“I’ll let you know the day of. But I’m warning you now, if I smell pig anywhere near you–”
“I know. No cops.” I glance over at Damon, hoping he’ll keep his promise to give me the money, that he won’t try and play the hero by getting involved. I turn away from him again, speaking softly even though I know he can hear every word. “You’ll bring him when you come.”
“Get me my money, then we’ll talk about you getting the kid back.”
“Wait.” Panic. Fear. Hysteria. They rise in me like a volcano, and I can’t help but cry out the next words. “No. You said if I gave you the money–”
The line goes dead.
“No. No. No.” I squeeze the phone in my palm, ready to toss it across the room, but a large hand stops me.
“Take a breath.” He pulls me back against his chest and takes the phone.
I’m starting to hyperventilate, but I can’t stop the terror that bubbles up from the deepest part of me.
Damon is right, Farkas won’t let me walk away. And now that he has him, he won’t let Nolan out of his talon-like grip. He’ll use him the same way he wanted to use me.
“Breathe, Lor.” Damon tosses the phone on the bed and tightens his arms around me. His mouth is against the side of my head, and he repeats calmly, “Take a deep breath.”
I do. One. Two. Three. I focus on his voice as he continues to murmur soothing words while helping me slip my arms into the robe, then tightening the belt.
“Now–” He cups my face in his palms. “Tell me what he said.”
I close my eyes, once again feeling the weight of exhaustion pressing down on my shoulders. “I have two days to get the money, but he wants another ten thousand.”
“Okay.” His face is tight with tension, but he doesn’t hesitate. “We can get that. Did he give you a meeting point?”
“No. He said he’ll call back.”
“Did he say he’s meeting you?”
I chew on my bottom lip, trying to remember his exact words. “No.”
“Then I doubt he’ll show up. He always uses other people to do his dirty work. Which is why he’s been so hard to catch.”
“He warned me–”
“No cops. I know.” Tension tugs at his features. “Tell me the truth, Lorelei. What does he have over you?”
I try to pull back, but his fingers tangle in my hair at the nape of my neck, and he holds me so that I’m forced to look at him.
“You said on the phone, don’t hurt him. Who were you talking about?”
Tell him, my heart cries. Let him help you.
Tears burn my eyes, and I feel like I’m being pulled and twisted in a million different directions.
“Lor–”
“Nolan.” His name tumbles from my lips. “His name’s Nolan.”
“Okay.” His jaw twitches, his dark gaze studying me. “He’s what? Your boyfriend?”
“No.” I take a few steadying breaths, and admit the truth, even though I know it’s only going to complicate things even more. “Nolan is my son.”
Chapter 5
Damon
“You have a kid?” The revelation cuts through me, and I have to stop myself from dropping my hands and taking a step back. She’d said she wasn’t married, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a life outside all the mess she’s in.
She swallows hard before confirming, “Yes.”
“And the father?”
More hesitation. “He’s not in the picture.”
I scrub my hands over my face, because it changes things.
Sure, I’m a bit twisted inside about the fact she has a child, but my main concern is that the boy has been kidnapped. If I’d known that piece of information, I would have been on the phone with Harristown’s chief hours ago.
“How long has he had him?”
“Since Monday morning.”
Three days.
“Shit. You should have gone to the police, Lor.”
“He threatened to kill him.” Fear raises her voice an octave, and she tries to pull away, but I don’t let her. Now that she’s back in my arms, there’s no way I’m letting go again.
As if sensing my resolve, she sags into me, resting her forehead against my chest. “If he hurts him...”
Every muscle in my body tenses, because I don’t know if the bastard would follow through on the threat. Farkas has been involved in numerous criminal activities over the years, including several disappearances, and even trafficking of minors. But he was also Lorelei’s stepfather.
“What about your mother? She’s still with Farkas as far as I know.”
“Yes, but–”
“That’s good.”
Lorelei shakes her head. “She didn’t protect me. Why would she protect my son?”
I know she’s right, but I have to hope the boy being her grandkid will mean something. But knowing Farkas, having studied his behavior over the years, he wants more than just the money Lorelei took from him. He wants revenge.
He wants what he thinks she owes him–her body and soul. And if she won’t give it to him, I don’t doubt he’ll make her suffer in other ways, even if it means hurting the kid.
Rage boils inside me. I should have killed the fucker years ago when I had the chance. Screw the red tape. The man pollutes even the air he breathes.
“We’ll get him back.” I trail the pad of my thumb over her jaw, wishing I could go back in time and change the whole direction of our lives. “I promise you.”
Her voice is shaky, and she says my name more as a sigh. “Damon...”
Unspoken words pass between us. A hundred apologies, a thousand what-ifs, and so much damn pain it cracks something in my chest. We’re locked in a moment. Her trembling under my touch. Eyes desperate, but still so damn full of stubborn resolution.
I shake away the images of her standing in my bedroom naked. Still so damn perfect.
Her palms rest on my chest, and I’m pretty sure she can feel my heart beating with the truth of what I want to say. What I need to say. There’s never been anyone but you.
But now isn’t the time.
Once this whole thing is over, once we have her son back and Farkas is behind bars, then we can start over. Then she’ll be mine again.
But first, I need to save the kid. I’d give Farkas the money he thinks she owes him, every penny and more, if I thought he’d actually return the boy. But I’ve studied his criminal behavior long enough to know this is only phase one of the man’s scheme.
“Do you have a picture?” I ask. “Of Nolan.”
“Why?” She pulls back and frowns. It’s the flash of fear in her eyes that makes my throat close. Why hadn’t I asked the question before? But there’s no way the kid is mine. She wasn’t pregnant when she left. And eleven years...she wouldn’t keep something like that from me.
But something nags at the base of my skull.
“Because he’s your son,” I state. It’s only a portion of the truth. I need a photo to identify him.
She nods, then goes to her bag and fishes around in it before pulling out a photo, pressing it to her heart before giving it to me.
I take it, a smile tugging at my lips when I see how much he looks like her. But it’s his eyes that give me pause. Dark, rimmed with thick lashes, like mine. But the boy in the photo is only about seven, maybe eight. Too young to be mine, even though there’d been a part of me that had hoped.
“That’s my favorite picture of him. For years I couldn’t get him to smile for the camera. I caught him off guard. We were at the zoo, and he was obsessed with the polar bears. One had just come up to the glass when I snapped the picture.”
I can hear the affection in her voice, the love for the boy.
“He’s a good-looking kid,” I say, memorizing his features. Sandy brown hair, olive complexion, freckles across the bridge of his nose, and eyes that could have been my own. But it’s not like I’m the only man with brown eyes.
I hand her back the photo, an
d Lorelei clutches it to her chest again, chewing on her bottom lip. Then, “I...God, this is so hard.”
I wrap my arms around her again, needing to touch her. Like if I don’t, she may just evaporate into thin air. “I know.”
“No. You don’t...” She frowns up at me. “There’s something I should tell you...”
“Okay.” I have a feeling I’m not going to like whatever it is she has to say, because I can see the worry in her eyes, the fear that tightens her lips.
“I should have–”
The fire alarm in the kitchen goes off, and I can smell the frozen pizza I’d put in the oven burning.
“Shit.” I drop my arms. “Sorry.”
“Go.”
Rushing out of the room and down the hall, I pull out the blackened pizza and toss it in the sink.
So much for impressing her with my cooking skills. I haven’t been home much lately, and other than a case of beer, condiments, and some moldy cheese, the pizza was the only edible thing I had left.
And I know she’s starving. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t eaten since this whole thing started, which along with not sleeping, is why she seems to sway every time she stands up.
She needs food, but I’m not leaving her to go get groceries. How pathetic is it that I think she’ll run if I do?
She needs your money. That’s why she’s here, my head reminds me.
I know it’s the truth, but I also know I saw emotions swimming in her gaze when she looked at me in the bedroom. She may be trying to shield them from me, but they’re there.
They’ve always been there.
When I get the fire alarm to shut up, I call my brother, Kade, and tell him to have one of his staff members at Savages and Saints bring me two double cheeseburgers and fries.
“We don’t deliver,” he says gruffly.
It’s karaoke night and I can hear someone belting out a song offkey in the background.
“Make an exception.”
He hesitates. “What’s going on?”
I glance over my shoulder, but Lorelei is still in the bedroom. “I just have some work I need to do. Can’t leave the house.”
Can’t leave her.
“Fine,” he sighs. “I’ll get Abbott to drop it off. He’s here now. How was your breakfast with Jasper?”
The last thing I want to think about is my pretentious brother. “He won’t be coming back for dad’s party.”
“Not surprised.”
“No, I guess not.” I lean against the counter and rub my neck.
“You okay? You sound like something’s bothering you.”
“Yeah. Fine. There’s just been some new revelations in an old case.”
Lorelei comes into the kitchen, wearing one of my hoodies and a pair of my boxers. Her face is flushed, hair hanging in damp waves over her shoulders, and I’m taken back eleven years.
Again, I feel like I’m smacked in the chest, all the air leaving me.
“I have to go,” I say to Kade. “Thanks for the food.”
“Who was that?” Lorelei asks me warily.
“Kade.” I tug at one of the strings on the hoodie. “Looks good on you.”
“There wasn’t much that fit me. You’re a lot bigger than you used to be. I did find a pair of handcuffs by the bedside.” She arches her brows at me. “I guess there are some perks to being a cop.”
I chuckle. “Trust me, they aren’t recreational.” I pull out two beers from the fridge and offer her one.
“I probably shouldn’t.”
“It’ll help you sleep.”
She takes it with some hesitation.
“It’s a beer, Lorelei. And there’s nothing you can do right now. Try to relax.”
“I can’t. I feel like if I do, I’m...”
“Betraying Nolan?”
“Yes.”
Uncapping mine, I take a deep swig. I have every intention of staying up all night, but I can’t get any work done until she falls asleep. Sure, I promised her no police involvement, but that was before I knew about the kid.
She’ll forgive me when I have him back safe in her arms.
Her stomach growls audibly, and she places a hand over it.
“Pizza is ruined, but I have some burgers coming.”
“Port Clover has delivery?” She takes a small sip of the beer, then fidgets with the bottle.
“Only if you’re me.” I wink at her. “Kade and Zee St. James took over the old marina bar years ago. It’s really just Kade’s now. He’s married, with a little girl, Lola. She’s a bit of a handful, but she’s a cute kid.” A smile tugs at my lips when I think about the wild six-year-old who has every one of us Savages wrapped around her little pinky. “I’m pretty envious of the life he’s made for himself.”
“You never thought about settling down?”
“No,” I answer quickly.
“Why not?”
Because I never got over you.
“Some things just weren’t meant to be.” The look I give her must be too intense, because she glances away, and I see her shiver. “You’re cold.”
“A little.”
I rub her arms. “Come into the living room. I’ll start a fire while we wait for the food.”
“Why are you helping me?” She sits on the couch, tucking her legs under her, while I place a couple logs in the fireplace. After it’s lit, I move to sit beside her, pulling a quilt over her legs.
“You have to ask that?”
She glances away, continuing to fidget with the bottle.
“I know you don’t trust easy, Lor–”
“I trusted you.” She doesn’t meet my gaze.
“I know. And I fucked it up.”
She shrugs. “You were seventeen.”
“And I knew better. Knew what was important. I wanted to take back the words as soon as I said them.”
“It’s in the past.”
“Maybe. But things...things could have been different.”
She looks at me then, and for a second I see all my regrets mirrored in her eyes. But then it’s gone, replaced by something that looks like acceptance.
“The money I took, do you know how I got it?” she asks.
“Figured you stole it from Farkas.”
“Yeah, I stole it, but...it was mine.” She gives a small, humorless laugh. “Not that Farkas would have ever let me have a penny of it. He said I’d get ten percent if I did what he said, but...”
I stay silent, waiting for her to continue.
“That night. The night I left, he told me...” She picks at a string on the quilt. “The money was the price of my virginity.” She laughs again. “I guess the joke was on him.”
“He sold you?” Anger like I’ve never known boils from my core.
She takes a deep swallow of the beer. “Fifty thousand dollars. Not a bad price. Wonder if the guy who bought me would have demanded a refund if he knew I’d already been used.”
“Jesus, Lor.”
Another small laugh, and I realize she’s using it as a defense mechanism, a way to play off the barbarism of what the man had wanted to force on her.
“Can you imagine what he would have done to me if he knew I’d given you what he thought he owned?” She finishes the last of her beer. “That’s why I had to leave.”
“He would have hurt you.”
She meets my gaze. “He would have hurt you.”
Silence twists around us as I let her words sink in.
She was trying to protect me, even after I hurt her.
“You should have come to me. Told me what you were planning.”
“I did. That night by the bonfire. I was coming to tell you.”
“Shit.”
“I cared about you,” she says softly.
Cared.
I can’t expect her to feel the same way now, but my own emotions are as intense as the day she left.
“I loved you, too, Lor. And I would have done anything to protect you.”
“Maybe. But
it was only another reason I had to leave. And then I heard...”
I take her hand, wishing I could erase the words, that I could change that night.
“What you said, it hurt me worse than anything Farkas could have done to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
She has nothing to be sorry about. It was me who failed her.
“Promise me something.” I take her hand, needing to touch her. If I didn’t think she’d push me away, she’d be in my arms right now, my mouth on hers, and I’d show her how fucking much I’ve missed her.
Her lips twist, and her eyes go guarded. “What?”
I stroke the pad of my thumb over the back of her hand. “Don’t run again.”
“I’ll do what I have to do to keep my son safe. No matter what.”
It’s not the answer I am looking for, but I can’t expect anything more. Don’t deserve anything more. But that won’t stop me from fighting to make sure she never leaves again. That this time, I keep her safe.
“You said Kade owns a bar.” She shifts on the couch, and I’m aware she’s trying to put space between us. “What about your other siblings. Are they all still here?”
“All but Jasper.”
“Tell me about them.”
I shrug, wanting to know more about her, but I can see she’d pulled back into herself if I asked.
“Jasper spends his days flying some oil tycoon around the world, acting like he’s too good for us now. Doubt he’ll ever settle down. Quinn’s married with a little boy. And Abbott...” I shake my head. “Abbott’s still looking for any trouble he can get himself into. My parents are good. Dad’s turning sixty this weekend. We’re having a big party at Quinn’s house. You should come. Quinn has this ridiculous treehouse in the backyard that’s probably the same square footage as this house. I’m sure Nolan would be all over it–”
She glances away, speaking quietly. “If I have him back.”
“You will.” I take her hand and squeeze it. “This will all be over soon.”
“Maybe. But I don’t think I’ll be going to any Savage family get-togethers. I was never really welcome in your house.”
“That’s not true.”
She gives me a droll look.
“My parents were worried about your connection with Farkas.”
Salvage (Savages and Saints Book 3) Page 5