Loyal Hearts (The Barrington Billionaires Book 4)

by Danielle Stewart

  “I’m not leaving you on the side of the highway. I’ll get you to the Island. Once I know you’re on the other side of the gates I’ll leave you alone. You won’t have to see me again.”

  “I’d ask you to promise, but it wouldn’t matter coming from you.”

  “I’m doing this—”

  “Don’t you dare say you’re doing this for me. Don’t say another word. If you won’t let me out of the car you’re damn sure letting me out of this conversation.”

  He nodded his head, reluctantly agreeing and his mouth snapped shut. His face still danced with a hundred things to say, but he was giving her the small gift of shutting up. That wasn’t enough to make her feel any kind of gratitude though.

  As she closed her eyes and pressed her head to the window she realized she couldn’t really feel anything. The hurt had left her suddenly. The fear, gone. It was numbness that tingled its way through her body now. And it was so welcomed.

  Chapter 24

  “Are you all right?” Jessica asked, a freshly poured glass of wine in her hand. Harlan hadn’t initially taken to either of her brothers’ love interests. It wasn’t because there was anything particularly wrong with them; it was just hard to trust. When you came from money any person that popped up in your family’s life was subject to scrutiny. And after the appropriate amount of it, Harlan had realized both Jessica, Mathew’s girlfriend, and Evie, Emmitt’s girlfriend, were the real thing.

  “I’m fine,” Harlan said, patting the stinging skin under her eyes. “He’s overreacting. I think he was looking to pull the ripcord, waiting for a chance to get rid of me.”

  “I doubt that,” Jessica assured. “Mathew talked to him at the gate after you came in the house. You went in the bathroom, and I could hear them. He’s really worried. He feels responsible. The look on his face, it looked like a guy who was pretty torn up.”

  “It’s not my problem anymore,” Harlan sighed. “No one else is my problem. I’m taking the girls and going away. I’ll go somewhere none of this will matter anymore.”

  “What about your mother? Dance class and all the girls’ friends? They have a life here.” Jessica sounded more worried than judgmental, but Harlan was having a hard time not lashing out at the nearest target right now.

  “I’m done living my life like this. They deserve better. I’m going to give it to them. My mom can come with us.”

  “Do you think she’d do well outside her own environment for that long?”

  “Could you maybe stop answering all my ideas with rational arguments? It’s really making me dislike you.”

  “Right,” Jessica smirked. “What about Carmanine Islands. I’ve heard they are practically deserted. You could open a surfboard shop. The girls could grow up learning the local culture and make all new friends. Your mother could get a hut on the beach and spend the rest of her life trying to get sand off her floors.”

  Harlan finally cracked a smile, punctuating it with a swig of wine. “That’s much better. Do more of that.”

  “Then we’ll find this Dallas guy and make his life hell. But in a mysterious way where he doesn’t know it’s us. Start small at first, just have someone break into his apartment and tie all his shoelaces together. Then maybe take one of each of his socks until he goes mad. I’m great at this stuff. You’ve come to the right place.”

  “Does Mathew know how dangerously crazy you are?” Harlan teased, flopping down on a fluffy cushion of one of the wicker chairs in the sunroom.

  “He does. I make sure he does. There’s no point in having these special skills if you can’t use the threat of them to keep people in line.”

  “I was falling hard for him,” Harlan admitted, practically hugging her glass of wine for comfort. “I think I could have loved him.”

  “That’s a big deal,” Jessica remarked. “I know you’ve had a rough time lately. Having hope like that and then losing it so fast, that’s a bitch.”

  “It’s a bitch for sure,” Harlan agreed, tipping her glass back and drinking the rest of the wine. “Have you ever lost your identity?”

  “Like someone using my credit cards? Trust me no one would want my credit score; they’d skip right over my wallet.”

  “No,” Harlan said, shaking her head. “I mean have you ever completely forgotten who you are, what you love, and what you’re supposed to be doing?”

  “No,” Jessica said frankly. “I’ve always known what I wanted from life. I haven’t always gotten it, but I’ve tried to move toward what I love. Is that how you’re feeling? Like you don’t know who you are anymore?”

  “I was my husband’s wife for a long time. That sounds oppressive, kind of old-fashioned, and maybe it was. But you know what else it was? Safe. I was a mom who knew where her children would be next week, next month, and I could make them feel safe. Even on the hard days things were predictable. I was only good at those things, but I was very good. I stopped reading the books I like. I stopped talking to most of my friends the way I used to. I loved to dance too, and then suddenly it was just about being dance mom instead. I’m not complaining. I was happy. Truly and completely happy. If all of that was still happening right now, if my job was still to make everyone safe and content, I’d sign up for a hundred years.”

  “But that’s gone now,” Jessica interjected sympathetically.

  “It is. It left with Rylie. I still have the girls, but it’s all different now. I’m not able to give them that blanket statement, the world is a wonderful place, anymore.”

  “Someone could argue they need you more now. Your job is more important than ever.”

  “Maybe.” Harlan hung her head in defeat. “I just need to find my way back to being happy in what I have and not mourning everything I’ve lost.”

  “Sounds like you need a plan,” Jessica asserted, leaning over and refilling Harlan’s wine glass.

  “How do you make a plan to be happy?” Harlan asked, wholly unconvinced. “Happy is supposed to be easy and spontaneous.”

  “Who told you that?” Jessica laughed. “It’s a fight. A knock-down, drag-out battle to claim the piece of the world that makes you feel whole and right. Are you ready to fight?”

  Harlan closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead, exhausted but glad to be in the company of a woman like Jessica. “I don’t know how much fight I have left in me.”

  “That’s okay,” Jessica said, leaning forward and patting her leg. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

  Chapter 25

  “You’re circling me like a buzzard,” Mathew complained as Harlan made another lap around him in the kitchen.

  “I’m wiping the counters down,” she lied, looking for crumbs that didn’t exist.

  “Just spit it out,” Mathew sighed, putting his coffee mug and the newspaper down. “You’re predictable. You used to do this same thing when we were young and you wanted me to give you a ride somewhere. Tell me what you need. Save us both some time.”

  “Do you know how to give someone money without it tracing back to you or anything our family is associated with?” Harlan fiddled with her fingers and averted her eyes as she sheepishly asked.

  “Are you asking if I know how to embezzle money or use a shell company to move it around?” His brows were raised up high as though this question had taken him completely off guard.

  “Well, I’m not asking you for a ride to the mall.” She smirked. “I want to be able to pay for a service without it linking back to us.”

  “Are you buying dates now?” Mathew quipped, smiling behind his coffee mug. “If you’re that desperate I can fix you up with a guy I know.”

  “It’s for a forensic lab to gather evidence. I want to send money to pay for it.”

  “Harlan,” Mathew exhaled, the wrinkles next to his eyes leaving as his smile faded away. “Dallas called me already about this.”

  “Oh great, I’m glad everyone is up to speed on all the details of my life. You don’t get to decide how I spend my money. If this keeps
up, the girls and I are going to take off. You all want to be in our lives, but you can’t run our lives.”

  “Are you done?” Mathew asked, with a loud huff. “That’s not what I meant. Dallas called me to let me know that the car associated with the case was found torched this morning. Someone got to it first. It was under an overpass down by the water and burned for hours before anyone called it in. There’s nothing left to it.”

  “What?” she gasped, heat rolling up her body. “But that was going to be the break in the case. Dallas must be devastated. Was he?”

  “I’ll be honest with you,” Mathew said, clearing his throat. “Guys don’t really do devastated with other guys they don’t know. He sounded pissed, I guess.”

  “I wonder if he’d already told Tim and then had to break the bad news to him.”

  “What I do know is if someone was motivated to torch potential evidence it means Dallas’s instincts were right about getting you here. If there is something to cover up, you don’t want to be the one trying to uncover it. It’s better this way.”

  “I could be helping,” she maintained. “I’m not helpless.”

  “You could also be in the trunk of that burned car right now,” he reminded her. “I need you to do me a favor, Harlan. Please.” Mathew turned toward her and took her hand. “Don’t ask me to stop being your big brother. It’s been my job all these years, and I’m not willing to stop. It’s intrusive and annoying, but don’t leave. Don’t take the girls and go because I would only have Emmitt left to be a big brother to, and he’s an asshole. Don’t do that to me.”

  Harlan cracked a reluctant smile. “Fine,” she agreed. “But I’m making changes in my life. I’m taking back control. You can still worry, you can still hire people to protect me, but we are going to live freely.”

  “I’ll do my best, I promise.” Mathew went back to sipping his coffee and reading his paper as she stood to leave.

  “You really care about him?” he asked as she made her way across the room.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said with a long exhale. “We don’t always get what we want.”

  Chapter 26

  The buzzer over the door rang out loudly as a guard slid the metal bar to the side and let Dallas in.

  “They’re bringing him out now,” the pug-nosed guard announced as he ushered Dallas into the small familiar room.

  Dallas had screwed up, and now he’d have to crush his friend’s fragile hopefulness once again. “Hey man,” he choked out as Tim came shuffling into the room.

  “I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Tim said through a wide smile, but it crumbled quickly. Dallas’s expression was probably speaking volumes. “What happened? They couldn’t have already gone through the car? We didn’t even get enough money together yet, right?”

  “The car was torched,” Dallas explained, pushing his words out over the lump in his throat. “Someone got to it last night. It was completely destroyed.”

  “Damn,” Tim croaked, dropping his head down. “I mean I didn’t have very high hopes that all this time later they’d be able to find something in the car. But I thought at least it was worth a shot.”

  “It means we were right though,” Dallas justified, forced optimism in his tone. “There is something out there to be found if they’re willing to destroy evidence. We know now that Azeela’s men might be somehow involved with Larry. And that they’ve got some incentive to keep you in here.”

  “Right,” Tim said, a faraway look in his eyes. “Thanks for coming in to let me know. You should head out. You’ve got that pretty girl to spend time with.”

  “No,” Dallas said, shaking his head. “It’s not going to work out with her. It was a mistake. I’ve got nothing but time. I can hang out a while.”

  “How?” Tim asked. “How did you fuck that up already? I told you not to get overly involved with the case right now. I begged you.” He slammed his hand on the metal table, loud enough to draw the guard’s attention.

  Dallas raised a disarming hand to wave the guard off. “It was more complicated than that,” Dallas lied. In fact, Harlan had been the least complicated thing in his life. “Don’t think about that now. Let’s focus on what we have to do.”

  “We?” Tim questioned, his raised voice echoing off the walls in the small room. “We are done. We aren’t doing anything anymore. You need to leave. I don’t want any more help on my case. Now you’ve kicked the hornet’s nest with Marc Azeela. You’ve thrown away another chance at being happy. I’m telling you now this is done. If you come to visit, I’ll refuse. I’ll tell Melissa not to take your calls anymore. Move on, Dallas.”

  “Move on?” Dallas brayed in disbelief. “What the hell is wrong with you? If I were in here I’d be doing everything I could to get out. What is it you aren’t telling me? What is it you’re hiding?”

  “Guard,” Tim called loudly, “I’m ready to go back.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Dallas asked, reaching out and grabbing Tim’s orange jumpsuit. Pulling him half across the metal table he pleaded, “Why?”

  “You’ll thank me someday,” Tim whispered as the guard came in and broke them up.

  “You’re a fool,” Dallas scolded. “You’re throwing your life away.”

  “I am,” Tim agreed. “But I’m in prison. What’s your excuse?”

  Chapter 27

  Harlan had been home for four days. In her own home with her children in their own beds. The house had a newly installed, upgraded security system, and three rotating guards were assigned to them. But otherwise she’d managed to make it as normal as possible. The house was small compared to the compound her mother lived in, but that was why Harlan had chosen it. Still on the property, but outside of the gates and security perimeter of the main house it served as living quarters for the main house staff decades ago. Coming home to it offered a tiny bit of healing. It was hers, and it was familiar.

  Turning on the television, she sank into her plush, oversized chair and pulled a blanket over her lap. Jessica’s advice had resonated with her. Harlan was readying for war. She was going to battle her way to happiness by any means necessary. The wheels had begun to turn in her head, and small glimmers of hope were sparkling in the darkness.

  The intercom buzzed and a voice from outside filled the room. “Miss Kalling, there is someone here to see you. Dallas Rockland.”

  “Uh, send him in, I guess,” she stammered.

  “Are you sure? I can ask him to call or come back tomorrow.” The man sounded excited at the idea of tossing Dallas out on his ass.

  “It’s fine,” she said, more confidently this time. “Send him in.” Her large hooded sweatshirt had a couple of bleach stains on it, and her hair was twisted into a messy bun. She’d long since washed off her makeup, but none of that mattered. Dallas had already seen the rawest parts of her spirit; she knew he wouldn’t care about her clothes.

  When he slinked through the front door she nearly lost her breath at the sight of him. The fleeting bit of worry she put into her appearance melted away as she saw the state he was in.

  Bloodshot eyes, hair unkempt, and clothes wrinkled to nearly unwearable. “Dallas, what happened to you?”

  “I haven’t been home in a few,” he said, trying to smooth his hair down as though he just realized how bad he looked. “I’m sorry to come back here after telling you I wouldn’t.”

  “It’s all right,” she assured him, walking him to the couch. “I heard about the car. I’m so sorry that happened.”

  “This security team seems better,” Dallas said, gesturing with his chin over at the door, the shadow of a big man still on the other side of the glass.

  “Emmitt pulled out all the stops this time. He hired a company with a great track record. I haven’t talked to these guys much, but they seem good.”

  “I can’t imagine why you don’t want to talk to them.” He hung his head and groaned. “I’m sorry for how things happened Harlan. I shouldn’t have—”

&nbs
p; “Careful what you apologize for,” she interrupted. “If you apologize for taking me to the safe house, or for what we did while we were there, it might break my heart.”

  “No,” he said, his head shooting up, and his gaze fixed on her. “I don’t regret a second I spent with you. I just regret the circumstances. I regret letting anything put you or your girls at risk.”

  “Why did you come here tonight?” she asked, her chest tight with anxiety. She hoped he might say just the right thing or the whole world outside had changed enough to make things simple between them.

  “I had something I wanted to tell you in person,” Dallas replied. “It’s about Rylie.”

  “What?” Harlan asked wearily. There was no room left in her heart for bad news.

  “He went back to see my friend Lilly. He’s been there almost a week now. She said he’s making great progress, going to meetings every day and getting help from doctors on staff. It’s a slow process but he’s saying the right things right now. It seems like he has a chance.”

  “A week?” she asked, imagining the clarity that must have returned to Rylie now. She couldn’t recall the last time he’d gone that long without a drink.

  “He’s not asking to see the girls yet or anything. But I’m sure eventually he’ll reach out. I wanted you to know there’s hope for him.” Dallas, with some effort, stood and cleared his throat. “I know it’s hard to trust people, and I haven’t given you any reason to do so. But I hope for the girls’ sake he pulls himself together. They deserve to be happy.”

  “Thank you,” she said, wiping away the hot tears that were streaming down her cheek. “Hope isn’t a cornerstone of my life philosophy right now, but I’d like my girls to have a chance at it. That’s all you came by for? How is Tim doing?”

  “I’m not sure, he won’t see me anymore. He kicked me out and won’t take visits from me.”