My phone buzzed against my palm again and I risked a look at the screen.
Offer is good for the next twenty-four hours. Choose wisely.
All the blood drained from my face and my legs shook. I had to leave. And soon…
“Viv.” Falcon always had a way of saying nothing but my name, but it could mean a dozen different things.
I looked up at the worry and the fear in his eyes and I swallowed. Hard. I exhaled deeply and washed away all thoughts of James to focus on Falcon and this monumental moment for him. “I’m really glad you have the truth, Falcon.” I was happy for him and TJ. A boy needed his father and now he’d have him, along with tons of surrogate mothers if I didn’t make it back. I blinked away the tears that stung the back of my eyes and flashed a watery smile. “The papers are in that folder. File it as soon as you can.”
Falcon’s hazel eyes glared at me. His nostrils flared and his ears turned a bright, almost alarming shade of red. “Don’t even fucking tell me you’re thinking about leaving. Again, Viv. Goddammit!”
I folded my arms, annoyed that he was so damn angry. “That was always the plan. Once you got the confirmation you needed, I would hit the road. You know it’s for the best.” Saying the words didn’t make any of this easier and arguing with Falcon only made it harder. It made me doubt myself.
He shook his head. “Bullshit.”
“We’ve gone over this. Me staying here puts people at risk. The car bomb and setting the cops on this place was just a warning. I know what they’re capable of. My oath,first, do no harm, it’s not just empty words to me. I mean it.”
“Yeah, I get it,” he said dismissively. “You’re worried about every man and woman under this goddamn roof, but what about our son Viv? What about TJ? He needs you.” His voice was softer and quieter, but the question landed like a brick.
Those words were like a front kick to the chest. The ache spread out like wildfire until the urge to cry was so strong that I had to swallow it down. “TJ will have his father,” I answered in a quiet, brittle voice. “And he will have your family, which I can’t give him. He’ll have more than I ever had here, with so many people to love him he will grow up happy and knowing that he’s loved.” The lie tasted like medicine, bitter but necessary. Tears pricked my eyes, but I knew this time, I was fighting a losing battle.
“Fuck, Viv,” he growled and gathered me in his arms, pressing my face into the hard planes of his chest. “I’m not letting you go,” he whispered against my temple before kissing my hair. “Not now. Not like this. Not fucking ever.”
I wanted to believe him. Hell, if it was just me, I could believe him and take the chance that he might keep me safe. But the practical woman in me reared her pragmatic head,reminding me about whatever else might come. If I stayed in the clubhouse or continued to be associated with Steel Demons, it would put countless other men, women, and children at risk.
I had to leave.The Russians had proven to be relentless in their search, which meant it wasn’t a matter ofifthey got me, butwhen. “I have to go,” I whispered against his chest, every word laced with regret.
He pulled back, hands gripping my shoulders a little harder than necessary. “It’s not safe. Not right now.” He shook his head. “Seriously, Viv, they’re watching too closely, and they’ll scoop you up before you hit the desert and do shit to you I don’t even wanna think about.” He blew out a shaky breath as his fingertips sank into my skin a little deeper.
“It’s me they’re after and I’ll run for as long as I can.” I couldn’t watch him as those words echoed between us, so I looked away. “It’s the best course of action.”
“This isn’t the goddamn operating room, Viv. This is your life. TJ’s life. It’s our life.” His hands slid down my arms until our palms fused together. “I can’t let you go out there and face certain death.”
Something in my chest cracked open. “Falcon,” I whimpered. I couldn’t do this with him, not right now. Probably not ever. He was too persuasive, and I wanted to believe his words more than anything, which made me vulnerable. So I took the coward’s way out and I changed the topic. “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
“I’ll file the fucking papers, Viv.”
“Not that. Something else.” I unlocked my phone and handed it to him with the anonymous messages on display.
His gaze bounced over the words several times before his brows furrowed and he turned his scowl my way. “Who the fuck is this?”
I knew this might start a fight, but it was better than the fairytale that I could stay here with him and TJ. That I could have a real life. “Falcon,” I sighed. “This is a sore spot between us, and I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
He took a step back, putting distance between us. My heart squeezed but I refused to show it. He crossed his arms, expression blank as he watched me. “I’m listening.”
“It’s James.” I shook my head, shoving my hands into the back pockets of my jeans so I didn’t reach out to him. I couldn’t take it if he stepped back again. “Somehow, he always gets my new number and then starts calling and texting. The messages are always the same.” I pointed to the screen. “Mostly they are annoying and pathetic, but I can admit that being back here makes the messages a little more terrifying. I have no idea how he keeps finding my number.”
“Asshole has money,” he grumbled. “Means he’s got access to people who can get any information he needs, regardless of what the law says.”
It was something I hadn’t thought about, which was silly because I knew the reach James had because of his money and his connections. “Good point.”
“Have you seen him since you came back?”
I shook my head as vigorously as I could, desperate to make him believe me. “I haven’t seen anyone other than you and the people here. And the clerk at the motel. That’s it.”
He nodded as if he believed me, which gave me more relief than I should’ve allowed. “What’s his full name?”
I frowned. “Don’t do anything to him, he’ll press charges and he’s not worth it.”
