Chapter 3
I leave Elizabeth in my room and go downstairs.
My parents are out of town for a few days at some pharmaceutical conference.
Ryder and I spent a few hours together earlier, and then once he left, a couple of my old high school friends came over.
We were about to order pizza when Elizabeth unexpectedly knocked on my door—at midnight no less.
When I round the corner to go to the kitchen, Matt spots me and elbows Jacob standing beside him. They both grin like fools.
“Who’s the girl? I didn’t realize you liked them a little bit crazy. When you’re done with her, can I have a go?” Matt laughs, as does Jacob. Matt thinks he’s being funny.
“Want to repeat that? I didn’t hear you.”
Jacob stops laughing and steps away from Matt. Jacob knows how I am. Who I am. Matt, however, has apparently forgotten. He’ll remember soon enough.
Matt chuckles again and opens his mouth to speak, but I’m in his face before he gets a chance to utter his first syllable.
I grab the front of his shirt and slam him up against the refrigerator.
The heavy appliance rocks back into the wall, then settles.
Matt yelps as the air is knocked out of his lungs by the impact with the refrigerator.
I sneer at him, baring my teeth. “The first mistake you made was opening your mouth. The second mistake you made was talking about that girl.”
I tighten my grip on his shirt, pulling him forward before shoving him back hard again against the large stainless-steel appliance. “You will not look at that girl. You will not talk to that girl. You will not come near that girl. Do I make myself clear?”
He gasps a few times then nods his head yes. I look around to Jacob. “Do I make myself clear?” I repeat.
“Yeah, man. We’re clear.”
“Now kindly get out of my house,” I tell them.
I don’t wait to make sure they comply with my request. There’s no question they’ll obey.
I grab the items I want from the walk-in pantry and head out to the back patio.
It’s past midnight and the temperature outside is nice and crisp.
I reach in my pocket and grab a stick of gum.
Why did I stop smoking again? A glance up to my bedroom window answers that question.
Popping the gum into my mouth, I take out my phone.
Elizabeth came to me for help. She may come to regret that decision. I open the contacts, scroll to the one I need, and press call.
“Fallon, thank God. Have you heard from Elizabeth?”
“Hey, man.”
Ryder has always been that guy for me. Even though he’s a year younger than I am, I look up to him like a reverent little brother would the older brother he idolizes.
Ry’s had my back far more times than I can count.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I know Jayson, Julien, and Elijah have never understood why we’re friends. Honestly, it’s none of their business
“Elizabeth is missing. Please tell me you’ve seen her.”
I can hear the panic in his voice. The worry. My boy has always loved Elizabeth. I hate what I’m about to do to him.
“Ry, I’ve got her.”
“Thank God! Are you at your house? I’m on my way.”
“Nah, man. That’s why I’m calling.”
“Fallon, stop messing around. I’m worried sick. You don’t know what has happened.”
“I know what happened,” I tell him.
“What? How?
“She’s messed up. She needs time.”
Elizabeth thinks she’s broken. She thinks I can help fix her. She doesn’t realize that I am as broken as she is. In a weird sort of way, we’re perfect for one another right now.
“Screw that! She needs me!” he shouts into the phone.
“Not yet,” I calmly tell him, hoping he understands. I hear a loud exhale on the other end of the line. I wait.
“She got her memories back and ran back to him,” he says, and I can hear the defeat in his voice.
“No, she didn’t.” Her past ran back to Jayson, not Elizabeth.
“Fallon, we just got her back. I can’t lose her. I love her too much. I can handle what happened with Jay. I can accept it. I don’t care if that makes me seem weak or pathetic. What I can’t handle is losing her again.”
He’s not going to like what I say next
“I’m taking her away for a while. She needs time to heal and the deal with everything.”
“I swear to God, Fallon—”
“Ry, listen to me. Deep down you understand what I’m trying to tell you. I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise. I’ll protect her with my life.”
“Fallon, no way, man. You’re not taking her away from me!”
“You need to trust me.”
He’s silent for a long minute. “What about school, Fallon? Her AP classes?”
“I’ve got it covered.”
More silence.
“I want to talk to her. Put her on the phone.”
“No,” I tell him.
“Then I’m coming over.”
“We won’t be here.”
“Fallon—”
“If you love her, Ry, let me do this for her. Give her the time she needs.
I know he’ll do the right thing. He always does.
“I don’t like this one bit,” he finally says.
Good. He shouldn’t, but I know he won’t stop me.
He and I could always say a page’s worth of thoughts in just a few words.
If he pushed me to bring her back, I would.
I knew he wouldn’t because he truly does love her.
He wants what’s best for her, even if it hurts him.
It’s one of the reasons why I admire him so much.
“Let me come with you then,” he begs.
“No.”
“Christ, I hate you sometimes.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Her uncle isn’t going to let you just disappear with her,” he counters, grasping at any straw he can.
“I’ll handle him.” And I will. Whatever it takes.
“Fallon, please tell me that she’s okay.” His voice breaks when he says it and the sound stabs at me like a hot poker. I know that he’s hurting, but Elizabeth is hurting worse.
“She’s in a real dark place right now. If pushed, she might not come back from it. I can give her what she needs to deal with everything.”
Ryder exhales again. “If anything happens to her, I will hunt you down myself. And God help you if I do.”
“I won’t fail her. Or you.”
I can literally hear his heart breaking, but he puts his own wants aside and does what’s right for Elizabeth. “Please take care of her. Do whatever you have to do and bring her back to us.”
“I promise, Ry. I swear on it.”
“Call me in the morning.”
“I’ll be in touch,” I say before hanging up and dialing another number.
My father picks up after the first ring, and by the sound of his voice, I must have woken him up. “Fallon.”
“Hey, Dad. I need to ask you a big favor.”
He pauses before asking, “Should I wake your mother up?”
“I’d rather this stays between us, if you don’t mind.”
“Alright. Let me go into the other room. Hold on.”
I plop down on one of the patio chairs and kick my feet up while I wait
Dad comes back on the phone. “You have my undivided attention.”
“I need a favor. Actually, I need a few favors.”
I hear him sigh over the line. “Lay it on me,” he says.
“I have a friend, and she needs my help.”
Another sigh. Those seem to be going around a lot tonight. “Hell, Fallon. You called me in the middle of the night about a girl?”
“Not just a girl. She’s special. But that’s beside the point.”
Dad cuts me off. “Then she should ask her parents for help, not you.
“Will you let me finish,” I snap at him, before reminding myself that I need his help and to chill out. “She doesn’t have any parents. They’re dead.”
“Wait a second. You’re not referring to Elizabeth Fairchild, are you?”
“Yes.” Everyone in a six-county radius knows what happened to Elizabeth and her parents. The story played on the local news and was in the town’s paper for weeks.
“What do you need?”
Sometimes my dad can be a massive prick, but other times, like now, he can be pretty awesome.
“I’m getting her out of town for a while.
I’ll need access to the boat, and maybe the jet.
I’ll also need an expedited passport made for her once we reach New York.
We’ll stay in the penthouse suite that we keep at the hotel near Central Park.
I’ll also need you to personally run interference with her uncle, and get her schoolwork transferred over to virtual learning.
If you need any help with the uncle, call Ryder.
He’s basically been living at her house. ”
“That’s a lot of ‘I needs,’ Fallon.”
Come on, Dad. Don’t let me down. I’ll use my own money on this if I have to and do it on my own, but I don’t have the connections that Dad does to get things moving quickly.
“Fine. But you owe me. Favors always come with strings attached, Fallon. Never forget that. And I expect a better explanation from you tomorrow about what’s going on.”
“Deal. I’ll call you once we’re on the Lady Gwendolyn. Thanks, Dad. Really. I mean it.”
He grunts a reply and disconnects the call. A grin spreads across my face. Some days, it’s freaking fantastic being a Montgomery.
Whistling, I walk back upstairs, carrying the bottled water and banana I got from the kitchen pantry.
Thankfully, Matt and Jacob are gone. Smart men.
When I open my bedroom door, I see Elizabeth curled up in my bed, fast asleep.
I put down the water and fruit on the bedside table and sit down in the armchair across from where she’s sleeping.
I laze back, propping a knee on top of my other leg, and watch her sleep.
Her face is relaxed but I can tell she’s dreaming from the way her body twitches and jerks.
She has always been the most beautiful girl in the world to me.
She’s always been my obsessive fascination.
I would love to be inside her head right now, to live in her chaos and nightmares. Yeah, I’m messed up like that.
Elizabeth moans, then gasps as she suddenly sits up in bed, her green eyes wide in alarm. She blinks a few times when she sees that it’s me sitting across from her. “Fallon?”
“Hey, kitten.”
She rubs her eyes and looks around. “How long was I out?”
“Not long.”
I point to the water beside her on the table. She picks it up, twists the top off, and guzzles half of it.
“We’re going on a trip,” I tell her, and her face scrunches with confusion.
“What?”
“We’re leaving. Get up.”
“Leaving for where?” she inquires with a dubious tilt of her head
“Consider it a vacation. Trust me,” I tell her.
“Fallon, I have no clothes or shoes. It’s the middle of the night,” she protests
I rise from the chair and hold out my hand to her. Elizabeth looks up at me with a scowl.
“I have school, Fallon. Classes. I can’t just up and leave. And Daniel is probably worried sick about me right now. The guys, too.”
“Trust me.” My eyes never waver from hers as I keep my hand steadily outstretched in front of me.
It takes a few minutes, but she finally takes my hand without another word.