TAKING THE FALL - the Complete Series (20 page)

He leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. I grab his shoulders and try to deepen the kiss.

“
You don’t fight fair,” he murmurs before lazily stroking his tongue against mine. When he starts to pull back I try to lock around him, but he’s quicker than me.

“
Cherry, I gotta do this.”

“
I know,” I huff, plopping back down into the bed. “Saint going with you?” I really don’t want him to go alone and I know he won't take me with him so I’m not even going to ask.

“
Yeah, I need him with me on this. While I’m gone you keep your sweet ass in the warehouse. If you open a door, an alarm will alert me and I’ll be back here tanning your ass before you can blink,” he says, giving me his “you will obey me” look.

“
Hmm…if I remember right, I rather enjoyed my last ‘ass tanning’ so you might want to think of something better,” I smirk before rolling over and wiggling my butt at him.

Leaning down, Carter takes a bite of my ass, making me squeal and turn back over to get away from him.

“
Trust me. I’ll come up with something,” he says cockily and walks over to the closet, pulling out a new black shirt and black boots. He walks over to a picture in the wall and tugs it, opening it on a hinge. I see then that it hides a safe.

“
This is our safe, Cherry. I’ve got money, passports, and hand guns in here. The combination is 1128. The day I first met you,” he says, turning to look at me.

“
Why are you telling me this?”

“
Just in case, baby, just in case.”

Crawling out of the bed I walk over to him.

“
You’ll be back tonight, right? Promise me,” I whisper, needing his reassurance.

“
I promise. Now you just promise to keep this phone with you.” He pulls a sliver cell phone from his back pocket and hands it to me. “My number and Saint’s number are in there. Call for anything.”

Taking it from him, I look down and fiddle with it. I don’t want to look at him because I think I might cry. I know my tears will mess with him and I don’t want him worrying about me while he is doing whatever it is he’s doing. He’s telling me these things not just because I need to know them but also because there might be a chance he won’t come back. Something could always go wrong.

Putting a finger under my chin he makes me look up at him.

“
Kiss your man, Cherry.”

I stand on my tip toes and Carter leans into me, meeting me halfway, giving me a hard kiss that is over too fast.

“
If you need a gun for any reason, you take the revolver. It will never jam on you and it’s already loaded. I’ll only be gone a few hours. I’m just going to check something out to see if we have a solid lead, then I’ll be right back. I’ll be in that bed when you wake up in the morning.”

Giving him a half smile, I say, “I love you.”

“
I love you too, baby,” he says before kissing me one last time and leaving.

Knowing I won’t be able to sleep, I go to one of the bags I packed and pull out some yoga pants and a dark-green, off-the-shoulder sweater before going to find Jeanette. We haven’t gotten much time to talk. When I told her I wanted her to come with me she said yes without question. I was actually a little scared for her. If someone came looking for me, she would be the person they would go to first. She hesitated initially, but when I told her to trust me and that she needed to come, she did it without pause. If something happened to her while I was hiding out here, I would never forgive myself. And like Carter said, my father likes to use women to cause others pain and his hurting Jeanette would cause me and Saint a whole lot of pain.

Knocking on her door, I wait a moment before pushing it open. The bed is a mess but empty so I make my way downstairs to see if she’s there. As I pass through the living area, I can’t help but stop and stare at the beautiful grand piano. How I missed this when we first got here is beyond me. Carter really thinks of everything. I hear a noise in the kitchen, and I make my way there.

I find Jeanette sitting at the breakfast bar eating a sandwich

“
I figured your ass was worn out, and I wouldn’t see you until the morning, Lays. Man, that name really fits now. You two go at it like rabbits in freaking heat…they go into heat, right?”

“
I have no idea, to be honest, but I catch your drift.” I laugh, and sit down next to her. I swirl my chair to face her because I know what’s coming.

“
Eat this,” she says, handing me the other half of the sandwich. “And before you ask, I used mayo not Miracle Whip”

“
You know me so well,” I say, and take a giant bite. It doesn’t take me long to finish the sandwich.

“
All right, you ate, so spill it. What. The. Fuck. Is your ass doing back with that motherfucker?” Jeanette asks.

“
He showed up when he found out about the hospital and kind of just stormed right in and confessed everything.”

“
Everything?”

“
You know, I thought you would have been madder by now. You seem pretty calm about all this. Not really your MO,” I say, eyeing her.

“
A man doesn’t do eight years in prison and the first thing he does when he gets out is drive for hours to get to a woman he doesn’t love, Lays. I never hated Carter, I just didn’t get him and I was upset he made you upset, but I knew that man would be back.”

“
Why didn’t you say anything?”

“
There wasn’t much I could say,” she shrugs. “You were angry and hurt and you needed someone in your corner, not someone cheering for what was the other team at the time.”

“
You’re right,” I say.

“
Like always,” she quips.

I give her a questioning look.

“
What? When aren’t I right?” she says, looking offended.

“
Saint,” I say.

“
Not going there right now. You’re supposed to be telling me what’s up with Carter – why he’s back and why we’re in this fortress.”

She deserves to know it all. I pulled her into this. Who knows how long she’ll be stuck here with us. “I guess the story of Carter and me begins years before we even met,” I begin, and I tell her everything that Carter told me, all the missing pieces I didn’t get or understand before and how we now have to clear some things up so we can finally be free and together.

“
Wow. Lays, that’s a sweetly fucked-up love story.”

Laughing, I agree. “Let’s just hope we get our happily ever after.”

“
You will. After all that, you guys deserve it,” she says, walking over to the fridge and pulling out some ice cream. “Want some?’ she asks, holding up the carton and I notice it’s the kind I always eat, cherry chocolate chip. He really does remember everything.

“
Hell, yes,” I reply and start going through all the drawers, trying to find bowls and spoons. I hear my cell phone go off and I know from the ringtone that it’s Justin. Going over to my purse, I pull it out completely forgetting that I had the thing with me.

“
Justin, I’m so sorry about the other day,” I say, still feeling bad about what Carter did to him.

“
Hello, daughter.”

Holy fuck. I haven’t heard his voice in years. I feel my heartbeat pick up.

“
Dad?” I say hesitantly, still not believing it’s him.

“
Cut the crap, you little slut. It’s time for a family reunion. I even have your mother here.”

I look up and see Jeanette staring at me.

“
Why the fuck would I want to see you?” I bark into the phone.

“
Seems someone has gotten a little bit of a backbone. Don’t forget I made you, Layla, and I can easily take you down, along with everyone you love,” he says smugly.

“
Carter is going to kill you,” I say in an equally smug voice.

“
You shut your mouth, you fucking good for nothing whore! I knew I should have passed you off years ago. Just like a typical woman, spreading her legs to get her way.”

“
Fuck you, asshole! I don’t have to listen to this.” I go to hang up the phone then I hear him speak.

“
I’ll kill them.”

I feel my blood go cold.

“
Who?”

“
Don’t play dumb, Layla, you know who. I sent Carter on a wild goose chase. I’m sure he went running out of wherever he has you. Not only could I blow up the building I have him headed to, but I also have your little friend Justin here. And let’s not forget dear old Mom.”

“
What do you want?” I ask knowing now that I’ll do anything he asks me. I can’t let my father take lives because of me.

“
You.”

“
Where?”

“
Outside the library in twenty minutes. I’ll take one of Justin’s fingers for every minute you’re late.” The line goes dead.

I bolt out of the kitchen, through the living room and up the stairs with Jeanette on my heels. I make my way to the safe, pop it open and get what I need.

“
What’s going on, Lays? What the fuck?”

“
He says he’ll kill them. Carter, Justin, my mom.” Turning, I look at her. “Saint.” Her face goes pale at his name.

Ripping my sweater off I grab a bra, put it on, throw on a hoodie, and slide on some jeans. I dig through my bag and I’m happy to find Carter packed the only pair of sneakers I have. Putting them on, I pick up the phone and press call.

“
Baby?”

“
Don’t go in wherever you’re headed. They know you’re coming.”

“
How the fuck do you know this, Layla?”

I don’t answer him. “I love you so much, Carter. More than you’ll ever know but I can’t let him hurt people anymore.”

“
Cherry, knock that shit off. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. You wait, baby, I’ll be right there and we’ll talk.”

“
I love you,” I say again, but I can’t keep it from sounding like a sob.

“
Goddamn it, Cherry, I love you too, don’t do this.”

“
Goodbye, Carter,” I say, ending the call and flipping the phone on silent. I shove it into my bra and race down the stairs and out into the bay area to find a car.

“
Where are we going?” Jeanette asks.

“
You’re not going anywhere,” I say, my eyes desperately scanning the wall for the right keys to the Jeep.

“
You’re fucking crazy if you think I’m not going with you,” she snaps back at me.

Finding them, I snatch them off the wall and push the button to open the loading door. When I make it to the driver’s door I hop in and press the lock button fast before she can jump in the other side. I mouth to her that I love her. She beats on the window but I just reverse out and take off.

It doesn’t take me long to get to the library. As I drive, all I can think about is Carter. He’s probably losing it right now. I see my father when I pull in. He looks so much older. It looks like he’s aged way more than four years, but I’m guessing being hunted would do that to a man. I slowly step out of the Jeep and walk towards him. He’s standing next to a black sedan and the driver’s door opens. A man I remember steps out. It’s the man who tried to kill me. The man my father let beat me. I stop in my tracks. He is one of the first things I remembered when I finally started to get pieces of that night back. It’s his eyes. I’m not sure how I ever forgot them. They are so dark they almost look black.

“
So good to see you, my lovely daughter,” my father says, walking towards me. When he reaches me, I can smell the vodka on him. It’s seeping from his pores. I go to take a step back, but he grabs me by the hair.