“Papercut”—LinkinPark
As I stood there listening to the conversation unfold between Laila and who she’d thought was her case agent, I was blown away. Likely not as blown away as she was, finding out her entire life was a lie.
Since entering witness protection, her life became the lie that she told on her terms. Now she had been told that every day before that was too. Except not all of it. Regardless of who she really was, I had always loved her and so had her parents.
“But what are the odds that he’d find me and find out I was his daughter? Surely it’s not on his radar after this many years. I’m a grown woman. Why would he have any interest in me?” she asked.
“Because if he found out he had a child and that she was kept from him, he’d see that as an affront to him personally and as theft of something that belongs to him,” Ryan tried to explain. He set his cup down and palmed his hands on the table.
“I’m not an object to be owned! I’m a human, and if I lived my entire life without him and vice versa, why would it matter?” She was exasperated, but she didn’t have a clue what kind of person Luis Trujillo was.
“Luis is certifiable, that’s why it would matter. I think staying here is a mistake. It’s a matter of time before Luis finds out about you, if he hasn’t already. You need to come with me. Laila, I can keep you safe. Those thug bikers you’re staying with won’t be able to do that—not like I can. This is my job. We need to leave now. I rented a car to go back in, unless you’d rather fly,” he said as he reached across the table and rested a hand over hers.
And that was enough of that conversation. Using a single finger, I leaned over the table and pushed his coffee cup into his lap. Grim satisfaction filled me at his squeal when the hot liquid hit what I hoped was his dick.
While he was trying to clean up the mess, I grabbed Laila’s arm and lifted her from her chair. I whispered in her ear, “Tell him you’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll be in touch!” she said over her shoulder with a wave as I rushed her out of the donut shop, pushing through the short line of people. The door nearly shattered with the force of my hand shoving it open.
“Whoa! What’s going on?” Chains asked as he ditched the paper and followed us.
“If he follows, stop him. Whatever it takes,” I ground out. Chains immediately nodded and placed his hand on the gun I knew he had in the back of his pants.
“Ghost! Stop! You’re acting like a nutcase! Chains, don’t you dare shoot him. He is a good guy.” She glowered at Chains as I rushed her around the corner and into the blacked-out SUV we had waiting.
“Good guy, my ass,” I muttered and shut the door behind us. Then I told Blade, “Let’s go.”
Without hesitation, he pulled away and headed back to the clubhouse.
“Why did you do that?” Laila turned sideways in her seat to glare at me. Her eyes flashed fire, and she crossed her arms belligerently, but I wasn’t intimidated.
“He knows nothing about us if he could sit there and tell you we couldn’t keep you safe. What I want to know is how the hell he knew you were with us to begin with. Did you tell him?” I asked accusingly.
Her eyes widened, and if it could, steam would’ve shot out of her ears. “Don’t be an asshole! If I’d told him where I was, don’t you think Facet would’ve known? He was right there when I called him. Both times!”
I pulled out my phone and hit send on the number I needed.
“Did it all go well?” Venom asked.
“Yes and no. Can you have Sabre check Laila’s apartment? I think there was surveillance on it.” Laila gasped, and her eyes went wide.
“He’s on a cleaning job with Squirrel, but I’ll get someone on it. You headed back now?” Venom asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. See you when you get here.” The line went dead, and I lifted one ass cheek to shove my phone in my back pocket. Venom would expect a full report on what had transpired. He was gonna shit when I told him everything.
“You think my apartment was being watched? By who? Ryan or the other people hired to find me?” she demanded.
“Don’t know, but we’re gonna find out. How did Ryan know your apartment had been tossed hours after we left? How did he know you were with us?” I could tell by the look in her eyes that these were questions she’d already asked herself. For all I knew, her biological sperm donor could’ve done it, but I didn’t want to toss that out to give her one more thing to worry about.
And that….
Jesus fucking Christ, I never would’ve thought her parents had lied about her birth. Her aunt had only been mentioned a handful of times in all the years I’d been part of her family. Not that her aunt had been a secret, but she died before Lila was born. Or so we thought.
Then her being Luis Trujillo’s daughter? Holy fuck.
Her brave, bold facade seemed to wilt in front of my eyes as the events of the day seemed to sink in. With a firm grip around the back of her neck, I pulled her close until our foreheads and noses touched.