I scooted a bit closer to my daughter. “Sweetheart, do you remember me?”
She nodded. “You’re mommy’s friend that was taking us on the vacation.”
I smiled softly. “Yes. And your mother’s there. She’s already there at vacation, and she’s worried sick. But I have to ask you something really important, okay?”
She sniffled as she unraveled herself a bit. “O—okay.”
I sighed. “Where’s your Auntie Chloe?”
The second I mentioned her, Natty threw herself at me. She sobbed against my shoulder and wrapped her arms tightly around me, which told me everything I needed to know. I stood to my feet, carrying the little girl with me as she wrapped her legs around me as best as she could. And when I turned to Texas, he nodded his head.
Before he took out his cell phone and radioed the guys.
“Hey,” he said gruffly as I walked past him, “we got a problem. Keep your eyes open for any signs of a wreck, or a car pulled off on the side of the road. The other woman is still…”
I kissed the side of my daughter’s face. “Can you be strong for me one more time and tell me what happened with your aunt?”
Natty buried her face into the crook of my neck. “They came and took Auntie Chloe. They just took her. I don’t know why. Please, take me to Mommy. I just want my mommy, please.”
And as she sobbed against my skin, my vision dripped with red.
Because that entire crew would pay for fucking with my daughter like that.
Twenty
Lexi
"Come here,” a woman said as she extended her arm into the kitchen, “let’s get you something to drink while you wait.”
I shook my head mindlessly. “I don’t know if I can put anything in my stomach at a time like this.”
A bubbly young woman with rich skin and thick hair smiled as she bounded toward the kitchen table. “Come on, Hayley might be pregnant, but she makes a mean smoothie. Can I have one of those banana matcha mocha ones you make?”
Hayley giggled as she kept staring at me. “That’s Ruby, by the way.”
I nodded mindlessly. “Lexi.”
Hayley reached for my hand. “Then, at least come sit down. Maybe the smell of me making some smoothies will turn your stomach for the better.”
As I mindlessly sat down at the table, I watched as Hayley started pulling out all sorts of ingredients from the cabinets and the fridge. Other women came out of all orifices of the spaces that surrounded us, and I realized that Dean wasn’t kidding. There were a lot of women, and even a few children, at the warehouse. And as I leaned back, I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes.
Before a drink touched down in front of me.
“There,” Hayley said as she rubbed her very pregnant stomach, “just try that for me. If you don’t like it, I can make you something else.”
I reached for the drink and took a small sip. “Holy fuck, mm-mm-mm. This is amazing. What is it?”
Hayley smiled as she turned back toward the blender on the kitchen counter. “I’ve gotten very good at smoothies during this pregnancy. My morning sickness didn’t stop after my first trimester, so I’ve had to find ways around my apparent disgust for solid food.”
I snickered as I pulled out my cell phone to check and see if the dot had moved at all. “Girl, preaching to the choir. I think I was sick just about every day with Natty until I hit thirty weeks.”
She turned around and held out her fist for me to pump. “Pregnancy champions, for the win.”
I bumped her fist with my own. “Here, here. But I still want the recipe for this drink.”
“Honestly?” she asked as we stopped in front of a door. “It’s pretty simple: I put yogurt in the freezer to freeze it up and give it the consistency of ice cream. Then, I scoop some of that into a blender with cubes of ice, half of a banana, some dark chocolate chunks, the matcha blend, and the smallest hint of dragon fruit to offset the bitterness of that chocolate.”
“Ugh,” I said as I took another pull, “no wonder this drink is heaven. Dragon fruit is my absolute favorite.”
