Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 2

Friday

Brooklyn

I’d seen so many lives cut short. I’d lost so much. But I still closed my eyes tight and prayed to a God I didn’t believe in. Please let Jacob be okay. Please. Tears streamed down my cheeks, wetting the mask on my face. Just let my baby be okay.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling of what I already knew to be true. Everyone I loved died. Everyone. And I loved Jacob more than I’d ever loved anyone. He was everything to me. A piece of my soul. And if anything ever happened to him… I knew that would be it. My heart would finally stop beating too. I couldn’t handle any more pain.

“Silent now, huh?” the man who’d kidnapped me said as he put me down on something soft and covered my shoulders with a towel. “One mention of your son and you’re quiet as a mouse.”

I wanted to scream again. Instead, I clenched my jaw. I’d never do something that would risk my son’s life. But I also wasn’t sure if anything I did would keep my son safe. Because I loved him. And I was bad fucking luck.

My thoughts slammed together as tears spilled down my cheeks. I could hear Miller’s voice when I’d told him I was bad luck. “If anything you’re my good luck charm.”

And I heard Matt’s voice too when I told him I was bad luck and that everyone I loved died. “What about my parents? And what about Mrs. Alcaraz? And what about me? I’m still here loving you. I’ll always be here loving you.”

I took a deep breath.

I’m not bad luck.

Miller believed that.

Matt believed that.

And I needed to start believing it myself.

Nothing else bad was going to happen to me or my family. Because I wasn’t 16 and in high school and being bullied by my crazy half-sister. I wasn’t the same girl anymore. I was Brooklyn Miller. Soon to be Brooklyn Caldwell. And I fucking believed in myself.

I clenched my jaw harder as I tried to think of a plan to get out of this mess. But all I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears.

I’d heard the ticking down in my head earlier. I’d heard it and ignored it. Again. And this was what I got for not trusting my instincts. I’d never make that mistake again. I knew when I was in danger and I just needed to believe when my body warned me.

Matt would know I was gone. There had to be cameras everywhere in that fancy club. But I didn’t know how long he’d take. And a part of me hoped he’d just go to make sure Jacob was safe.

I took another deep breath. For some reason, my mind kept wanting to focus on homecoming with Isabella. No, I wasn’t the same girl I’d been in high school. But I was the same in one way. Sixteen years ago, when Isabella had kidnapped me during the dance, I hadn’t waited for someone to come rescue me. I’d rescued myself. And I knew I could figure out a way out of this too. I just needed to think.

I was definitely sitting on something soft. A couch maybe? And I knew he’d taken me to the roof of Club Onyx. We’d only been in the helicopter for a few minutes before we landed. So we were still in New York City. But…I couldn’t even picture any of the buildings nearby the Caldwell Hotel. That wasn’t anything to go off of. Think!

I’d started hearing the clock ticking down when my father started texting me incessantly. Saying we needed to talk. Whatever was going on had to do with him. And as long as I wasn’t screaming for help, there was no reason for my kidnapper to do anything to my son. “How do you know my father?” I asked as I started fidgeting with the restraints holding my wrists together.

“Everyone knows your father, Brooklyn.”

I remembered my father saying something odd when we first met. Something about me not reading newspapers because I didn’t recognize him. Was he really that notable in this city? I was pretty sure he was only notable in one circle. The worst one. The one that did this kind of shit. “Did he…did he do something to you?”

“No. This isn’t about me.”

Then why the hell did you kidnap me?!“Is there something you want? Money? You can have everything in my account.” I still had that bank account filled with my father’s money that Miller and I didn’t touch. “Millions.”

He laughed. “I don’t need your money.”

“Then what do you need?”

“I told you. This isn’t about me.”

“Then who is it about?”

“My boss. And your father.”

His boss and my father?Yeah, that definitely screamed mafia to me. My dad had told Matt that he was retired. But of course that was a lie. Because the only thing my dad knew was lies.

I tried to focus on my kidnapper’s words. He was doing this for his boss. So he was just doing his boss’s dirty work. Which meant he was like Miller. A bodyguard of some sort? An enforcer? Maybe he wanted an out just like Miller had. Maybe there was a heart of gold hidden somewhere inside of him. Somewhere deep inside of him. Miller had never hidden his heart from me. He’d always been kind. “If this isn’t about you, then maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement instead?”

“And what exactly did you have in mind?” His fingers lightly touched the bottom of my chin.

I shifted back and he laughed. Don’t touch me.

“You’re a little timid for my taste,” he said.

“You don’t know me.” I wasn’t timid. I knew how to defend myself thanks to Miller. If this man hadn’t threatened my son, I probably wouldn’t be sitting wherever I was still blindfolded and at his mercy. After the deer had scared me in the middle of the night at the lake house, Miller insisted that I learn to use a gun. But he taught me how to defend myself in other ways too. I kept playing with my restraints, trying to find a weak point. The ones around my wrists weren’t as tight as the ones on my ankles.

“I know everything about you,” he said. “Your mother died when you were 16 and you moved in with your uncle. But your uncle got sick too and then you moved in with your father. You were engaged very young, probably so that you could hide your true last name and not be in danger at all.”

That definitely wasn’t why, asshole. I loved Matt. And my father didn’t want to hide me from guys like this. He was trying to keep me safe from Isabella. Hell, my father had been trying to get me to take over for him not too long ago. This man didn’t know me at all.

“And then you mysteriously died. But my boss never believed that. It took us a while, but we eventually found you.”

No.The blood in my veins turned to ice. No.

“Richard Pruitt has been off his game for years. Ever since his grandson was born. His heart just isn’t in the business. And my boss is done taking orders from him. And we’re definitely never going to take orders from you.”

I felt the tears falling down my cheeks again. “It was you.” He’d killed Miller. He’d put the bomb in my car. “You killed my husband.”

“No. Not me. Unlike your father, my boss likes getting his hands dirty. He did it himself. And the bomb was meant for you.”

“I’m going to kill him,” I said. I was surprised by the words that tumbled out of my mouth. I wasn’t even sure I meant them.

But I hated that he laughed. “Sure you are.”

“A life for a life,” I said. I held back a sob as I twisted my wrist, trying to break free and failing. I’d wanted to kill my father for Miller’s death. I hadn’t been able to pull the trigger then. Maybe I’d be able to pull it on a stranger. A stranger who’d stolen everything from me.

“That’s the whole problem. You already took a life out of retaliation. You killed Luigi Locatelli’s only heir.”

“I had nothing to do with that.”

“And now he’ll stop at nothing until your whole family is wiped from the map,” he said, ignoring me.

My whole family? Jacob.My heart started racing faster as the restraints dug into my wrists. I needed to get back to my son. I needed to protect him.

“That’s no use,” he said and grabbed my wrist so I’d stop fidgeting. “You’re not getting out of this. My boss will be here any minute to finish the job.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “You don’t have to listen to your boss. You can be free. You can do whatever you want. I can help you.”

He didn’t respond. Which seemed like a good thing. It probably meant he was thinking about it. Please be like Miller. Please want an out.

“If you let me go, I’ll help you,” I said. “I promise. You don’t need to work in this business. We’ll figure a way out together.”

“Not everyone’s life is a fairy tale,” he said.

Was he kidding? Did it look like I was in a fucking fairy tale right now?!

“And even if I did let you go…he’d still find you. He’d find you and kill you. And then he’d just kill me too.”

Honestly he was probably right. Look at what happened to Miller. We’d just wanted to be free. I pictured our lake house. And him proposing under the lights hanging in the sky. The smile on his face. “We’re written in the stars.”

Tears started streaming down my cheeks again. I’d gotten Miller out. But his life was still cut short.

There is no out.

Fuck.I leaned over. I can’t breathe.

There’s never an out. Miller knew.

I gasped for air and leaned over more. Miller knew his past would eventually catch up with him. That’s why he’d written me that note. That’s why he’d taught me how to defend myself. He knew he wouldn’t be around forever.

There is no fucking out.There never had been. I’d been living in a fairy tale, just like my kidnapper had said. It was a dream. It was never going to last.

I can’t breathe.

And who was I kidding? I hadn’t saved myself 16 years ago when Isabella had left me naked and stranded in the middle of the city. I’d run to James for help. And my dad had shown up.

Whenever I was in danger, I always ran to someone for help. Miller. Matt.

God, Matt.I squeezed my eyes tight as my lungs refused to expand.

When I was a teenager, Matt had a bad habit of not showing up when I needed him. But ever since I came back to New York, he’d always shown up. And I needed him now. If my life was a fairy tale, I needed him to be my knight in shining armor.

And wasn’t he? He’d been the reason I kept breathing when I first moved to the city. He held me when I cried about my mom. He’d been there for me after my uncle’s funeral. And he’d loved me fiercely for 16 years.

Please, Matt. I need you.