Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zion
My stomach is a mess, and it feels like a heavy weight is resting on my chest. I peer through the trees. Amirah is on the front step, her fist knocking on the door. After receiving a message from Natalie that Rachel is safely away from here, we moved. Now everything rides on Amirah.
Callan answers the door. He looks at Amirah, then left and right. I don’t move a muscle, afraid that one wrong step will ruin this, and I can’t afford for anything to go wrong. My daughter is on the line, and she’s my everything.
His gaze returns to Amirah, and he leers at her as he runs his fingers through his graying hair.
Bear growls next to me, and I reach out an arm against his chest in an attempt to hold him back.
Bear could ruin this. I get it; he’s angry.
I am too. The way Callan is looking at Amirah makes my blood boil, but we can’t fuck this up.
Does he recognize her? Will she blow this for us?
Did we trust her too easily? This is her perfect opportunity to run, to tell Callan who she is. Fuck.
Amirah tucks a strand of her blonde wig behind her ear and says something to him. He steps outside the door, and Amirah doesn’t move a muscle. Fuck. I squeeze the gun tighter. I don’t want to ruin this, but if he touches her the wrong way, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
Kai is on the other side of the house, among the trees, hidden. Is he thinking the same thing as me? That we shouldn’t have trusted Amirah so easily? And she could get hurt, which we don’t want either.
Callan steps back, letting Amirah inside before shutting the door. We are fucked. Do we run now? Get out before The Brotherhood shows up for Amirah? What if she turns on us as soon as she’s inside and the Brothers come and hog-tie us where we sit?
“If that door doesn’t open in the next twenty seconds, I’m going in,” Bear whispers, and I nod because I feel the same.
The seconds tick by painfully slowly. A loud car engine comes from down the street, headlights beaming across the road. Fuck. Is that The Daring Brotherhood here to fuck everything up?
“Ticktock, ticktock,” Bear sings next to me, and I keep my hand firmly on his chest.
The car drives past ever so slowly but keeps going. I release the breath I was holding.
“Time!” Bear yells, just as the front door opens.
It takes a lot to hold him back.
Callan struts down the steps, his gaze moving around the neighborhood.
I melt into the shadows of the shrubbery, praying it’s hiding us.
He grabs his phone from his slacks and starts typing away, moving toward a sleek black car parked in the drive.
He slides inside, and I don’t dare move until his headlights are halfway down the street.
I release the hold on Bear, and he runs off toward the front door. It opens, and my little girl stands there with Amirah. Cleo looks up at Amirah like she’s a queen, and, well, technically she is.
I power-walk across the front yard. Cleo meets my gaze, and a huge smile crosses her lips.
“Zee!” She beams, her arms outstretched.
I gather her up in the tightest hug, and she rests her little head on my chest.
“Come on. We gotta move,” Kai says, pointing to the security cameras. “We don’t have much time.”
I release Cleo, and she stays close to my side, looking between the four of us.
“Glad you didn’t rat us out,” Kai says, and Amirah scoffs.
“Who’s to say I haven’t?” she quips, raising an eyebrow, and Bear chuckles next to me.
“I’m always up for trouble and slashing throats. So, I hope you did,” Bear says, wrapping an arm over Amirah’s shoulder. She tries to push him away, but he doesn’t budge.
I kneel down in front of Cleo. Her stormy-blue eyes bore into mine. Her brow is scrunched a little.
“We’re going on a little vacation. Did you want to come with me, and we’ll pack your bag? Get all of your favorite things?” I ask.
She frowns. “Will Daddy meet us there too?”
My heart rips in two. Fuck, that hurts. But I’m the one who wanted him to play that figure in her life. To give her protection and everything she needed.
“Not this time, but I promise we’ll have lots of fun together. Like we always do. Okay?” I say, and she smiles, nodding.
I take her hand, and she leads me up the stairs.
“Keep an eye out. Won’t be long,” I say over my shoulder, and Kai nods.
“Have you seen Mommy?” Cleo asks.
My foot catches on the last step of the stairs, and I stumble, releasing her hand. Fuck. Does she still not know the truth? This is going to be one of the hardest conversations I’ll ever have to have, but I can’t do it now. Not here. Not until we are home. Safe.
“Not for a little while,” I say, and I want to bang my head against the wall. I have no idea what to tell her.
Cleo continues to drag me toward her bedroom. She opens the door, and her room is spotless. Clean. Nothing out of place. It feels too clean. Too sterile.
“Where are your toys?” I ask, and she releases my hand.
“Daddy doesn’t let me have them out. They are hidden away. My bag is in there. The bright-pink one. I’ll pick out all Mommy’s favorite toys, so she can meet us there,” Cleo says. She opens her closet, and I fight the urge to comfort her and tell her everything.
Five minutes later, we are descending the stairs, and I’m carrying Cleo’s pink bag full of her favorite toys. She’s clinging to her teddy bear—the pale-pink one that I got her when she was born. It’s her favorite, she told me.
Cleo jumps off the last step and runs straight into Amirah’s legs. Amirah kneels down, and everything around us disappears into darkness. Only they remain.
The way Amirah looks at Cleo like she’s the world?
I can’t handle this. And soon, she’ll be leaving—she’ll have to go back to Daringville.
We don’t have the weapons to keep her here for good.
I’m going to lose someone else I care about.
I tried so hard to fight back my feelings, but seeing them together? I’m ruined.