Chapter 5
Colton
This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.
This woman basically turned a conference room into a toddler paradise overnight.
There’s enough stuff in here to keep Ollie entertained for the next five years, and he’s already bouncing from one thing to another so fast I can barely track him.
What’s even crazier is that he’s interacting with them. Really interacting.
He’s letting Ronan’s dad hold him. He’s babbling at his mom.
He keeps running back to them like he’s known them longer than five minutes.
He has never done that before. Not with anyone.
I don’t know if I should stand here in awe of it or scoop him up and run before I get too comfortable.
I can’t let my guard down even for a minute.
“I think he’ll be fine here,” Ronan says. “Plus, you really don’t want to disappoint Alessia Murphy.” He glances over at me.
“Dad doesn’t like that.”
I have to laugh at how he says it, but when I look over at him, he’s staring at me blankly.
“You’re serious?”
“Deadly.”
Both of Ronan’s parents are sitting on the floor beside the inflatable ball pit with Ollie between them.
Mrs. Murphy pushes the balls over his legs, and Ollie kicks them away with a delighted squeal.
She does it again immediately, and he laughs even harder.
He’s clutching a plastic ball in each hand, holding them up like trophies.
His eyes are so bright they almost don’t look real.
And his laugh? God. I’ve never heard him laugh like this before. He’s always been a happy baby. When it’s just him and me, he’s smiley, easygoing. But this is different. This is pure joy. The sound of it hits me right in the chest.
For one dangerous second, I let myself imagine what this could be like for him.
More people. More love. A family bigger than just me.
Then the thought twists because this won’t last. Things like this never do, not for us.
Eventually, it’ll be Ollie and me again, and I’ll have to be enough for him.
I don’t know if I am, though. Not after seeing this, what he could have.
“If you guys are sure,” I say quietly, still trying to wrap my head around all of this.
There’s a pull in my chest I don’t know what to do with. For the last year, Ollie has been mine and I’ve been his. His whole world. And now these strangers have his attention.
“Yes, dear, we’ll be just fine. If anything comes up, you’re just down the hall. Now go on with Ronan.”
Panic starts twisting low in my stomach.
Stranger danger, stranger danger, stranger danger.
The words repeat over and over in my head.
I know Ollie is safe here. Safer than he’s probably ever been.
The real danger can’t get to him in this building.
Not with the Murphys surrounding him. I know that.
But knowing it and feeling it are two different things.
Every instinct in me is screaming not to leave him.
A warm weight settles against my shoulder before I can spiral any further.
I look down. Ronan’s hand is resting there, big and steady.
The pressure of it pulls me back enough that I can breathe again.
It’s strange. I don’t know him. But somehow, standing next to him makes me feel steadier, like I’m not alone.
“He’s fine here, I promise.” Ronan punctuates the words with a gentle squeeze.
“Bye, bye, Da,” Ollie says without even looking at me. Well, I guess I have been replaced.
Ronan guides me back to his office. When his hand settles on the small of my back, that feeling of comfort and stability is still there. But I’m nervous about leaving Ollie with strangers. I can’t help but bounce my knee when I sit down.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little. Ollie’s never out of my sight for long.”
“Trust me, he couldn’t be safer than with my dad and mom.” He passes me a tablet. Taking it, I see it’s an employee contract. It’s a standard contract, from what I can tell. When I get to the compensation and benefits section, I open and close my mouth several times. This can’t be right.
“I think there is a mistake on here. It says that I’ll be provided an apartment and a company vehicle.”
“No mistake.”
“What about the salary?”
“No mistake. I’m very meticulous with contracts. I assure you it’s all correct.”
I can’t believe what I’m looking at. I scroll to the last page of the contract and sign it anyway. At this point, the red flags around Ronan are less flags and more an entire parade.
But I’m not about to turn down this kind of opportunity. Even if I only stay a month, I’ll make enough money to disappear again much sooner than I planned. I hand the tablet back to him.
The rest of the morning passes with Ronan setting up my computer, phone, email, and login credentials.
I’m still not completely sure what I’m supposed to be doing here.
The job description is vague enough to cover just about anything in IT, and apparently, I’ll report directly to him while he trains me.
Honestly, for what they’re paying me, I don’t care if my job ends up being alphabetizing cables.
And if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t think I’m going to mind spending that much time with Ronan.
He’s easy to be around in a way that surprises me.
Funny in this dry, deadpan way that sneaks up on me when I’m not expecting it.
Dry humor has always been my thing. And nobody does dry better than Ronan.
It’s close to lunch when Ronan’s dad walks into the office. At some point, he ditched the suit jacket and tie. Now the sleeves of his dress shirt are rolled to his elbows, exposing strong forearms dusted with dark hair. He was already impressive in the suit. Like this, he’s unfair.
Ronan looks so much like him it’s almost unsettling.
He’s a couple inches shorter than his dad, but they have the same broad build, the same sharp features, the same expression that makes them both look serious even when they’re not saying anything.
They even stand the same way. Like they’re both permanently braced for something.
And they both have those jawlines that movie stars would probably pay a fortune for. There’s something purple stuck in Mr. Murphy’s hair. I don’t mention it, but my eyes keep drifting back to it.
“It’s lunchtime. Alessia would like to feed Ollie now. She said he’s getting tired and needs a nap.”
“Okay. I can handle that. Ronan, is it okay if I take my lunch now?” I get to my feet and glance back over to Ronan when he doesn’t answer. He’s staring at his dad with his head cocked to the side, brows pulled together.
“What’s in your hair?” he asks, pointing to his own head. Mr. Murphy drags a hand through his hair and comes away with a strand of purple.
“Silly string,” he says.
Like that is a completely normal answer. Like finding party supplies in your hair in the middle of a workday happens all the time.
“Alessia ordered lunch for us,” he adds.
Then he turns and leaves without waiting for either of us to respond. I stare after him.
Completely dumbfounded. I knew who Murphy Enterprises was before yesterday, but after I put Ollie to bed last night, I looked them up.
A multi-billion-dollar company run by brothers Duncan and Kieran Murphy.
And Kieran Murphy apparently walks around with silly string in his hair.
I feel like I’ve slipped into some weird alternate universe.
From the pictures online, I would have guessed he spent his days glaring at people in boardrooms, not letting a toddler attack him with party supplies.
“We had better go eat.”
Ronan rests his hand on the small of my back and guides me out of the room. I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t like it. Because I do, way too much.
He’s a little over six feet, just taller than me, but he’s built in a way that makes me notice.
Broad shoulders, strong arms, all of it wrapped up in those expensive clothes.
There’s power in the way he moves. He’s controlled and graceful, which makes him sexy as fuck.
And the worst part is, I don’t even know what that means for me.
I don’t know if I’m gay. Hell, I don’t know if I’m straight.
The truth is, I’ve never even kissed anyone.
Sure, I’ve felt attraction before. And I have been attracted to both men and women in the past. But never enough to act on it.
By the time I was old enough, it was forbidden by the cult.
The leader, Prophet Moses, whose real name is Derick Napper, tells you who you’re to marry.
You’re to marry when the man is twenty-four, and the girl can be as young as sixteen.
I still have two years before it is expected of me.
The thought of being married to any of the girls in the congregation doesn’t appeal to me.
When he would choose for one of the men, it felt like a meat market.
The girls would have to stand in a line while Moses surveyed the stock.
We all knew the decision had already been made, but he still held court.
Once he announced who had been chosen, he would comment on the other girls and explain why God had not led him to choose them.
It was degrading every time. The girls not chosen would be given extra chores for being inadequate in God’s eyes.
I hated every second of it. Just thinking about it now sours my mood.
I have to remind myself that I got away, that I got Ollie out.
I’m still not in the clear yet, and probably never will be, but for now, we’re as safe as we can be.