Beyond The Lies

by Abbi Cook

  She lets out a heavy sigh and leans her head against my chest. “I had a great time, Kane. I loved seeing Ryker and Kaia so happy, and I had a great time with my mother and Selene. I just wish my father could have come too.”

  “I know, but for now the problem with Victor means your father needs to lay low.”

  Sophie turns to face me and nods. “I know. I get it. My uncle is a dick and he has no problem with killing off family members. I just hate that the thing my father feared the most is now happening to him.”

  “His oldest daughter in love with a bad man?” I joke, hoping to cheer her up.

  Cradling my face, she smiles before kissing me softly. “No. What I hate is that my father has been dragged into this power struggle between Victor and Ryker when he spent nearly his entire life staying away from all of this. Instead of being with his wife and family, he’s forced to hide away and my mother is forced to pretend he’s dead. They don’t deserve this, Kane.”

  “I know. It’s just the way it has to be for now.”

  “What if I never get to see him again?” she asks, tears welling in her eyes. “I’ll never forgive myself if Victor gets to him and I didn’t have a chance to tell him how much I love him one more time.”

  For two weeks, I’ve been forced to give her the same answer about this. It’s just the way it has to be. I understand why Ryker has him hidden away. I’d do the same thing for someone I love knowing how vicious Victor is lately.

  But it doesn’t change how much this breaks Sophie’s heart.

  I take her into my arms and hold her, but I want to do more. I’m supposed to protect the woman I love. That’s what I swore I’d do if I ever got the chance to have Sophie in my life.

  “What if he doesn’t survive this, Kane?” she sobs into my chest. “What if my uncle finds him and kills him to hurt Ryker?”

  “We won’t let that happen,” I say, wishing I had something more to reassure her. Smoothing my hand over her back, I feel her whole body tremble. “I promise we won’t let that happen.”

  “I’m sorry. I should be stronger than this.”

  “You don’t have to be sorry. I’m here and I’m more than strong.”

  Sophie sniffles and wipes under her eyes to dry the tears. “I’m glad I have you. You’re what keeps me going when I don’t think I can anymore, Kane.”

  I drag my thumbs across the tops of her cheeks and smile. “You’ll always have me. Remember that.”

  For a moment, we stare into each other’s eyes in silence, and then she asks the question I’ve been wondering about since this whole thing with Victor began.

  “How long can we all stay here, Kane? Guards follow my mother and sister around whenever they leave the estate, and Kaia and I haven’t felt safe enough to leave in nearly a month. Lily told me Lukas needed to go to the doctor last week and she didn’t know if she should take him or use Seymour, who is very much not a pediatrician, by the way. We’re all hunkered down here because we need to be protected from Victor, but this can’t go on. I know we get to talk to my father, but burner phones and all the fear?”

  The image of Seymour treating a toddler flashes through my mind. For a doctor, he does a hell of a job with bullet wounds and all the other scrapes guys like me get, but he lacks the touch a child needs. He’d probably scare the hell out of the poor kid.

  “It won’t be much longer. Ryker’s got to stop Victor, though. The time’s come for him to be taken out. But these things take planning. Believe me, it’s happening as fast as it can.”

  Hanging her head, she says in a tiny voice, “I know. I’m sorry for complaining. I just hate that my father has to be hidden away without all the people who love him.”

  Then she giggles and looks up at me. “Actually, he’s probably happy as a clam not having to deal with my sister and me and my mother. All that estrogen nearly drove him nuts while we were growing up.”

  “I need to run down to Ryker’s office for a minute. I’ll be right back, okay?”

  With a nod, she sighs. “I’m good. Don’t worry about me. I’m just being a crybaby. Go, do what you have to do. I’m going to see if Kaia needs anything. Maybe we can get Lily and Lukas and take the kids outside for a little while before the sun goes down. Lukas loves to see the fireflies.”

  I kiss her, lingering on her lips before I leave. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Despite the fact that today was probably the happiest day of his life, Ryker sits behind his desk with his head down focused on that laptop he stares at all the time. Without his mask, all he’s going through is clear in his worried expression.

  “No rest for the wicked,” I say with a chuckle as I walk into his office.

  He lifts his head and shrugs. “Well, that’s what we are, so I guess it fits,” he says somberly.

  “Something up?”

  Taking a deep breath in, he lets it out slowly as he sits back in his office chair. “Nothing new. Just crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s for when things do happen.”

  “Got it.”

  His expression turns quizzical. “Why are you down here? I figured you’d be spending the rest of the night with Sophie.”

  “I am, but I want to run something by you. Something I’d like to do for her.”

  A slow smile brightens his face. “Something you’d like to do for her? Are you thinking of popping the question, Kane?”

  I can’t stop my eyes from rolling back into my head. “I swear you say these things just to bust my ass. We’ve been together for like three months. Give us a little time, okay?”

  Ryker smiles, knowing more than anybody else but Sophie how crazy in love with her I am. “Okay. Then if it’s not that, what are you talking about?”

  For a moment, I hesitate, but this is too important. “I want to take her to see her father.”

  “No. I’m sorry, Kane, but it’s too risky.”

  “I’ll take every precaution necessary. Nobody will know we’re going to see him.”

  Still, Ryker refuses to agree. Shaking his head, he frowns. “Victor has his men all over the place. He’ll find out and then Joseph won’t be alive an hour later.”

  “You know I can do this. Ryker, she just wants to see her father. Let me do this.”

  “I can’t risk it.”

  There’s got to be some way to convince him. Leaning down, I set my hands on top of the edge of his desk and level my gaze on him. “I’ll take full responsibility. If something happens, it’s my life for his.”

  Now Ryker rolls his eyes. “As if I would ever risk losing you either. No. It’s too risky. We can’t afford to hand him over to Victor.”

  “You’ve got Jaxon protecting him now, don’t you? What about if we met somewhere between here and the safe house. She just wants to talk to him in person. A few fucking minutes.”

  “A few minutes that can get him killed. You know this. Since when have you gone soft and worried about people missing one another? You think his wife doesn’t miss him? Fuck, she and Selene are stuck here in a place they’ve never spent more than a couple hours years ago. I’m not even sure Selene has ever been here before now. Everybody needs to just stay put until this business with Victor is finished.”

  As much as I hate to admit it, Ryker’s right. It’s too risky. I would have seen that if I wasn’t so blinded by wanting to make Sophie happy.

  I pace back and forth across his office for a few passes trying to think of a way to give her what she wants and still keep everyone safe. Nothing comes to me until I remember a story Jaxon told me about how he and his girlfriend get to see one another when he can’t drive down to see her in person.

  Stopping dead at the edge of Ryker’s desk, I spin around to face him and say, “What about if we did something remote? Is there any reason that can’t happen?”

  “Like what?”

  “Remember Jaxon telling us how he talks to that girl at school? He and Tia get to see one another while they talk when he can’t get down there. Is there any reason S
ophie can’t do that with Joseph?”

  With a shrug, Ryker says, “I don’t know. We’d have to make sure there was no way to trace where Joseph was.”

  My hope soars at his answer. “So if we could be sure of that, it could happen?”

  “As long as we’re absolutely sure not to put my brother in danger.”

  I clap my hands together, thrilled I’m going to be able to do this for her. “Great! I’ll have Jaxon look into it. If it’s safe, I’ll have him tell me what he needs and we’ll do it that way. Don’t tell Kaia, though. I want this to be a surprise for Sophie.”

  “You really are crazy about her, aren’t you?”

  The two of us have never really talked about Sophie and me. Ryker still doesn’t know everything that happened back at Duke’s, and he’s never asked about it. I’ve never told him because it doesn’t affect what I do for him and the organization. She just moved in after that night Stills tried to kill her, and since then, we’ve been together.

  I can’t stop myself from smiling when I answer, “Yeah, I am. And don’t give me any shit about everything I ever said to you about Kaia and there being no room in our world for women or love because I’m not hearing it, okay?”

  He gives me a smug look and shrugs. “Okay. If you’re happy, I’m happy for you. No shit to give.”

  “I’ve got plans to set up, so I’ll see you tomorrow, Ryker.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  As I turn to leave, I tease him, “Unless Kaia or Maxim give you a reason not to?”

  Sighing, he looks up toward the ceiling. “Someday I hope that can happen.”

  Two days later as the sun begins to set, I walk into the room I share with Sophie and find her curled up on the bed reading a book. Leaning over, I kiss her and take the book out of her hands.

  “Hey! I was reading that.”

  “I have something for you, so reading can wait.”

  As she glares up at me, I hand her the laptop where I’ve set up everything for her to talk to her father. “I have something for you. Enjoy!”

  Sophie looks down at the silver laptop and then up at me. “You’re giving me a computer? Not exactly the sexiest gift, but thank you.”

  “Just open it, okay?”

  With a look of pure disbelief, she lifts the cover and there waiting for her on the screen is her father, courtesy of Jaxon’s help. Her eyes fill with tears, and she looks up me, unsure what’s going on.

  “I couldn’t find a way for you to see him in person, so this is the second best thing. Jaxon helped me set it up. Talk to your father. I’ll leave you two alone.”

  “Hi, Daddy. I miss you. Are you okay?” she asks and then reaches out to grab my hand.

  “Hi, Soph. I’m okay. I’m so happy Jaxon set this up so we can talk. How are you, honey?”

  “I’m okay. I want you to meet someone.”

  She tugs me over to where she sits on the bed and pulls me down next to her. “Daddy, this is Kane. He worked with Jaxon to set this all up so I could see you because he knew I missed you.”

  I give Joseph a smile and see him staring back at me with suspicion in his eyes. I don’t blame him. He spent his whole life keeping his family away from men like me. To see his daughter seated next to me must unnerve him.

  “Ryker’s right hand man?” he asks as his focus shifts from me back to Sophie.

  “Yes, Daddy. He’s the man who saved me when Uncle Victor’s enemies kidnapped me. He and I are in love, and I know what you’re going to say, but I’m a grown woman who can make her own choices, and I choose him. I hope you understand that.”

  Time seems to grind to a standstill, and my heart beats wildly in my chest as she and I wait for Joseph to respond. As much as she says she’s chosen me, I know how much her family means to her, and if her father disapproves of her being with me, I’m not sure what will happen next.

  With a grimace, he finally answers, “You always were so headstrong, but you’re right. You are a grown woman now, and I can’t honestly object to you being with Kane since I was in the family business when your mother and I got together.”

  As Sophie beams a smile, Joseph turns his attention back to me. “And I’m sure he understands that even though my brother might not like it, if he hurts you, I’m going to get back into the family business, right Kane?”

  Spoken like a true Varens.

  “I understand you perfectly, Joseph,” I say with a nod.

  His expression instantly brightens. “Then I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

  Leaning over, I kiss Sophie on the cheek. “Talk to your father. I’ll be downstairs, so come find me when you’re done. Take your time, though. You have a lot to catch up on.”

  “Thank you so much!”

  I walk away and stop at the door to look back at her. It took so little to make this happen, but seeing her sweet smile makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. It’s a very different life than I expected when I chose to work for Ryker. I’ve laid down my life over and over to protect him, but now I have another Varens to give my life purpose.

  Whatever happens when Ryker strikes at Victor, I know where my loyalties lie now. With the blood brother I pledged loyalty for life and the woman I adore.

  Never Miss A Thing!

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  About the Author

  Abbi Cook grew up wondering if she was different because she always wanted to know more about the villain than the hero in the stories she read. When she got older, she found there were others in the world like her and devoured their writing, loving every dark word. She’s written her own tales for years, but in 2019 she decided it was time to take the next step and publish them. She’s never looked back since that day.

  Readers can find her at her website at abbicook.com, on FB and IG, and through email at abbicookauthor@gmail.com

  Books by Abbi:

  Captive Heart (standalone prequel to the Captive Hearts series)

  Behind The Mask (Captive Hearts #1)

  Beneath The Surface (Captive Hearts #2)

  Beyond The Lies (Captive Hearts #3)

  And be sure to sign up for Abbi’s newsletter if you haven’t already! You don’t want to miss a delicious word and all the great things with each release, and subscribers receive a FREE book, Captive Heart, the prequel to the Captive Hearts series, just for signing up!