Her eyes widened. Zoe shook her head. She backed up several paces. “No.”
Byron wanted to rush to her and pull her into his arms. Instead, he held up his hands. He tried to keep his voice calm. “Zoe, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s going to be okay. I know this is a lot, but we can get through this. I can help you.”
Her gaze focused on him. “Oh, my God,” she said as if coming to a realization. She let out a shaky laugh. “I can’t believe it. I tried so hard to stand on my own, but I’m right back in the same situation. I trusted you, and instead you kept me in the dark and controlled things so I’d have to rely on you. We can’t hide. Everyone knows Lilah as yours. If I run, you’d send Dominic to find me. I’m trapped.”
Byron watched the trust she’d had in him seep out of her eyes. He felt like he was falling into a hole. One he’d dug and couldn’t escape from. “You’re not trapped. We’ll figure this out together.”
She shook her head. Tears filled her eyes. “I said I wouldn’t be here again, but I walked right into this. I’m so stupid.” Her hands clenched into fists.
“You’re not stupid.” He couldn’t help it. He went to her and placed his hands on her forearms. Her flinch broke his heart. “Zoe, I love you. I only wanted to help.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. She pulled away and wrapped her arms around her chest. “I’ve heard that before. I’d say you don’t love me, but isn’t this what love is? Control. You have all the control over my life, my daughter, and if I try to escape, you’ll just pull me back.”
Escape? The word tore into his heart. No, this wasn’t how things were to go. He wasn’t trying to control her. He wasn’t trying to force her into anything. He’d thought he was making things better. He’d thought he was protecting her.
“Zoe, I was only trying to protect you.”
“I never wanted protection. I only wanted a partner.” Her sharp words were like a razorblade across his heart.
“Zoe.” He reached for her.
She jerked back and hastily wiped the tears from her face. Her eyes were cold as they met his. “Promise me you’ll make sure Lilah gets extra protection.”
“Of course, but Zoe let’s talk some more. I need you to understand.”
“No more talking. Right now the important thing is making sure Lilah stays safe. We’ll move into the main house today. Will you please include me in any updates on the investigation?” Her voice was weak, defeated.
“Absolutely, we’ll work together.”
She shook her head. “No, we won’t. You’ll find out what’s happening, come up with a plan and tell me what to do. You always wanted to be like your father. Apparently, you’re just like him.” With that she turned, went into the bedroom and slammed the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ZOE NEEDED A PLAN.
She stood with the rest of Byron’s family in the background as he made another campaign speech. She smiled and nodded at the appropriate times. She clapped and cheered with the crowd. Not once did she let any of the anxiety inside her reflect on the outside. Years of practice hiding anxiety worked out like that.
Ever since Byron admitted he’d hidden the emails from her in the “name of love” she’d been anxious. The extra security around the estate, for her, and Lilah, no longer felt like protection. It felt like barriers. A part of her brain acknowledged Byron wasn’t like Kendell. Byron would never hit her, nor would he fight with her and call her stupid the way her dad had done with her mom, but he still had control over her. She hadn’t realized how much control until he admitted how much information he kept from her. Information she needed to know.
His people monitored her emails. He got reports on her movements. They watched her phone calls and reviewed her schedule. While he never once told her she couldn’t do something or tried to change her plans, if he said something had to change his people would do so without a second thought to her. She’d handed over so much control of her life because she thought they were a team. She’d believed he’d seen the stronger person she’d grown into. Instead, he still saw the damsel Elaina had first called her. Someone who couldn’t take care of herself without him. Someone weak and stupid. The same way Kendell had seen her.
She needed a plan. She needed to figure out how to get away and start over.
First, she’d continue to work with Elaina. She needed money. Lots of money. Byron had her too entrenched in his life for her to just up and leave as she’d done with Kendell. If she worked for Elaina, started her own business and was successful, she’d make enough to set up her own home. She’d play the part of accommodating baby mother to Byron during the campaign while building her own nest egg until she had enough to move away.
The speeches ended. The family clapped and joined Byron at the front of the stage. She shifted so Byron’s immediate family surrounded him. She belonged on the periphery. She wasn’t a part of their inner circle, and she never would be.
She left the stage quickly after the photos were taken of them and went to Dominic hovering at the edge of the room.
“I’d like to go home,” she said.
Dominic frowned. “Byron said the family would be staying after the speech to do more talking.”
Zoe clenched her teeth. She couldn’t even make the decision to leave. “Did he tell you I had to stay, or can I leave?”
Dominic frowned, but he shook his head. “He didn’t.”
“Do you have to get permission for me to go home?”
He blinked as if that was ridiculous. “No.”
That only eased the ache in her chest a little. “Then, let’s go.” She walked around him and out the door. Not giving him the chance to change his mind.
“Are you feeling okay?” Dominic asked as he followed her out. Once outside, they were immediately met by a dark-clad figure who was part of the security detail.
“I feel fine. I just don’t want to be here,” she said.
Dominic shifted from one foot to the other. “He loves you, you know. That’s why he had me investigate.”
Zoe glanced from Dominic to the bodyguard opening the door of the car that slid up to the curb. Another guard stood at the door they’d come out of and spoke into his earpiece. No doubt telling Byron right now where she was and where she was going.
“I know. I’ve been loved like this before.” She got into the car.
Thankfully, the driver didn’t talk to her on the ride back to the estate. It was a local campaign dinner. The election was ten weeks away. Their schedules were getting tighter. After Byron finally told her everything there was to know he’d forwarded her the latest emails. They were coming to her weekly now. Saying she was getting exactly what she deserved.
When she got home, she was heading upstairs when Lilah bounced out of the kitchen smiling with a handful of cookies in her hand. She saw Zoe and hurried over.
“You’re back already? I expected you to be later,” Lilah said. She handed a cookie to Zoe.
Zoe took it and wrapped an arm around Lilah’s shoulders. “I thought you’d be upstairs in bed by now.”
“I was upstairs reading and video chatting with T.J.”
Zoe stopped before they went up the stairs and faced her. “Video chatting? You’re still talking to him?”
Lilah lifted a shoulder. “Well, yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s still my friend,” she said as if Zoe was stupid. “And he says he still likes me.” Lilah’s eyes lit up. “I didn’t think he would after I moved away and told him we should just be friends.”
Lilah started up the stairs. Zoe stared, dumfounded. “You shouldn’t be video chatting with him.”
“Why not? I still video chat with Julie.” Lilah took a bite of her cookie.
Zoe hurried up the stairs to catch up with Lilah. “That’s different.”
“How? I’
m making friends up here, but all my real friends are back home. He’s one of them. I can talk to them still.”
“He may get the wrong idea. Or think you’re still holding a torch for him. It’s better to cut things off now.”
Lilah stopped at the top of the stairs and gave Zoe and incredulous look. “Mom, are you serious right now? I thought you’d be okay.”
“Why?” What about Zoe made Lilah think she’d be okay knowing her daughter was still chasing after some boy back home?
“Because you’re finally happy.”
“I’ve always been happy,” Zoe argued.
Lilah shook her head. “No, you haven’t. You’ve always been warning me about how terrible men are, and that I shouldn’t get attached to anyone. But now you’ve seen that’s not the case. Byron is great and you’re happy with him. I thought I’d give T.J. the benefit of the doubt.”
Zoe took Lilah’s arm in her hand. “Don’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Never let your guard down and don’t give false hope where there shouldn’t be any. You’re too young to be thinking about a boy anyway. You should be focusing on making new friends and meeting new people up here. Not trying to hold on to some guy from your past. I thought I taught you better than that.”
Lilah pulled away from Zoe and frowned. “You taught me to be smart. I’m not being dumb, Mom. He really is an okay guy. He’s not going to hurt me.”
“You think that now, but they always end up hurting you. Cut him loose now.”
Zoe turned and stalked to her door. Lilah’s footsteps followed. “How can you say that? Byron is perfect.”
Zoe spun around and pointed. “No one is perfect. Especially not Byron.”
“But he wants to take care of us.”
Exactly why she never should have agreed to this plan. All the work she’d done to teach Lilah to stand on her own was washed away by Byron’s Prince Charming persona. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me and neither do you. We can take care of ourselves.”
“I know that.”
“Then quit thinking Byron is some knight in shining armor sent to rescue us. We’re still in this on our own. Just you and me. Don’t get swept up in this fairy tale and think it’ll last. It won’t.”
“God, Mom, you’re always like this!” Lilah yelled. “You always want things to be terrible when they aren’t.”
“I’m realistic.”
“No, you’re scared and you’re angry and you think every guy is like my dad. Well, they aren’t. There are some decent guys out there. You’re going to ruin everything.”
“I’m going to make sure we’re independent and able to take care of ourselves. You’ll understand where I’m coming from one day.”
Tears filled Lilah’s eyes. “You won’t be happy until I end up like you. Afraid and alone with no real friends. That’s what you want. I can’t wait until I grow up and move out.”
“Well, you’ve got a couple of more years for that, so until then, deal with it,” Zoe snapped back.
Lilah’s eyes glistened before she turned and ran into her room. Zoe closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tamped down the guilt expanding inside her. Pressed it down until it was just a tight knot in her chest. One day Lilah would understand. She was only trying to protect her. Words like love and trust were traps. She was better off alone. Lilah would be better off learning that from the start. Zoe didn’t need protection or love. She could do both for herself.
What had her belief in a second chance with Byron gotten her anyway? A guarded escort home and her house burned down. She sucked in a breath and went into her room. To hell with love.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THE NEXT MORNING Zoe went downstairs for breakfast and was surprised to find Byron, Rob, Grant and Travis already occupying the dining room table. She stopped short at the door. Four sets of eyes landed on her, but only one made her breath catch.
Byron immediately stood. His mouth opening to speak. Zoe didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.
“I’ll eat in the kitchen,” she said and turned to leave.
“Zoe, wait, you need to hear this, too.” Byron’s voice stopped her.
Byron looked too good for it to be so early after a long night at a campaign event. He was dressed casually in a lavender polo shirt and khaki-colored shorts. The soft material of the shirt clung to his shoulders and chest.
She shouldn’t be noticing the way he looked in a shirt. Damn sure shouldn’t be distracted by how good he looked. Except last night she’d dreamed about that last kiss they’d had before he’d told her of the secrets he’d kept from her.
“What is it?” As much as she wanted to walk out and not look back, she wasn’t going to refuse any information he was willing to give. Even if he was only humoring her at the moment. It was only a matter of time before he’d go back to withholding information.
“My poll numbers are up,” he said.
“Up is an understatement,” Roy said excitedly. “His numbers have skyrocketed. Ever since the video of Byron pulling Lilah and Wesley from the car went viral, people love him. He’s even getting attention outside the state.”
The urge to throw the plate of bacon and eggs she held along with her cup of coffee at Roy made her fingers grip the plate. “Good for you. Now everyone thinks you’re a hero.”
“I never asked to be a hero,” Byron replied.
“It doesn’t matter,” Grant cut in. “What matters is what people think. Right now Byron is a hero who saves children and his employees from burning vehicles.”
Byron scowled. “The car wasn’t burning. We aren’t exaggerating this story.”
“What does this have to do with me?” Zoe asked before Byron and his dad could start debating.
“We want to have a campaign rally at the local high school,” Roy explained.
Zoe lifted a shoulder and took a fortifying sip of her coffee. “Okay, I still don’t get it. You plan rallies all the time.”
“They want Lilah to attend,” Byron answered.
Zoe shook her head and took a step into the dining room. “No. The agreement was Lilah wouldn’t do campaign appearances after the first press conference.”
Byron opened his mouth to respond but Grant spoke up first. “That was back when we didn’t think her appearing would make a difference. This will make a difference.”
Roy nodded. “He’s right. If we put Lilah and Wesley on that stage with Byron, the public and the press will eat it up. It’s just like when the pictures of the three of you surfaced a few weeks ago—”
“When you intentionally released pictures of me and my daughter,” Zoe shot back.
“Semantics,” Roy continued. “You can’t deny the pictures had the desired effect. Doing this will get us major points going up to the election. We’re running out of time.”
Zoe glared at Byron. Hurt even more than she’d been before. “I can’t believe you’d add this on top of everything.”
She turned and stalked out of the room. Her eyes burned with tears she didn’t want to shed. As angry as she was about him keeping the information about her house and the emails a secret, a small part of her understood where he was coming from. Byron had always had that misguided hero complex. Trying to do right for other people, but often in the wrong way.
Footsteps chased her. Her heart jumped into her throat. She knew it was Byron before he hurried past her and blocked her retreat into the kitchen.
“What?” she snapped. She avoided eye contact and blinked rapidly to hide the tears.
“I said no,” Byron said. “Lilah isn’t coming to the press conference.”
“I guess you want a prize?” She didn’t care if it took seeing her upset for him to say no. He should have realized Lilah was off-limits still.
“No, I don’t want a prize. What I do want is for you to understand that I tol
d them no before you came into the room. They were arguing against me. That’s why I said it involved you and we needed your opinion. I needed you to back me up.”
Zoe pressed her lips together. So what, was she supposed to thank him for doing what they’d agreed upon at the beginning? She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, even though relief made her shoulders sag.
“I don’t want Lilah at campaign appearances. Especially now that we know what happened to my house.” Her eyes went wide. “How could they want that when they know about the threats?”
Byron shook his head. “They don’t know about the threats. Dominic worked on this under my direction. I never told the rest of the family about anyone looking for you.”
“No one knows? Not even your dad?” She would have expected Grant to be the first person Byron confided in.
“They don’t. They only know Carlton blackmailed me. I came to you the other day to tell you about the emails so we could come up with the plan for how we’d move forward. I didn’t want my family’s opinion on what to do, especially when it directly affects you and Lilah.”
Zoe pulled the cup of coffee closer to her chest. “Oh.” She didn’t have an immediate response to that. Nor did she want to acknowledge the satisfaction of knowing he’d come to her first. That he’d taken all of the heat for bringing her into his life without revealing all of the reasons he wanted to protect her.
Zoe frowned and walked past him. She would have expected he’d updated his dad or Roy on everything before coming to her. Byron kept pace with her as she went into the kitchen. Sandra and Jules glanced at them as they entered. Sandra’s eyes narrowed as she looked between Zoe and Byron.
She touched Jules’s shoulder. “Let me show you something in the garden. I believe Ms. Patricia mentioned wanting to grow mint.”
The two ladies went through the sunroom outside. Zoe put her plate and coffee mug on the island. Byron stood next to her.
“Dominic told me what you said yesterday,” he said.
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