by Lucy Rinaldi
“No,” He pulls away from me slightly, taking my face in his hands. “We're together, baby. You're past is your past, I will not leave you because of what you had to do. I love you,”
“But I lied to you.”
“No, you didn't. You had no choice. I'm not mad about it. You were scared for your life, for the life of your little boy. And I have no right to be angry with you about anything, it's not like I came clean about my past until it was too late. But I'm here now, baby, and I will do everything I can to protect you. I promise.”
“Oh, Greg,”
“Shh. I love you, Dani. We'll fix this. We'll fix it and bring your son home to us.”
To us.
I close my eyes and smile at his words. “I love you, Greg Harper. I love you so much.”
We're going to be okay Greg and me. Joel can come for me. I'm tired of running. I'm tired of hiding. I'll face that monster head on. What will be after that will be.
Hudson
“What's this about?”
I know what this is about.
I never thought I'd see Daxton Kavanagh again. I should have known he'd rock up sooner or later after Danika showed up here.
She doesn't know who I really am, and I never said anything to her so that she'd figure it out.
Why the hell would I when I left that life behind?
She may have come here with a different name, body changed to make her look bigger than she used to be, but I knew it was her the second I clapped eyes on her.
It's not like she'd recognize me by name, I was Rock Maynard back then, but I was a little worried she'd recognize my face. It's not like she'd never met me before.
But, for some reason, she didn't recognize me.
I've stayed out of her way as much as I could, just in case. I couldn't have her recognizing me and letting slip the shit I got up to in the time I was away from here.
I was at the girls wedding for Christ's sake, how could she not recognize me?
I did a few jobs for her husband, including being her bodyguard for a while.
Okay, I never said more than ten words to the girl, and I got out of that life and came home, only working for Joel Scott for six months in total. But I knew it would one day catch up with me. Cunt never lets anyone leave without killing them, no matter how long it takes him to find them.
If Daxton is here it means Joel knows where both Dani and I are, meaning I have to get the hell out of here. I have to get my family somewhere safe. I won't risk anything happening to my wife and kids.
There is nothing in this world I won't do to protect them.
I thought after ten years, I'd have nothing to worry about. Ten years I've dodged even thinking about that shit. But this last year, I've thought of nothing else.
I knew the moment Danika, or Alandra, as is her real name, showed up here that it wouldn't be much longer before Joel came looking.
There is nowhere that girl can hide for long before he'll find her.
To be honest, when I first saw her, even though she looked very different, I honestly thought Joel had found out I was here and planted his wife here to trap me.
I did a little digging, I still have contacts.
Turns out, little Miss Alandra had done a runner a few years before. God knows how, but she'd managed to divorce Joel and get away.
With Daxton's help, of course.
I don't know the ins and outs of why she had to run, but I know how he treated her when I worked for him. I even saw once or twice the things he did to her. Hated myself for not being able to help her. I knew what he'd do to me should I so much as say one word about the way he treated his wife.
She was just sixteen years old, not yet seventeen and I did fuck all to help her.
What kind of man does that make me?
Yes, I regret that more than anything else. I should have done something to help her, I know that. Hell, I should have done something to help those girls he sex trafficked – my reason for getting out of Joel Scott's employment – but all I ever thought about was Callie and what it would do to her should she ever find out I'd been killed. I may have stayed away for five years because I didn't want Joel to find out about this place and my family here, about Callie, but she was all I ever thought about.
I took my chance to get away from that cunt. I took insurance that he'd never come for me. Insurance in the form of a memory stick filled with all and everything Joel Scott has ever been in to. Names, places, payments. There's so much on that stick that hundreds even thousands of men and women would be going to prison for a very long time if I should hand it over to the right people.
So why didn't I?
I didn't know who to trust with the information.
Too many cunts are involved in the sex trade, people in high places and those bastards stick together. I know it was wrong not to turn it in, I could have given it to Kory and let him deal with it, but I didn't want to put him at risk.
Besides, Joel Scott stayed away from me, so I thought I was safe.
Looks like I was stupid to sit on what I knew. Now it's going to catch up with me and there's fuck all I can do about it.
“You know what this is about, Hudson.”
Kory, my brother-in-law, and Daxton take a seat at my kitchen table. Callie and the kids aren't home, they're out with Della and her kids for a few hours. I'm not due at the hotel for an hour. I work there as the manager for my brother around my construction job. It's not ideal having two jobs, but I enjoy working.
“Alandra,” I state.
Kory rakes his fingers through his hair and blows out an exasperated breath through his mouth. “Jesus, Sonny! You knew who she was the moment you saw her and you said nothing!”
“What the fuck did you expect me to say, Kory?! She didn't recognize me.”
“How the hell have you been living in the same town as her all these months without slipping up? There is no way she'd not have recognized you.”
I crack my knuckles in frustration.
“If you hadn't noticed, Daxton, it's been years. We've both changed, especially her. And it's not like she looked at me more than a couple times the whole time I knew her.”
True fact.
The girl hardly ever raised her eyes to anyone. Joel never allowed it.
Poor girl couldn't blink without his permission.
“Why the hell have you brought my brother-in-law into this, Daxton?”
“Because Kory happens to be my best friend.”
What the fuck?
The world cannot be that small!
“We went to college together,” Kory tells me. “Anyway, he came to me because he needs my help. We need yours also.”
“For what?”
I won't be dragged into anything with them. I got out of that life and came home to the woman I love. We have three beautiful children, two dogs, a big house that I built for Callie, our own businesses.
Fuck, I will not risk losing my family because of one stupid mistake I made after I left here in order to forget the hell I was going through.
Callie has suffered enough in her life without me dropping this shit on her.
And there's no way I'd be able to keep this from her. Callie is my best friend, always has been. I've kept enough from her about what I got up to in the time I was gone. I won't have this shit coming at her from all sides.
My beautiful wife is finally happy, and I mean truly happy. After everything she went through in the past while I was gone, she's finally at peace with her life.
She's happy, the kids are happy, I'm happy.
Why the fuck did this have to happen now?
“Joel is closing in, Hudson.” Fuck! “Alandra has settled here. She's fallen in love with Kory's brother.”
Damn, I forgot for a while there that they'd been dating.
“Does Greg know?”
“No.” Fuck, again! “I've left that to Danika. It's her story to tell, but I won't give her too long.”
I can't believe this
shit.
“I can't because I took something from Joel. Something he stole from Dani. I took it back because it's all she's longed for this past year.”
“What are you talking about?”
I know if Daxton has stolen from Joel, it won't be long before he tracks whatever it is down to here. Then all hell will break loose.
Daxton looks at me then Kory and back to me. “The reason Dani left Joel. The reason she found the courage was because she found out she was pregnant.” You could hear a pin drop in here right now. “The baby wasn't Joel's but one of his “friends.”'
That poor girl. She was Joel Scott's personal prostitute. I know in my heart that he groomed her at the age of sixteen because he wanted to have her sent off with a truckload of other girls. The sex trafficking bastard.
She was young and vulnerable. An easy target for a man like Scott.
I don't know what it was about her, but he kept her around. I think, to be honest, that he was obsessed with her. Married the girl to keep her in line, forced her to sleep with anyone who paid the right price.
I wish I could have saved her from it all, but I couldn't.
“When Joel found out about the baby, he wanted it dead. He forced her to tell him which motherfucker hadn't used protection. He was big on that.”
“I remember.” Is all I can muster. It was my job to make sure those men used protection, that Dani took the pill every damn day.
Yeah, I'm not proud of myself.
“They did use protection, according to Dani. The condom broke. She'd been ill and taking antibiotics.” He shrugs. We all know what that means. “Joel also found out the baby's father had been planning to help Dani run. Joel shot the guy dead in front of her and then raped her right next to the body.”
I close my eyes to ward off the images that are now flashing in my mind. I can't even imagine what kind of sick bastard would even find that a turn on.
“Once he'd left that day, she called me. I got her the fuck out of there and she's been running ever since. She gave birth to a little boy and they had three years together before Joel found her. He found her and took that baby boy from her. I swore I'd bring him back to her no matter what it took.
“I'm not proud of myself for what I did, but I didn't have a choice. I saw the boy with his nanny. It was planned, I'd been following Joel for some time, making sure he was where he was supposed to be and not on his way to kill Danika,”
My head is spinning with all this information. I thought I'd left this life behind when I came home. God, I prayed it would never catch up with me.
“It wasn't hard to see who I was looking at. He's the image of his mother from his hazel eyes to his smile, he's all Dani. The nanny walked him to the park a mile away from the house, bodyguard following her closely. My partner told me we had one shot at getting the boy away from them.”
He hangs his head for a second before rolling his neck, cracking the tension away.
“Vaughn, my partner shouldn't have even been doing the job with me. We hadn't had clearance, but he knows Dani and he wanted to help in any way he could.
“Anyway, he told me to get the boy, he'd deal with the bodyguard. I approached the nanny, she instantly knew who I was and opened her mouth to scream. I silenced her. For good.” He killed her! “The boy looked at me wide-eyed, but he wasn't scared, which only told me he'd seen that kind of thing before. He's four years old. No child should see those things. I asked him if he was okay, he nodded. I then asked him if he remembered his mother. He smiled so wide and nodded again. I told him who I was and that I'd take him to his mom. He took my hand and came with me without a hint of hesitation.”
I won't even point out how wrong that is.
Did no one teach the child of the dangers out there?
How adults will tell them anything just to get them to go with them?
“Vaughn was shocked but smiled when he saw me strapping the boy into his chair. He asked the kid his name, kept his voice light, you know, so as not to scare him. He said, “My name is Alex, when can I see my mommy?” Dani will hit the roof if she finds out his name has been changed by Joel.”
“From what?” Kory asks quietly. He's a tough guy is Kory, but he's no killer. He may be a damn good lawyer, seen and heard some of the worst things known to man, but this kind of stuff is what you see in movies, not real life.
“Dani named him Alejandro after her grandfather.”
“But that's just Alexander in English, right?”
He nods his head at me with a weak smile.
“She thinks I changed the boy's name, it was easier for her to take. Anyway, it really doesn't matter, I have him and I want to bring him back to his mother, but I don't know if I can while Joel is still out there. I got a call a couple days ago from a friend telling me that Joel is still looking for the boy, that he believes Dani somehow got her hands on him and is running. It won't be long before he tracks her here. I can't risk that. You both know Alandra,”
“Wait,” I turn to look at Kory. I'm confused. “How could you know her before this?”
“Alandra is Daxton's sister, Sonny.”
What the actual fuck?
“If that's true, how the hell didn't she recognize you?” Because she would have.
“Because I haven't seen her since she was thirteen, Sonny. I met her once.”
That explains that then.
“My father had an affair with her mother,” Daxton tells me. “Alandra was the product of that. I spent the first twelve years of her life visiting her in Mexico. I taught her English, she taught me Spanish. I loved her even though my mother couldn't stand her. When her own mother died, Alandra was sent to live with us here. She was bullied a lot, picked on because she was half-Mexican, half-white. I've protected her, her whole life, and I won't stop now.”
“So what it is you want from me, exactly?”
“I need to know everything you did for him, Hudson. I need to know names of people he fucked over, people he tore down. Anything no matter how small it may seem could help me finally bring him down.”
“Why not just lure the bastard out into the open and kill him?” I can't believe I just said that!
“Don't you think if it were that easy I wouldn't have done it by now? I have to keep her safe, Hudson. I have to keep her son safe. She's in love with Greg, she wants to be with him. I know they could have a happy life here together.”
“I'll do whatever I have to do to help.”
“There's something else.” This time Daxton is talking to Kory. “I have some news for you. I should have told you this already, but I needed to get the rest out first. A mutual friend of ours gave me a little info for you. You've apparently been waiting on DNA results.”
I narrow my eyes. I have no clue what's going on right now.
“Oh yeah?”
“Well, first you need to know just who Maya was sleeping with.”
Both Kory and I look at him.
How can he possibly know who Maya was sleeping with?
And how can he even know what the hell is going on here right now?
Unless, of course, Kory filled him in prior to this meeting.
“She was sleeping with Joel Scott.”
“What the fuck?!” Kory and I yell in unison.
Daxton just nods his head. “When we spoke a few months ago and you told me what had been happening with Greg, and what Maya had done regarding little Dean, I did a little digging of my own. I swear to God, Kory, the fucking world couldn't get any smaller. But yes, she'd been sleeping with Joel, even helping him lure young girls into his trap.”
“Oh my god,” I scrub my hands over my face. I can't believe this shit.
“I don't know how they met or when just that he used her to take Dani's place. Maya is a lot older than Dani was when she first became Joel's whore, but he used Maya to kept his girls in line. Sick, I know.”
Beyond fucking sick. I had that woman in my house, around my daughter! She's been around mine and Kor
y's nieces. Was she sizing them up for when they were old enough to... Don't even go there, Sonny. Do not do it.
“Joel brainwashed Maya so badly that when he told her to pass Dean off as his child, that they could have a life together, that Greg was trying to kill her, to kill Dean, she was so far gone that she believed him.”
“Are you saying that Dean is Greg's son?”
“That's exactly what I'm saying, Kory. Mike will fax the results over to you ASAP.”
“We have to find Dean!” Kory yells.
All these months Greg believed his son to be someone else's and all the time the child really was his, living with Joel fucking Scott!
What the fuck has been happening to that kid while Maya has been locked up?
“I have him, Kory.”
“What?”
My eyes are wide. I feel like I'm in a parallel universe where nothing at all makes sense!
“There was another boy with Alex that day. I had no clue who he was, Kory, but I couldn't leave him there all alone. He was frightened, crying, Alex hugged him and told me that the little boy was his brother and could we please bring him with us, that his mommy would love his brother, too. Then the kid told me, when I asked, that his name was Dean Harper, and I fucking knew who he was, I knew who I was looking at. I have them both somewhere safe, but I can't bring them here until this is sorted, it wouldn't be safe.”
“Jesus.” Kory looks stunned, as am I right now. “I can't get my fucking head around this!”
“Well, get your head around it, Kory! I need both of your help to sort this so those boys can come home to their parents. Will you help me?”
“Yes,” I tell him instantly.
Greg is a good guy, my brother-in-law. Dean is my nephew as much as he is Kory's, he's my wife's nephew. I want him home with his father where he belongs.
“You know I will.” Kory grinds out through his clenched teeth before answering his phone.
The call is pretty much one-sided by the sound of it. Kory isn't saying much and his face gives nothing away.