Chapter 31
Liam
“This is the fuckup you mentioned,” Angel snaps, pointing at Raya. “This is what you think I'm willing to help with?”
Lauren lowered the gun before Raya entered the building but that doesn't mean either of us are safe. The woman is looking at me as if I’m crazy and Angel is watching Raya in a way that makes my blood boil.
If I didn't think that Lauren would drop me in a second for going after her man, I’d snap that pointing finger clean off his fucking body.
I step in front of Raya, not only to protect her from a possible stray bullet but to also get her out of Angel’s line of sight. The stubborn woman doesn't stay behind me, however.
Angel doesn't look impressed but Lauren looks amused. “You need to get out of here,” Angel says. The man is seething, pissed, no doubt wondering why he answered my email in the first place. This may be a mistake, me assuming he would lend a helping hand.
“I'm not interested in the type of trouble this shit brings,” he says as if there's any mistaking his stance on the situation.
I look down at Raya when her soft warm hand brushes my forearm, leaning down closer to her mouth so she can speak to me.
“I need the bathroom,” she whispers.
“It's right back here,” Lauren says, having heard Raya’s words.
Raya seems reluctant to follow the other woman out of the room, but from the look on his face, I know there's a real chance Angel could kill me in the next couple of minutes.
It's not something I want her to witness.
Leaving completely would prevent that from happening, but for the first time in my life, I have someone else to worry about.
I'm not the type of man to ask for help or even need help from someone else. It has taken choking down a lot of pride for me to step into this office with the hope that someone is willing to help. Walking away without even asking for it isn’t possible.
“It's fine,” I tell Raya, pressing my palm to her back to urge her forward. She nods, so sure I'll make the right decisions for her. I pray I don't fail her.
I've seen a lot of things in her eyes—hatred, fear, anger—but I know disappointment wouldn't be something I could handle.
Angel looks over his shoulder, his eyes following Lauren and Raya out of the room. When he turns back to face me, I know that we're safe to speak freely, but he doesn't immediately talk.
I don't know if it's the determination he sees in my eyes or what but the man reads me like a book, his head shaking at what he finds in my eyes. “This can't happen,” he says. “This will destroy her.”
I nod in agreement because I know he's absolutely right. This is going to destroy both of us.
“I need help to mitigate the situation,” I confess.
He huffs a humorless laugh as he runs both hands over the top of his head in frustration. “Her family will never let this happen. Has she just been hiding out with you?”
My first instinct is to lie to the man and tell him yes that she's been with me because she just doesn't want to come home. But for him to help me, he has to understand everything. I shake my head.
“I took her. I'm sure you’ve seen the surveillance video from the hotel.”
“She doesn't seem very forced to me,” Angel says and I fight a smile that his words threaten to bring to my lips.
“It's been an intense month,” I say. “We're not the same people we both were a month ago when it all began.”
He blinks at me as if he doesn't understand my explanation.
“You've had her for an entire month?” I nod.
“And she hasn't been found? Every federal agent and several third-party organizations have been looking for her.
Either you're one lucky motherfucker, or you live even further off grid than I do.”
“We managed to stay off the radar until yesterday,” I explain, before going into full detail about what happened with the feds’ raid yesterday evening.
“It's only a matter of time before they catch up with you again,” he says and I know it as truth.
“I don't know what your exact feelings are for this girl.
I don't know how she feels about you, but it doesn't matter how things are now.
It only matters how it started and that was with felony kidnapping.
Because of that and the airtime this case has gotten, there's no happily ever after for the two of you. Running now means running forever.”
I knew this was the case, but hearing it from someone else makes it hit just a little bit harder.
Angel continues as if the things he’s already said isn’t enough.
“Her father is fixing to become the leader of the free world.
He's not going to allow his only child to stay with a man who abducted her.
The public won't understand even if he does and because of that, she will become her father's prisoner. She will be deemed mentally unfit to make her own decisions and you will end up in prison then or dead.”
It's my turn to scrape my hands over the top of my head. My heart pounds in my chest because I know everything he's saying is true.
“It doesn't matter if she's with you willingly,” Angel says.
“They would never let that information see the light of day.
She will always be the victim. You will always be the perpetrator.
The truth would affect her father too much, so she has to be the victim.
Being the victim of an abduction will help his career once she's returned to safety. And that means all the blame will be placed on you.”
“I know all of this,” I growl, my frustration increasing. “I came for help and suggestions. I don't need all the mistakes I've made pointed out to me in bullet points.”
“You need to let her go and run. And once you find the end of the earth, keep running. That's the only way. If you want to protect her and keep her safe, it's impossible to do that with the two of you together. There's no fucking happily ever after for you, Liam.”
I drop my ass into a chair in the waiting area. This isn't exactly the kind of help I was hoping to get but everything he's saying is the truth. She can't deny being with me, not with her DNA on the sheets they pulled from my house.
I look up at him, pleading and desperation in my eyes. “You can't think of any other way for us to survive this?”
He immediately shakes his head. “You have to let her go.”