Page 94 of Empire of Lust
Tatum rolls her green eyes. “Then he’ll want to know why you’re there.”
“Jesus. I’ll make something up. I’ll figure it out.”
She sighs, her shoulders sinking. “Was it Lucas who took you from the restaurant?”
I can’t speak over the lump in my throat, so I nod.
“You come back here in shock, with blood all over you…” Her breath hitches. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
I don’t realize my legs have buckled beneath me until Tatum’s arms circle my waist, holding me up. “I’m sorry. But I had to know. It’s true, isn’t it?” All I can do is nod because, of course, she knew with nobody having to say the words.
“Hearing it…” I whisper before choking up.
“If your dad gets even a hint of there being something wrong with Lucas… and if Lucas goes missing officially… if his parents go to the police.”
And I’m not a very good liar, at least not when living with the man. Telling a few fibs over lunch is one thing, but being in the same house… It’s inevitable that I’ll let something slip.
“Then I’ll go to a hotel.” I gently push her away and slip into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt chosen at random. I only know I need to get out of here before he talks me into staying.
“We’llgo to a hotel.”
“No, you don’t—”
“Shut up. Like I would leave you alone right now. That’s not what friends do. You’re in shock, and if something happened to you. No. I’m going.”
I shake my head. “I’m not trying to drag you into this.”
“You’re not dragging me into shit. I love my dad, and I’m glad he found you and brought you back, but he’s not my favorite person right now. He’s made some serious errors lately, not to mention he used me as leverage for a fucking business deal. Do you know how insulting that is? I’m not a fucking object to be bid on.”
No, I can’t imagine, but I know what it feels like to be hurt by him.
There is no talking her out of this. She grabs a bag from the closet and starts packing. “Forget it. I’m going with you, so move your ass.”
Even though it’s painful to move my ass, I do it. I don’t want to do this. It hurts so much. Like I’m physically being torn in two. But I refuse to live the rest of my life in a cage. If it means having my heart ripped out for the sake of protecting myself in the future, that’s the way it needs to be. And that’s what I tell myself as Tatum and I sneak out of the house in the middle of the night, the storm still blowing hard, but not as brutally as before. We look over our shoulders as we run, bags in hand, before fleeing in my car like a couple of escaped convicts.
That’s exactly how I feel. Like I just broke out of prison.
A prison I walked into with my eyes wide open.
CALLUM
The shattering of glass fills the air but doesn’t do anything to quiet the storm in my head. “Then what the fuck are they using for money if none of Tatum’s cards have been accessed?”
“Bianca must be paying for it herself,” Romero muses.
He’s still standing exactly where he stood when he told me there’s been no trace of Tatum’s activity twenty hours after they ran away. His balls are massive. He’s the only one of my guys who’s been able to stay in the room with me for more than half a minute since last night. All my men are running scared, scrambling around like chickens without their fucking heads, and none of it matters.
We’re no fucking closer to finding them than we were last night.
“That’s on me,” I growl, kicking aside one of the chairs in front of my desk. “I should have been tracking Bianca’s finances, too.”
When will I learn? I should’ve been doing lots of things.
“The good news is they can’t stay away forever.”
I bark out a bitter laugh. “Do you want to bet? We’re talking about Tatum here.”
“I’m talking more about Bianca. The girl was in shock. You shot off half her ex’s head while they were in the same bed. You can never tell what somebody’s going to do when they’re in shock. If you ask me, her reaction is pretty calm.”