I checked on Lilo who was sitting up in bed watching the door. He scrambled off and underneath it when I stepped through the door. “Lilo?” I gripped my side and knelt in front of it to look under. “Friend—remember?” I asked in Spanish. “It’s me, Tarek.”
For a silent moment, Lilo didn’t move. When he looked around and saw me, he rushed out and into my arms. I grunted and fell to my ass on the floor. Though my side hurt like hell, I held onto him. He was in a delicate spot in that moment where he needed to know I wasn’t going to hurt him—I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him.
For an eternity, he clung to my neck, shaking. I wanted to kill Otis then, to put him through the same hell he’d dropped on this child’s head. I wanted to starve him, give him a black eye then torture him until every shift in light terrified him so badly, he dove under beds to escape. I wanted to twist him and bend him until he begged me for death.
“Friend.” Lilo whispered.
“Yes.” My voice cracked. “Amigo.”
I somehow managed to pry his arms from around my neck and helped him with washing up and getting dressed in his clothes Ellie had washed the night before. I then brought him into the kitchen to find Bunny was gone and Xman making breakfast.
Once Lilo was set in the living room, watching cartoons and eating, I wandered into the kitchen and pushed onto a stool.
“We should take you back to Billings so your brother can take a look at that wound.” Xman told me without looking up from what he was doing.
“I know. But after we get Lilo somewhere safe first.”
Xman didn’t argue. Instead he placed a loaded plate in front of me. My phone went off and I checked the face—Malik. Someone must have told him I was hurt. I didn’t answer and he hung up and called again.
“Are you going to get that?” Xman asked.
“It’s Malik—I’m kinda not up for a lecture yet.”
“Brother, you can’t ignore him forever.”
“I know.” I groaned. “Where’s Bunny?” I shoved some homemade hash brown into my mouth.
“There’s a kid in the house.” He grinned. “Where do you think she is?”
“Oh gawd!” I groaned. “I hope she doesn’t go overboard with the shopping.”
“Have you met Bunny?”
She was definitely going to go overboard.
A few hours later, and with an escort from Xman’s bikers, Ellie and I set out with Lilo back to Billings. Halfway into the journey, Taz, Reaper and Molly took over the protection. Finding a safe place for Lilo hadn’t been hard. Maverick “Reaper” Forge and his fiancé Nova “Star” Shuman agreed to take Lilo in until we could figure things out about Jeffrey and Ellie.
Ellie and I sat on the floor and explained to Lilo we had to leave him. He cried and held onto me until we promised we’d come back for him. We then introduced him to Reaper and Star. Though Lilo was young, the little boy looked up at Star and pressed his cheek into my shoulder while pointing at her.
“Pretty.” Lilo told her.
The adults laughed but Lilo was merely embarrassed. With that, the ice was broken and Lilo climbed across into Star’s arms.
“I think I’m going to need a shotgun.” Ellie teased.
“As long as he knows Star is my girl.” Reaper winked.
Ellie crinkled her nose at him, and we laughed again.
We left the house and the first stop was Malik’s place. He’d been calling on and off for the better part of the day. When I pulled into his driveway, I turned off the ignition and slumped back into the seat. Ellie reached over and squeezed my hand.
“You okay?” Ellie asked.
“No.” I glanced at her then back at Malik’s front door. “My brother can be a bit—protective.”
“Yes. He loves you—remember?”
I chuckled. “I know.” Eventually, I undid my seatbelt and I let us into the house. “M.J?”
