connor speaks, his words sound muffled.
“We’ll find him. We’ll get them back. I swear it.”
Connor
I’VE JUST BLOWN through two red lights. Elle is beside me in the passenger seat. She hasn’t said one word. She’s hardly looked at me since I broke the news. Her face is ashen, and she keeps her gaze focused out the window.
We pull into the driveway at North House, and both of us run to the front door. Cade left it unlocked.
“Cade?!” I call as we burst into the foyer.
“We’re in here.” His gruff voice comes from the kitchen.
He’s pacing back and forth across the linoleum, his cell phone against his ear. “That’s not good enough, Roland. I want those kids back here tonight!”
Debra’s eyes are red as she looks up apologetically at me and Elle. “We did everything we could we stop them.” She passes me a manila file folder. “They came with two armed officers. Brandon saw them coming and helped Jackson escape out the back.” She can’t hold back the sobs. “I’m sorry. Lily held onto my legs as they peeled her off me. She was begging for you, Elle.”
Elle spreads her hand over her mouth and shuts her eyes. Debra stands and embraces her.
I open the file and scan the documents, getting sicker to my stomach the more I read.
“FUCK!” Cade exclaims, squeezing his phone in his fist before he drops it hard to the floor. “Roland seems to think there’s nothing we can do.” He shakes his head. “I can’t accept that, Connor. So, tell me, legally what can we do?” His eyes lead mine down to the folder I’m holding.
The folder that holds all our destinies within its pages.
Cade’s a man of action, but he wants an answer he’s not going to get. Debra pleads with me as tears fall over her cheeks. They’ve fallen in love with these kids too. Elle’s expression is one of resolve and determination—she’s not ready to cry, she’s ready to fight.
And they’re all looking to me.
“I say we contact everyone and send out a search party for Jackson.” I know that’s not what they want to hear.
When Elle speaks, her voice is rough as gravel and sharp as a blade. “You know as well I do, he won’t be found. He’s gone underground and he won’t come out until he thinks he can get to them.”
She’s right.
“Legally, Connor.” Cade spits out the words and pokes his finger at the file. He cares little for the law when it’s not on the side of moral rightness.
I run a hand over the stubble on my face.
Debra pulls in a breath. “There’s nothing, is there?”
“For Christ’s sake, Connor, tell us!” Elle cuts in.
“The papers are signed by Judge Andrews. They give temporary legal custody of Jackson to his grandfather and dictate that Max and Lily’s placements are to be held confidential. We’re legally bound to abide by the order until—”
“Monday?” Elle interrupts me, a wave of pain showing in her eyes before she hides again. “Three days?!”
“Oh my God, the entire weekend? I forgot it was Friday.” Debra groans and drops her head in her hands.
“But we can file a counter injunction on Monday.” Cade sounds so sure.
“No. We can’t,” I explain in a monotone voice that sounds too much like a lawyer. “Not this time. It’s ironclad. They’ve written into the ruling that it can’t be altered or changed until such time—”
“Bullshit!” Cade fumes.
Elle whispers with urgency, “‘Until such time’ is how long?”
“Until the court hearing that Judge Andrews scheduled when we first appeared before him.”
“The hearing that’s”—Elle’s veneer cracks—“twenty days from no
w?”
I can barely nod. I feel like my body’s being wrapped in thick steel chains as my stomach fills with fast-hardening concrete.
“How did they do this without you?” Elle pauses to think. “You didn’t know about it, did you?” The old distrust flashes in her eyes.
“Of course I didn’t know.” My words come out strangled and hoarse.
“Were you taken off the case?” Her eyes plead desperately, as if wanting to exonerate me even as her tone is affected with suspicion and apprehension.
“No, I was never taken off the case. I’ve been trying to get Harrison to talk to me about it all, but he kept putting me off. Last week, he was out of town on business. We’re supposed to have a conference this coming week. I don’t even know who from the office would’ve done this. I don’t know how it happened.” I feel like I’m on trial; I get it, but I hate it.
“I’ll tell you how it happened,” Cade says, revving up. “A crooked judge with Prescott’s money greasing his palms overrode our emergency care order. I hate the fucking law.”
“So, our hands are completely tied until the court hearing?” Debra reiterates.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” I gently rest a hand on her shoulder.
“I need to leave. Please excuse me.” Elle almost runs toward the door.
“I’ll come with you.” I trail her out the door and into the yard.
She turns back around, conflict painting her expression. “No, you won’t. I’m terrified, confused and… angry. I can’t wrap my mind around what’s happening, and it’s hard for me to understand how you’ve worked for them for all these years without knowing this is how they operate.”
“I didn’t. I swear to God, Elle.” Her uncertainty coupled with the loss of the kids threatens to break me.
“I want to believe you, but how the hell did they do all of this behind your back?” Tears spill from her eyes; furiously, she swipes them with the back of her hand.
It’s as if we’ve regressed all the way back to that first week, before she knew who I was, before she felt secure enough to be vulnerable with me.
“I don’t know. I’m just as confused as you are,” I implore. “Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Oh, please,” she says bitterly. “Is that what you’ve been telling yourself while you’ve been working your way toward your precious partnership?”
“You think I’d purposely turn a blind eye and let them hurt the kids? You know how I feel about them. About you.”
“No. I don’t. How am I even supposed to be sure of the real you?” Her tears come like rain, and she doesn’t bother to try to hide them. “You’re Superman! You take care of orphans and children, you volunteer and mentor in your spare time, then you go to work for slime bags who lie, cheat and rip people apart! What else do they do, Connor? What other cases have you been on the other side of? Is what they say about justice true? Is it blind? Are you? Who are you under all these conflicting personas? Are you that teenage boy I’ve had a crush on my whole life, who sacrificed himself? Or are you the lawyer who works for the firm that did this to three little children, without hesitation or a sleepless night?”
Her words gut me. “Elle—”
“I opened my heart to you.” She spreads her hand over her stomach, as if she might be sick. “I let myself trust you. I don’t even know who you are.”
My head spins out of control. The words I want to say burn silently in my throat.
“I have to go.”
“Please let me give you a ride. Or Cade can—”
“I’ll take care of myself. That’s how it’s always been. That’s how it’s always going to be.” She takes off down the driveway, leaving me there alone as my heart splinters into a million irretrievable pieces.
“Holy fuck!” Talon shouts after he switches on the light that pierces the pitch darkness. “You surprised the shit out of me, Connor!”
I’m kneeling on the hard linoleum floor of The Cave, at The House of Ink and Steel, wedged between the table and couch.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I don’t want to tell him.
“Are you… praying?”
“I’m talking,” I growl through gritted teeth.
His voice drops an octave. “What happened?”
“Harrison filed an order and took the kids. Our hands are tied for the next twenty days.”
Talon’s brow creases. “You’re the lead on the case. How did he do that without your knowledge?”
“And there it is! The question of the hour,” I quip furiously, then shake my head, completely overwhelmed. “He fucking went around me. I knew there’d be a price to pay for my disloyalty, but I thought it’d be a personal cost. I never thought the kids would pay it.”
“Because of you bringing them into North House?” Talon folds his arms across his chest. “Why the fuck would Harrison or Prescott care where the kids are, as long as they’re safe?”
“Because Prescott doesn’t want them together. And because I did it without Harrison’s express permission. This isn’t an ordinary case, Tal. It’s been warped from the start. When I got them transferred to North House, my intention was to keep Jackson out of juvie and bring the kids together after everything they’ve been through. I thought I could give them some security while I got a better handle on the case and mediated with Harrison and Prescott for a better solution.”
Talon studies me with deep concern.
“Harrison was pissed at first that I’d spoken with Prescott. I got away with it by explaining I was simply interviewing him and prepping questions for court, as per protocol. But even though he hadn’t said it directly, I knew Prescott didn’t want to be disturbed. The truth is, I went to meet him based on what Elle told me. I had to be sure for myself that he had unscrupulous morals and motives.”
“And he did.”
“Yeah, the worst.” Bile rises in my throat at the memory of Prescott’s cruelty and arrogance.
“And?”
“This is where I really screwed up.” My knees and head ache, but it’s nothing compared to the aching in my heart as I go over my actions, wondering if there was any other way I could’ve spared the kids and Elle from this hell storm. I shake my head. “But I knew if I told Harrison about my plan to move the kids, he would’ve stopped it. And they needed each other. So instead, I briefed Harrison after the fact in a simple memo. Like it was no big deal. After that weekend, I tried to set up an urgent meeting with him to discuss the case. See if we could…”
“Make the situation right?” Talon finishes my thought.
“Yeah. I thought maybe this man, who has children of his own, would come to his senses and do the right thing before it was too late.”
“Not everybody does the right thing, Con.”
I wince. Harrison has been my law mentor for years. I didn’t want to believe it.
I fall back onto my ass, feeling defeated. “I was trying to figure out how to navigate the situation—along with my entire life. Harrison kept putting me off. Then he had a conference in Vegas all this week. I had no idea this was going to happen. No warning. And I fucking hate myself because I should’ve seen it coming!”
“How could you have known they’d act this dirty?”
I prop my elbows on my knees and bury my head in my hands. “Elle hates me again.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When she first she saw me in court representing Prescott… she thought I was reprehensible. It took a lot for her to trust me. Whatever it is she believes now, she knows for sure I’m in league with the people who did it. That’s enough for her to never forgive me.” My chest rises and falls with a deep breath. “Honestly, I don’t think I can ever forgive myself.”
Talon’s brow creases into a deep frown as he listens patiently.
“I played a dangerous game against Prescott and I lost. I caused those kids to lose, because of my choices.” I shove my finger against my chest. “I put all of them into the
middle of this: the kids, Elle, Cade, Debra. What the fuck was I thinking?!” Hit with a blinding rush of agony, I jump up from the floor and kick over the coffee table with a crash, sending magazines flying.
“I’m responsible! I should’ve forced the issue with Harrison. Dealt with it head on. Maybe this shit wouldn’t have happened then. Maybe then Jackson, Max and Lily would be tucked warmly in their beds tonight at North House. Instead, they’ve been ripped apart again… and from a place where they thought they were safe.” This hurricane annihilates me. Fear, sorrow, rage and tears: I can’t hold them back. “They’re in the homes of complete fucking strangers and I can’t do anything! And Jackson’s disappeared… ran off into the night. It’s fucking below zero outside!” I gesture toward the door that leads out into the night. “He has no gear; I don’t even know if he’s wearing a coat! Where’s he going to go? Jesus Christ!” Roughly, I scrape the tears streaming down my face with my forearm.
“I’ve only ever prayed four times in my life. Once to find my mom, once for a girl who was searching for her brother, on the night I thought Quinn was going to die… and right now.”
Talon nods slowly, sits on the sofa and leans his elbows onto his knees. “You’re feeling pretty helpless.”
I barely trust myself to speak anymore. “Yeah.”
“There are two things you need to understand: No matter what happens from this moment forward, at least they had the time they did with you and Elle and each other. They know they’re loved, and that’s better than not having had love at all.” He pauses as he allows that statement sink in. “And there is one thing that I know you can do.” His tone is strong with assurance.
“What?” I grasp quickly at the hope.
Talon looks me right in the eyes. “If anyone knows how to run and hide, it’s you.”
His words hit me like a powerhouse.
“Think like your teenage self,” he continues. “Where would you go? What would you do?”
It takes me only a moment to contemplate it.
“I know where Jackson is.”
Elle
“I SHOULD’VE NEVER trusted him!” I sob into the Kleenex.
Risk: An Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance Romance Standalone (Brothers of Ink and Steel) Page 25