Saving Love

by Jen Talty

  When Dakota had first moved his family to Montana, he’d hated it, but his wife and the girls took to the land like Buster did to peanut butter hidden in a plastic toy. Now, he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

  “How high-profile is he?” Clayton asked.

  “That’s not even half of the problem.” There were very few men or women in the Brotherhood Protectors that Dakota didn’t trust one hundred percent, and that was only because he didn’t know everyone or hadn’t worked with all agents. But him and Clayton had a special bond and were more than brothers-in-arms. He knew Clayton wouldn’t tell a single soul who Alabama’s husband was, but that wasn’t the point.

  And Clayton didn’t need to know.

  Yet.

  Clayton lowered his chin and arched a brow. “High-profile and dangerous to society. Sounds like my biological father.”

  “You’re not that far off,” Dakota said as he continued to toss the stick as far as he could so Buster would tire himself out. He’d been much better around Alabama, but she still shied away from him, and Dakota wanted to change that. He wanted to change a lot of things about how Alabama reacted to the world around her, but he knew only time and distance from her old life would give her the freedom to find her confidence again. “And we do have a slight connection that I can use that wouldn’t cause a red flag.”

  “Then use it.”

  “I’ve already spoken to Hank about it, and he’s on board,” Dakota said.

  “Does he know who she is?”

  Dakota shook his head. “He didn’t want to know. He figured for now, it’s best I’m the only one. If I see movement or any cause for concern, then I can blow the whistle, and we can act on her behalf, but until then, life goes on as normal.”

  “Only she hasn’t found any kind of real normal yet, and that could take years.” Clayton ran a hand over his head. His expression turned serious. “Do you have any idea how bad it was for her? What the beatings were like?”

  “The only thing she’s told me about it was that he beat her beyond recognition the night she gave birth and that Wyoming was born a month early because of it. I haven’t asked any other questions specific to that. I figure if she wants to open up, she will, but I don’t need the sordid details to have an idea of what her husband is capable of. I’ve seen what that asshole can do up-close and personal. He’s bad news, and if he gets his hands on her, she’s dead, and I don’t even want to think about what he could do to that sweet little boy.” He took the stick and snapped it in half on his thigh.

  Buster yelped as he sat at Dakota’s feet. “Sorry, buddy,” Dakota said, letting out a long breath, doing his best to calm the rage boiling in his veins. “Thing is, I totally believe Chauncey sent her here for a reason, but he hasn’t responded to my call, and that makes me even more nervous.”

  “Would you like me to reach out to him?” Clayton asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m worried that will red flag something in the underground.”

  “It shouldn’t. My mom’s foundation does a lot work with him and his shelter. I can drop hints he’ll understand without coming out and asking. If he’s not responding, it’s for a reason, and we’ll just have to trust him.”

  “I feel like I’m flying blind, and I don’t like that, and this bullshit with Candice and the Hooker family, God only knows who Chad’s father is aligning himself with. Did you know he’s working with the Carpelli family? That’s moving to big time mafia crap.” Dakota had Trish, one of the IT geniuses, do some poking around into any connections the Hookers could have to certain high-profile crime families without giving her the Brolin name. So far, Josh and his family hadn’t come into her searches.

  But that didn’t mean that the Hookers weren’t on Josh’s radar, especially since the Carpellis were connected to the Brolins through a distant family marriage and the running of a night club in Vegas.

  “Hooker is small-time, and no one, including the Carpellis, take him seriously. He’s just a drug runner, and the DEA has an eye on a few shipments coming through. Hooker is sloppy, and he’s either going to get busted by the cops or killed by the Carpellis. The only thing you have to worry about is how that plays out with little Hooker and Candice.”

  “She moved out of her grandfather’s house and in with Chad. That doesn’t make me comfortable at all,” Dakota said. “And I heard she and Chad both plan on moving to Vegas.”

  “If they do, then you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Clayton said.

  “Yeah, except I worry about Candice. She’s immature, and she’s making some really bad decisions.”

  “She’s a grown-ass woman, and you’re not her keeper.” Clayton pointed to the house. “And, for the record, you’re not hers either.”

  Dakota laughed. “That’s funny coming from you.”

  Clayton raced around to the other side of the car and opened the back passenger door as his wife carried out their little girl. “I’m just suggesting you check your motives because you’re falling fast and hard.”

  “Even funnier coming from you.” Dakota choked on his breath. He didn’t want to believe that he could have developed any real feelings for Alabama in such a short time. All he wanted was to make sure nothing bad happened. “And I’m just doing what anyone one of us would do for someone like Alabama and her son.”

  “You keep telling yourself that.” Sage shut the door after buckling Hillary into the car seat. “And it is true. Anyone from the Brotherhood Protectors would help her, but they wouldn’t necessarily move her into their home and make them their nanny. They also wouldn’t find ways to constantly touch her, flirt with her, or act like a boyfriend on a double date.”

  “I didn’t behave like that at all,” Dakota protested. However, his mind wandered back to certain parts of the evening, and he absolutely treated the night as if he and Alabama were a couple and they were sharing their dinner with another couple. It had felt familiar, yet different in a weird way to do that.

  And not once had he felt as though he was being disrespectful of his late wife, something that always happened when he’d actually found himself remotely interested in a woman.

  Sage stood inches from him and cupped his face with her warm hands. “Personally, I think it’s wonderful. She seems like a really great person. But there is something none of us want to say out loud, and it’s worse than her husband showing up and beating her again.”

  Dakota pinched the bridge of his nose. It’s not like he hadn’t thought about this and lost sleep over it, especially now that he knew the identity of her husband. “Kidnapping charges and it might not matter that her husband is a wife beater.”

  Chapter 7

  “Come on, little man, you can do it.” Dakota sat on the floor with his arms stretched wide while Wyoming held on to the coffee table with a big smile.

  Wyoming lifted his hand and waved.

  “Come here. You can do it. I know you can. Walk to me so we can show Mama when she gets out of the shower.”

  “Mama is right here.” Alabama sat on the floor next to Dakota, smelling of a strawberry patch. “Where are the girls?”

  “Upstairs brushing their teeth. I told them they could come down and say good night, but then right to bed. It’s already an hour past their bedtime.”

  “I’m surprised that little guy isn’t passed out cold.”

  Dakota wiggled his fingers.

  Alabama did the same. “Come to Mama.”

  “Ma Ma,” Wyoming said with a squeal of delight as he let go of the coffee table and took a single step.

  “That’s it. You can do it.” Wyoming continued to wobble across the family room floor, one chubby leg at a time.

  He laughed with each step as if he knew what he was doing would cause everyone such joy.

  “Daddy, he’s walking!” River skidded to a stop, landing in her father’s lap just as Wyoming fell forward into Dakota’s lap as well.

  “Traitor,” Alabama said with a chuckle.

  “Da da,
” Wyoming explained, resting his head on Dakota’s shoulder and curling his fingers around his neck.

  Dakota closed his eyes tight for a brief moment before blinking them open. “It’s Dakota.” He patted the toddler on the back.

  Alabama stared at him with a single tear dribbling down her cheek.

  He reached out and wiped it away. “It’s just because he hears my girls call me dad. And Dakota starts with Da. We can just keep correcting him, and he’ll figure it out.” Only the sentiment filled his soul. He wanted Alabama and her son in his life in the forever kind of way, or at least, he wanted to see what that might feel like. See how his girls took to him dating, for real.

  Sage and Clayton were right on target, because the idea of Alabama walking out of his world made his heart physically hurt.

  He continued to stare into Alabama’s sweet eyes. Her lashes blinked wildly, but she didn’t say a single word.

  “Daddy,” Sky said, standing by the staircase. “I’m ready for bed.”

  “Think you two girls can handle taking Wyoming, changing his diaper, and getting him in his crib? If he fusses, just sing to him, or read him a book, but otherwise, give him his blanket and see if he’ll just lay down and go to sleep.”

  “Dad, we’ve put him to bed before.” Sky lifted Wyoming into her arms and headed down the hallway with River skipping behind her.

  Dakota helped Alabama to the sofa. He had no idea what to say or how to respond. “That boy is going to be running soon.”

  She nodded.

  “He doesn’t know what Da Da really means.”

  “But he does. He knows it means you to the girls. He hugged you after he said it like he hugs me after he calls me mom.”

  “I’ll give you that, but he doesn’t really understand the gravity of it.” He took her hands into his and ran his thumb over her silky skin. In the couple of weeks she’d been living in the house and taking care of his girls, they’d become close friends. He cared about her in ways he never thought he would be able to after Lunar died. “But you do know I care for him a great deal.”

  “I think that’s why it stunned me. While he’s never really been a shy baby, he’s never been this attached to people. He actually got fussy when you left for work this morning.”

  “Maybe he’s coming down with something.”

  She tilted her head. “When I leave the house, even if it’s just to get something from the car, he freaks out, so for him to fuss over you, that’s attachment. The underground told me to never get too comfortable because staying in one place too long could be a deadly mistake.”

  “Not in your case.” He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about your specific situation and what Chauncey told Clayton.”

  “They spoke? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I just found out today,” he said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “It was all pretty cryptic, but the basic message was that he believes your identity was compromised somewhere, and the concern is more about Josh taking Wyoming from you. The last reports we’ve seen on the hunt for you is that Josh is only concerned for your mental stability and the safety of his son. You are wanted for kidnapping and unfortunately, the way the system—”

  She bolted upright. “I know all too well how the fucking system works. I get I’m a fugitive, and I know they will take him if I’m caught, which is why I can’t stay in one place. I can’t ever let him get his hands on Wyoming. He’ll turn him into a criminal.”

  “I’m not going to let that happen.” Slowly, he closed the gap, taking her into his arms. “I don’t just care about Wyoming. I care about you.” He cupped her cheeks and gave her slow, sweet kiss. He kept it controlled and tender. He wanted to show her how much he valued her and respected her.

  “I wish you didn’t,” she whispered. “I wish I didn’t.”

  He chuckled. “I’m not sure how to take that.”

  She rested her hands on his shoulders. “It’s crazy for us to even think about being together.”

  “What’s crazy is for us not to think about it.” He kissed her nose. “And crazier for us not to discuss how to ensure your safety, forever. Which means, putting Josh in jail.”

  She gasped. “He’s untouchable.”

  “No one is that protected.” He pressed his finger on her lips. “It’s time for me to sit down with my boss and tell him everything.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “So I can take him down, prove what he did to you, and all the other criminal things he’s into. That way you and Wyoming can stop looking over your shoulders and have a quiet, relatively normal life, hopefully here with me and my girls.”

  She shook her head like a rabid dog. “No. No. I can’t be anywhere near him. I can’t go back.”

  “Alabama. I’m not asking you to. You don’t even have to go back to using your birth name. My team will do all the heavy lifting. Josh won’t know you had anything to do with it. He’ll never know where you are or who you are even when we put that bastard behind bars.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?” she asked with wide eyes. “It didn’t work for Leslie.”

  “We’re going to take a very different approach. We won’t take chances, and I’m sure as hell not handing anything over to the FBI with some weak-ass case. I’m sorry about what happened with your friend. I wish I could go back and do things differently. I could say things like I was led, or we didn’t know about—”

  “I don’t blame you for Leslie,” she said with a slight tremble in her voice. “But I’m scared. I feel like no matter what I do, I’m taking a risk with my life and my son’s.”

  He cupped her face. “You are. But I, Hank, and the rest of the Brotherhood Protectors can develop a plan that is less risky and gives you a really good chance at a future free from worrying if Josh is going to find you and hurt you. Please, let me do this.”

  “If I said no and I wanted to leave, you’d let me?”

  “I’d beg and plead with you, but at the end of the day, yes. I would.”

  She leaned closer, tilting her head. “I can’t explain why I trust you so much. Deep down, I know not all men who show kindness when I first meet them end up as wife beaters. I know you’re one of the good guys. I can feel it, but I can’t even trust myself.”

  “It’s up to me to show you what kind of man I am by the way I treat you. Give it and me some time.”

  Her smile grew wider. “I plan on it. I’m giving you my blessing to do whatever you need to in order to make sure I’m not going to get arrested and my son will never have to be around Josh. I don’t ever want him to know that man is biologically related to him at all, and I don’t want to sneak out of your window and disappear into the night. I just want my second chance to do it right this time.” Her plump lips pressed against his in a soft, but passionate kiss. Their tongues tangled and twisted in a promise of something wild and wicked, while being romantic and sweet all at the same time.

  Giggles from the hallway caught his attention, and he broke off the kiss. “We have little eyes watching us.”

  “So I heard,” she whispered.

  “I better go tuck them in. Will you have a glass of wine with me after?”

  “I’d like that,” she said.

  “I like you.”

  Alabama quickly checked on her sleeping child before racing to the bathroom to freshen her makeup and put on a little body spray.

  Leaning against the sink, she stared at herself in the mirror. A year ago, her eyes were swollen shut. Her lips were cracked open. She had bruises and cuts all over her body.

  A year ago, she thought for sure she was going to die and so was her son.

  For the last eleven months, she’d been traveling from one place to the next not really living and barely surviving. The only thing that held her together had been Wyoming.

  And now she found herself in the midst of the kind of family life she remembered havin
g as a kid and the kind of family she’d wanted for herself.

  It all seemed too good to be true.

  “Are you okay?” Dakota asked.

  She jumped. “Shit. You scared me.”

  “Sorry, but when you didn’t come back out or answer when I called you, I thought I should check things out.”

  “It’s okay. But if I’m being honest, I’m all over the map right now.”

  He slipped his fingers through hers and tugged her into the main room of the apartment. “I left the door open so I can hear the girls if they need me,” he said as he sat down on the sofa.

  She made herself comfortable, tucking her feet under her butt and leaning against his strong forearm. She stifled a yawn. “Want to hear something funny?”

  “Sure.”

  “My parents were pretty well off. Actually, they were rich. I was a spoiled kid, never having to think about money, but my parents did make me work, and they taught me the value of a dollar. When I went to college, I had every intention of getting off my parents’ money train. When they died, I was so clueless about what to do and how to handle things, and Josh was just so willing to help. I thought he was my knight in shining armor, and sometimes, I look at you and I think, if he’s too good to be true, run and run fast.”

  “I have flaws and lots of them, but one thing you can count on is that I will never hit you or hurt you physically, but I don’t understand what’s funny about any of this.”

  “A few things are, actually. The first one being my rich-ass husband has all my parents’ money now.”

  “That’s really not funny.”

  “It is when I think about how desperate I was in college to learn how to take care of myself and how quickly I ended up letting someone else take care of me, and now I’m doing it again.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, because I’m not taking care of you. I’m helping you solve a problem.”