“You rescued her. Got rid of her piece of shit uncle—”
“You get to claim that one.” I tipped the glass toward him before pouring some more whiskey into it.
“It’s not a fucking competition, Killian. She wants you.”
“She deserves better than me. I’m a criminal. She’s too good for this life.”
“So, stop being a criminal.” Donovan shrugged like it was no big deal. “You love her, Killian. Go tell her that. Apologize. Explain everything, and get your girl back.”
“You don’t understand, Donovan.” I shook my head. “Zoey wanted out. She wanted her freedom from her uncle’s house, and she only had one fucking semester left before she’d be done. She was ready for it. Then I came in and took away what little freedom she had left by kidnapping her. With a cruel fucking twist of fate she gets kidnapped a second time and nearly killed in the process.” By the end of my speech I’m almost growling with the anger I still feel over what happened. “I can’t clip her wings when she hasn’t even begun to fly.”
I poured a third glass of whiskey and tipped it back quickly feeling the burn of the alcohol as it hit my chest and distracted me from the ache in my heart.
Chapter 30
Zoey
“I’ve got somethingfor you.” Rowan walked in the front door with a big smile on her face and a big manilla envelope in her hands.
I’d been staying at her loft for the past week. The young girl Alondra had been there a little longer than I had, and I learned that she was rescued from my uncle by “D” whose real name was Donovan. Rowan told me a lot about the men who had taken me and who they were—how they came to be a family.
Being around Rowan, I got a good look at another side of Killian, and I loved him even more for it. Pain that had nothing to do with my physical injuries sliced through my chest because he’d hadn’t come to check on me. I wanted him to come hold me through the night, through the nightmares like i held him through his, but he stayed away.
My body was healing quickly, but my heart was hurting from his rejection. I cleared my throat and forced a small smile, “What’s that?”
“I’ve got a choice for you to make. You can take as long as you need to decide what you want to do.”
I furrowed my brow, wondering what the heck she was talking about. “Ok.” I said hesitantly.
Rowan sat down in the chair across the table from me and set don the envelope. It was then I realized there were actually two envelopes, one was more bulky than the the other one. She pushed both envelopes toward the center of the table.
“Option one,” she pointed to the bigger, bulkier envelope. “This is a new life for you with a new name and a new future. You have a hundred thousand dollars to get you started, passport, license, and a credit card. This option also comes with my word that I will never tell Killian the new name listed on your documents.
“Option two,” she pointed to the second envelope that had my name scrawled across it in masculine writing. “There’s a car downstairs in your name and an address written on a piece of paper. You can plug the address into your GPS and see where the road takes you. It’s your choice, Zoey. You are free to choose your life.”
I bit my lip gently as I studied the two envelopes before looking back up at Rowan. “What’s at the end of that road?” I asked the question, but we both knew what the real question I wanted to ask was. ‘Who’s at the end of that road?’
