He nodded in understanding. When the plane landed, we stepped out onto the ground, checking our surroundings, but so far, we were clear. Hoping like fuck Leo kept to his word, I marched over to the waiting car that I’d ordered to be here before we landed, and we slid inside.
I called Leo, and he answered on the third ring. “You here?” he asked.
“Bout to be,” I told him. His father’s estate wasn’t far from the airport. “It is just you, yes?”
“Yes,” he told me. “You’d be stupid to kill me on my turf, Miles, and I know you know that.”
Wouldn’t be me killing him, but whatever.
We pulled up in front of the estate a few minutes later, and I stepped out of the car, Quinn staying inside. An FBI agent had been at the gate, posing as one of the guards, and he’d let us through after “checking” us.
Leo stepped out of the house, dragging Hayley by the arm. Her face was bruised, her eye almost swollen shut. Rage pounded in my veins, but I kept it locked down. I looked at Leo with cold, hard indifference as he stopped in front of me, my wife dragged to a stop next to him, her feet bare. Her teeth were chattering.
“You have the money?”
“All clear,” one of the agents spoke through the earpiece that was covered by my beanie.
Quinn shot him between the eyes. Blood covered Hayley, but she didn’t even flinch. There was a haunted look in her eyes that I fucking hated, a numbness there that she was forcing herself to feel.
As soon as his hand slipped from her arm and he fell to the ground, blood pooling around him, I quickly grabbed her and shoved her into the car before getting in after her. The driver quickly sped back off to the airport where another plane should already be waiting to take us home.
“I’m here,” I rasped, pulling her into my arms.
Like a door had been unlocked in her mind, my wife wailed and fell apart in my arms, her sobs shaking her entire body. I clutched her to me tightly, not daring to let her go, trying my fucking damnest not to cry with her. I carried her onto the plane, and one of the flight attendants got me a cloth to help clean her up as much as I could. She flinched as I cleaned her face, but she didn’t voice her pain—just continued to silently cry.
She eventually passed out once we were in the air, and I continued holding her, terrified if I let her go for one fucking second, she’d disappear out of my life again.
“I’m so sorry I failed you,” I whispered into her hair. I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m so, so fucking sorry, baby girl.”
And then, I allowed my tears to fall down my face.
Because of me, she was never going to be the same again.
9
Hayley
Iclung to Miles as he led me into the house. It was eerily quiet, no sound of William anywhere. My gaze slid around the house as he led me into our bedroom, his arm banded around my waist.
“William?” I whispered. My throat felt raw from screaming, making it hard to talk loudly.
“He’s coming home soon, baby girl,” Miles soothed. I looked up at him, panicked.Where was my baby boy? “Easy,” Miles crooned, running his hand over my hair. “He’s in witness protection. Quinn should be in touch with them shortly to get both him and Isabelle, okay? Let’s get you bathed so we can get you to the hospital.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want a hospital. I just wanted to curl up in bed.
“Baby girl, yes. Don’t fight me on this because you won’t win. Come on.”
He pulled the tattered, white dress over my head and dumped it in the garbage before helping me into the shower. He gently washed my hair and conditioned the ends before bathing me. We were quiet the entire time, but having his hands on me like this was extremely reassuring.
I was home. I was safe.
Miles had come for me.
Tears slid down my cheeks. Damien had made sure he found me.
Without a word, Miles pulled me against him, holding me tight in his arms. No words were needed. Like always, it was as if he knew how I was feeling without me ever saying a word. He knew I was thankful to be home, he knew I had missed him, he knew I had been scared and terrified for my life and my future.
“I missed you,” I croaked.