As if sensing my fear, he turned his face to me and solemnly said, “If they’re kicking around, you’re going straight to your Mom’s. There shouldn’t be anyone, though. I’ve been good. There’s no way someone’s been on my case. It’s not possible.”

I swallowed hard and leaned back against the headboard. My body shook at all the horrible possibilities. The fact he was followed scared the shit out of me. I looked down at Kayden in the dark and shook my head at him. What a fucking failure of a Mom I am, already putting him in this kind of danger. Had I dodged the Lawson brothers, I might have dodged all this bullshit too.

Kayden’s eyes opened and he let out a big yawn, and I blinked back tears at the thought of anyone hurting him.

“Maybe I should go,” I said, more to myself than him. “You say you’re trying to protect us, but it sounds like you’ve messed up somewhere along the way.”

He looked at me, his face breaking apart at the idea of me going. “Allie, that’s not possible. I haven’t messed up. I’ve been meticulous. There’s nothing to be scared about anyway. I’ve called Marko up and he’s on his way.”

“He got a phone?”

“Yeah, I made him get one.”

“How long ago did you call him?” I asked.

“About ten minutes ago,” he answered. “I scoped the building out before that. Fuckin’ Trudy’s passed out front again, but I left her alone. Besides that, there’s no suspicious activity.”

For a long while after that, we remained quiet. I fought to keep my eyes open as the fear of something happening drained away. But Heath still continued to look out, even when his back bent from exhaustion. He kept his gaze pinned to the streets like a hawk.

My eyes grew heavier, and Kayden finally stopped fussing in my arms. I continued holding him to me, drifting… drifting…

I needed sleep. I needed to escape reality. I needed to pretend we were still perfect.

Drifting… drifting…

A creak sounded out.

My eyes flipped open and I jerked awake. Heath wasn’t at the window anymore. I blinked hard and looked around the dark room, but my eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to my surroundings.

Another creak sounded, and this time my heart spiked.

“Get in the closet!” came Heath’s voice from the side of me.

My body barely jumped to action when he grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bed. Disoriented, I nearly dropped Kayden, and when I realized that, I kept him tightly against my chest as I looked up at Heath.

He’d never been physically rough with me before, but he was now. He shoved me into the closet and closed it. His footsteps hastily retreated from me, and I stood still, terrified deep in my bones. Kayden let out a cry, and I slowly rocked him as I stared into the darkness.

I strained to listen to what was happening. I was so scared, I was nearing on the verge of tears. Minutes filled with tension passed by. My limbs ached and my lungs begged for more oxygen. I was too scared to breathe because I thought it made too much noise.

My hand lingered over the knob. I thought of opening the door over and over again. I tried to rationalize there was nothing going on and Heath had just heard things, but then why hadn’t he come back? I hesitated and deliberated, until finally my hand twisted the knob slowly and pushed it open. It made it barely a few inches when sudden creaks erupted.

I held my breath again, and then the creaks turned into footsteps, and footsteps turned into a sound that made my blood run cold.

Grunts and loud yelling. Something heavy landed on the floor and another person’s voice rang out.

“Get him the fuck down! Hurry, hurry!”

I put a hand to my mouth and stepped further back in the closet. My heart was going to explode out of my chest, I just knew it.

“Get the fuck off me!” Heath hollered, and by that point I was itching to get out, but trepidation ran through me, forcing me in one spot as more crashes erupted throughout the apartment.

Hasty footsteps neared, and using the crack in the closet to peer out, I just managed to make out a figure in a long trench coat sweeping into the room. He was a massive man, his face covered. He was holding a blade in one hand, stopping beside the foot of the bed to peer at it.

Kayden stirred in my arms again, and I pleaded to the heavens above to keep him quiet. I rocked him some more, but he was frustrated at being held for so long. He kicked up at me and his body jerked. His hands clawed at my neck as I stared helplessly at the man in the bedroom.

He turned to leave, but Kayden’s mouth opened and he let out an angry grunt. Seconds later, that mouth opened even wider and he cried.

Shit, shit, shit!

I turned my body around, shielding Kayden when the closet door slammed open. A meaty hand grabbed at my arm and jerked me out. I screamed, and the noise startled Kayden even more, and he began to scream with me. I tried to fight the man off with one arm but he was too strong.

“Nice try, love,” he muttered, forcing me across the room. “Just cooperate and nothing will happen to you and your boy.”

I was too scared to cooperate. Isn’t that what they said to people going to their deaths anyway? He kept forcing me to move and I kept struggling as I held Kayden to me with all my strength.

Meanwhile Heath’s shouts grew louder.

“Please, please,” I begged. “Please, don’t.”

But the man didn’t listen. He stopped us in front of another large man dressed the same, and he was struggling to keep Heath bound to the ground near the kitchen.

“I found this woman here!” the man next to me said. “Fuckin’ hiding in the closet, man.”

“Get rid of her,” hissed the second man.

“No!” shouted Heath. “Don’t fucking touch her! I’ll do what you want! Just don’t touch her. Don’t!”

Both of the men laughed and I just wept like a fucking useless person.

“Stop fucking moving then,” the second man said.

Heath immediately went limp, all the while he looked up at me in the dark, his eyes filled with so much emotion. He shook his head slightly at me, as if to tell me not to do anything.

“Keep her there,” the second man continued to demand. “Don’t let her come close!”

The first man kept his hand wrapped tightly around me, digging his fingers so far into my arm, there’d be bruises by tomorrow.