The ride to the apartment is only a few blocks from the tattoo shop, I park round the back and go in that way, texting Stryker to let him know I’m on my way up. He greets me at the door, tells me everything is fine, then leaves.
I round the corner to Taylor sitting on the floor showing Oscar how to tie his shoelace. How can she have known him only a few weeks and look like more of a mother than his own? I’ll wrap my head around that shitshow another day. Right now, I feel like I’m going to pass out.
“Dada,” Oscar gets up and moves like a rocket towards me. I lean down and scoop him up, reveling in the smell of baby shampoo in his hair.
Taylor turns and gets up, watching me silently. I walk over and drop onto the couch, holding Oscar in my lap. He is chattering away but my eyes are on her.
“You need sleep.”
“Not yet. I need to be with you both.”
She eyes my swollen knuckles but doesn’t say anything, just goes to the bathroom and comes back with a first aid kit. It’s a miracle neither of them have even a scratch on them.
With Oscar’s sometimes unhelpful help, Taylor gets me cleaned up and I have bandages wrapped around my whole hand, but I don’t care because Oscar is smiling and laughing. I know kids are resilient but seeing him like this means everything to me.
We watch TV and I somehow fall asleep. Taylor wakes me up when she has put Oscar down for a nap and forces me into the shower, then bed.
“Hey,” I grab her hand before she can leave and tug lightly but enough to knock her off balance so she falls beside me. “Are you okay?”
It’s obvious she is going to give me some platitude so I will get some rest but that won’t fly with me and she sees it written in the way I’m watching her.
“I was scared, for Jesse and Oscar and me,” she adds quietly. “But I knew you were coming.”
“What if I don’t get there next time?”
“There will be a next time?” she asks.
“He got away.” I’m not going to lie to her about that. “We’ll find him and I’ll make sure he can’t hurt you, or anyone else in the club.”
“You’ll take on all of that responsibility?”
“It’s my job.”
Her eyes flick back and forth on mine. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say she still can make a different choice, I won’t stop her.
“You need to sleep,” she leans down and presses her lips to mine, brushing a hand over my hair. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“I don’t deserve you. I’m not going to let you go, Cherry.”
“Good job I don’t intend to go anywhere then. Now go to sleep, you can save the world tomorrow.”
I laugh half-heartedly, and with great effort.
Taylor turns off the lamp, it’s still light in here but my eyelids are drooping. I fall asleep to the sound of her breath and her hand stroking over my hair.
Chapter Twenty Five
Taylor
As soon as Noah is in a deep sleep, I go back into the living room and tidy everything up. I won’t tell him I’ve barely slept myself, how could I when he was out there chasing after a monster? And the man he left to watch over us was scary as hell. How Dana ever was ever attracted to him, I have no idea.
At least that is what I thought when Noah first left us here with him. He stood by the door guarding it for nearly three hours before I took him a chair and a can of coke from the fridge. It was another hour before he actually sat.
Then Oscar got interested and walked out into the hall to watch him. The first few times I brought him back to the living room, then I watched. After everything we’d been through the kid fearlessly walked up to where Stryker was sitting and held out his puppy, telling him the dogs name.
Stryker looked down at him and Oscar stared back. Then he sat on the floor and babbled at him. It looked like he wasn’t paying any attention, but they were both happy enough, so I went to make somethingto eat.
All of this took my mind of what is going on. I was worried about Noah and what he was doing, I couldn’t stop thinking about Jesse, even though they told me he was safe at the hospital and being treated. And I intended to do everything I could to keep Oscar safe and happy.
