Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
LOLA
Unknown Number
Hey kids, it's Cade. Tell Lynds Enzo's a jerk but is seeing the errors of his ways.
I still have Lyndall's phone, but I show her the message.
After the last hacking of my phone, I'm suddenly jittery.
Her eyes light up as she grips her coffee cup. "It's him. Tell him not to let that fake brother near me."
Me
Is this on Enzo's behalf?
Cade
Nope. You have to know I traced the burner. Look, he doesn't know about this, but you can't both be out there without protection.
I look at Lyndall. "Is he as controlling as Enzo?"
She pouts. "Not usually, but maybe this is Enzo."
"Doesn't sound like him. And Lyndall, he sounded very worried and contrite on the phone."
She snorts. "Good. He should grovel and hard."
Personally, as mad as I am, I think he is. Because I'm not lying to her. He really did sound like that. And Cade's right.
This is foolish.
Out in the open. No protection. Or is it just the fact that I'm so used to it these days?
I sip my herbal tea.
Me
I don't think she wants it.
Cade
She's smart. Tell her Jack's gonna be out there, in a green car. She knows the one. He'll drive you both home when you're ready.
I glance at her, showing the message. "Who is Jack?"
Her eyes light up. "Cade's brother. I like him."
"So many guys, Lyndall," I tease.
She rolls her eyes. "Not like that. He can come in. But he can sit at another table." She then points at the phone. "Tell Cade. He'll only worry about us. I bet Enzo isn't worried."
Me
He's allowed to come in but not sit with us.
Cade
FYI, it took a lot for Enzo to give you space here, but he did it on his own. This, right here, is one hundred percent me. I sent Jack to bring you guys back safely. Enzo will never forgive himself if something happens. And Jack owes me.
Lyndall grabs the phone and looks. "Right, I just bet it did." And she looks like she wants to cry. "Jack is also like a brother. Which is about right, since I only have fake brothers and no actual ones."
Me
Thanks.
I put the phone down and slide it to Lyndall, who tucks it in her hoodie pocket.
"Let's imagine the fight we overheard is right," I say in the cozy coffee shop.
She shoots me an incredulous look. "Clearly, it is, Lola. I-it's okay if you want me to be your... you know."
"Sister? Come on. You should know me better than that, Lyndall. But if you want to know for sure—"
"I don't," she snaps.
"A DNA test will clear it up."
She sniffs. "You don't want me either. That's clear."
"Don't be silly."
"I'm not."
"Look, Lyndall, I'd love for you to be my sister, and what I'm trying to say is that the DNA test will prove the bloodlines, but not who is family. Enzo is your family." I lean forward right as she opens her mouth to twist my words into something else.
I know her mood, I've been her age, and giant upheavals like this are hard on anyone.
But on a young girl?
It breaks my heart to see her in pain. "Before you say anything, even if you weren't my sister by blood, I'd consider you family because you're awesome."
She sniffles. "You're only saying that."
"No, I'm not. And he would, too. He loves you."
"Jack?" She gives a watery laugh.
"Enzo." I pick up my mug, holding it. "You grew up with him. You're more his sister than mine. I'm looking forward to getting to know you, but don't ever forget you had Enzo. You're loved, and that's special."
But she looks at me. "And my so-called father? I don't need a DNA test to know he's not my father. And if we go by the rules you just spouted, then even if he is, he might as well not be because he doesn't like me."
"Lyndall, that's not true." I might not like the man, I might, in fact, hate him.
He might hide her away, ignore her, resent her, but I'm betting he loves her. Because he doesn't strike me as the type to keep anyone around if he didn't like them.
Of course, I could be way off base.
"It is. He hates me."
A cute guy comes into the café in jeans and a light sweater.
After looking around, he sees us and waves.
It has to be Jack. I can see the resemblance to Cade.
He orders a drink after Lyndall waves back and then finds a seat near the exit and starts doing something on his phone.
For a moment, I'm convinced he's texting.
She looks from me to him and says, "He's probably got a cool game on his phone."
Not that I care, I realize. If he wants to text his brother, he can. I trust Cade not to turn up.
And Enzo?
I trust him enough not to as well.
I heard his voice. The regret, the frustration, the love for Lyndall.
"Your—Mario's a jerk. I know that, but he must care. And I do know that your brother—"
"Not my brother."
"—adores and loves you."
"I don't care." She shoves her mug and stuffs the last piece of her giant chocolate cookie into her mouth.
"Yes, you do. And I know you love him too."
She shakes her head. "They've been lying to us. And they've been lying to me all my life."
I think back over the conversation. "I don't think Enzo's known all that long."
"When did he find out, then? Because it wasn't when I did."
I breathe out slowly and lean in. "That's something you'll have to ask him yourself, Lyndall."
"Too bad I'm not talking to him."
"You will. Because you love him, and he's your family."
We sit in silence, but it's just a quiet, contemplative one, and I let her have it.
Lyndall needs to think on things, let them sink in, and...so do I.
She's my sister...
In personality, she takes a lot after Enzo, but that doesn't mean anything.
I try to see myself in her, in looks, anything, but I've seen pictures of her mom, and she takes after her. I look for my dad, and I'm not sure I can see him in her, either.
Then again, she's her own person and a byproduct of upbringing with the family she's known.
As for me...
"You're my sister, Lola." Her voice is a whisper. "Are you really okay with that?"
I reach over and touch her hand. "If I could choose a sister, it'd be you. Honestly."
"We could both run away. Jack wouldn't take much convincing."
Jack's concentrating on his game, but every now and then, he slides us a look.
"Maybe, but..." I make myself say it. "I think you need to talk to Enzo."
"Nope."
"Not right at this second, but later. When you're ready. And if we run, it's going to make things worse."
She groans. "When you did it, you wanted to go and not come back."
"Well, you wanted to go back to Enzo. And then look what happened."
"So?"
I don't point out who rescued her, who was beside himself over her being taken. She won't listen to that.
But I still try to reason with her. "You owe it to yourself to talk things out with Enzo."
"What if I don't want to and want to leave with you?"
"The thing is, if we go, we'll be on the run, hiding.
And I'm pregnant, remember? Much better for us to just walk when we've talked to Enzo.
When you have. You've got a career you want, a school that, if you get into it, will shoot your career into the stratosphere.
I think a little talk with Enzo is worth you having that. "
I don't point out the fact that no court will let her go off with me, let alone Mario or Enzo.
She bites her lip. "But I'm not ready for it. I don't want to talk to him."
"Then don't. But it's time to go back. And I'll make sure you'll have your space. I promise."
Lyndall rolls her eyes. "You know as well as I do...Enzo doesn't know the meaning of the word."
"But he can learn."
"OMFG!" Lyndall just says the letters, and she points an accusatory finger at me. "You've forgiven him."
"No, I haven't," I say, lacking conviction. "I just..."
Thing is, he's controlling, obsessive, everything I ever said and flung at him. But he loves Lyndall. And nothing, no one, or any fact will stop him from loving her or seeing her as his sister.
Like nothing will stop him from loving Squish.
"I just think he's trying."
"You're in love with him. I knew it."
The words nestle inside me. "It's not... I just... Listen, I know he's trying."
"Explain why Jack's here."
"He was sent by Cade."
She gives me a disbelieving look. "By way of my broth—by way of stupid Enzo."
But something isn't right here, I know that.
Just like my stomach twists at how long we've been here. Because when you are in danger, how long is too long?
I take a sip of my cooling tea. "You know, Lyndall, if it was your brother behind this, and you could be right, but would he send Jack?"
She folds her arms and pouts.
Her shoulders lift. "He might."
I glance at Jack.
He's older than me, but not by much, maybe a year or two. But he's looking at his phone with the concentration and delight of a teen boy.
"Is Jack trained to protect?"
"Jack is Jack."
"You see my point?"
Lyndall holds out her hands and studies her short nails. "No."
"Enzo would send a trained guard and say it was a friend, and you know it."
"In love..." She looks disgusted.
If this was before the news that ripped apart not only her world but mine, it would have been with delight, not disgust.
But she would still be wrong.
This time, that thought falls flat.
I push it all away. I'm starting to feel like I'm being watched. And it's not Jack.
Horror creeps icy along my spine as I realize this is the first time since that man tried to take us that I've been out without a guard. And Jack doesn't count because he is definitely not a guard.
"We can debate this tonight, but...I think we should go, Lyndall."
"I'm not talking to him."
"You don't have to. I'll make sure he leaves you be until you're ready. I promise."
With a sigh, she nods, and we get up.
Jack notices and rises too.
"Hi, Lyndall." He gives her hair a mussing.
She growls at him and punches him lightly in the side.
"Ow. Gianna will think you've been beating me."
She sniffs, and he turns to me, holding out his hand. "I'm Cade's brother, Jack. You must be Lola."
"Hi. Nice to meet you."
He leads us out to a car, telling us all about the date he has tonight with someone named Gianna. He sounds completely smitten, which makes me smile.
I climb in the back, and Lyndall gets in the passenger seat in the front.
The two start discussing some space opera-type video game that flies over my head, but I'm okay with that.
I'm tired, and a wave of nausea hits me.
I didn't eat anything, so I might be hungry, and—
Out of nowhere, a car careens toward us, running a stoplight.
I scream, and Jack swerves hard.
But it's too late.
In slow motion, the car slams into us, throwing me forward and snapping me back. The seatbelt is holding me, cutting into me.
Lyndall screams as the screech of tires and metal shrieks together, and she slams her head into the window.
It's like being trapped in a dream as my fingers turn useless and cold, and my head starts to slam.
In the odd quiet of the car, where there's a hiss of steam and shouts outside, I manage to get the door open.
I stumble out, falling to the ground.
I can smell gas, like it's burning, and panic hits me hard, sending my blood pressure spiking.
I scream for Jack and Lyndall.
The other car hit the driver's side. Thank goodness I was in the back.
Jack looks pinned. His eyes are closed, he's pale, and blood trickles from a cut on his head.
The airbags are in the way of me seeing how bad he is.
I try the door, but it's too crushed.
I scream his name, and Lyndall's, too, as I make my way over to her side.
"Jack? Is Jack...?" she says, slurring as she opens her eyes and looks at me.
"He's unconscious," I say, yanking on her door as other people try to open Jack's door to reach him.
Sirens rip open the air, and FDNY trucks appear.
"Get out of the way," someone shouts at me.
I ignore them and keep trying her door.
The crowd moves back, and the firefighters work on Jack's side.
"Are you okay?" I ask Lyndall.
"M-my arm's hurt, I think. I'm okay."
"Here." A man moves me out of the way, and I'm bundled into an ambulance that's just arrived.
I'm alone in the back of the ambulance, and I start to try and get out when suddenly the man—not a paramedic or a firefighter—gets Lyndall free and pushes her into the back with me.
"I need to get you to the hospital. I'll let the paramedics know."
"Where are they?" I cry, alarm bells going off.
The man closes one door. "Helping the driver."
"Jack?"
"He's dead. Helping the driver and passengers in the other car." And he slams shut the door.
"Lyndall?"
Tears stream down her face, and she's mouthing the word "no."
She's in complete shock.
"Listen, we need to get out. Why would that guy put us in here? And we don't know if Jack's alive or dead. Come on, help me with the door."
I try to open it, but it's locked.
I keep trying, and just when I start to turn to the front, the motor starts, and a door slams.
We take off with the siren and a squeal of tires.
And we're both thrown around the back of the ambulance.
But it becomes clear to me that we're not being taken to a hospital when the siren cuts off and the ambulance screeches to a halt.
I look for a weapon as the door shuts.
There are the paddles they use to shock people back to life, but I don't know how to use them.
Shaking, I go through a medical kit and pull out a new syringe and a vial...of what, I don't know.
I shove them in my pocket as the back door opens and a black gun appears.
"Hands behind your backs and turn."
A car pulls up, and someone else puts restraints on us.
Lyndall cries out.
The man waves his gun at us. "Get in the car. Now."
We are not given a choice. This isn't the one who kidnapped Lyndall, but I'm betting he works for that guy, Dom.
And my heart lurches, my stomach spinning.
Everything feels made of lead.
I should have paid attention to my instincts. Made her meet me in the garden. Gotten her to leave much earlier.
I should have told Enzo to call in his cavalry.
I want to cry and fall apart.
But I can't.
Lyndall is in pain, and she's sobbing.
I blink my own tears back.
I need to stay strong for Lyndall.
And Squish.