Page 7 of Commit
“Be safe. She’s not stupid, but she is… fragile. I don’t know what happened to her, but I know something did. She needs to be somewhere safe, where she knows someone would have to get through you to get to her.”
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.” I’m a fucking assassin and now apparently the founder of the wounded hearts club.
“You’ll do it? You’ll take them both?”
“Yeah. I’ll take them both and keep them safe.”
For the first time in as long as I can remember, Landon wraps his arms around me and hugs me. He lets go before I hug him back, but that doesn’t matter.
The lump in my throat says it was real. Fuck me—it makes me wish I’d been a better father. I never had much of a relationship with Abbot. He was Eloise’s boy, not mine, but Landon was different. I’d held him, fed him, played with him, loved him. I’d enlisted so I could provide for him and his mother. And ultimately, I’d let him go to keep him safe.
“What about their things?”
“I’ll help them get packed up. I’ve got to go through Mom’s stuff anyway. I called the landlord, and he gave us until the end of the week.”
“Okay. What about the funeral?”
He rubs his eyes. “I haven’t had a chance to?—”
I squeeze his shoulder, cutting him off. “I’ll take care of it. You take care of them, get everything sorted out, and leave the rest to me.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“Yeah, Landon, I do. Let me do this for you.”
He looks at me. “Thanks.”
“Do you want me to tell Abbot what’s going on?”
“No. Let me talk to them. You have room for them, right?”
“Yeah, that won’t be an issue.”
Landon nods awkwardly and walks away. With a sigh, I do the same.
I leave the hospital and pull out my cell phone from my pocket. I call Atlas, knowing chances are Kenzo is still with him and I can kill two birds with one stone.
“Hey, what do you need?” he answers, like he was expecting my call.
“Some time off. I know you said to take a few days, but I might need longer.”
“Take it. Anything else I can do?”
I hesitate. “You, not so much. But I could use a favor from Ivy or Trix.”
He’s quiet for a second. “Do I want to know why?”
I blow out a breath. “I need to get a couple of rooms ready at my house. One for my youngest and one for… a teenage girl.”
“A teenage girl? Alright, Pete, I’m going to need more than that. You’ve been at the hospital, not the pound. How’d you manage to pick up a fucking stray?”
“It’s a long story. One I’ll tell you all about later, but I need to make some other calls first.”
“Fine. I’ll bring Ivy over at six. We’ll bring food.”
“Atlas—”
He hangs up before I can tell him I don’t have time to sit around and shoot the shit. I sigh, knowing Atlas is going to do whatever the fuck he wants. So will Kenzo. It’s easier just to let them. Thank fuck, the kids won’t be coming until the end of the week. Having them associated with me is already risky. Having them associated with Atlas is something else altogether.