All Cried Out (All Falls Down Book 2)

by Ayden K. Morgen

  "He dumped the bat," I say, my heart thumping unevenly.

  "Stupid fucker," Lewis says.

  Brewster spins in his chair to face us, holding up a disc. "Here's a copy of the footage for the judge."

  "We need to find that bat," I murmur, glancing between Lewis and Brewster. If we can find it, the Crime Lab should be able to match any paint or glass embedded in the bat to Savannah's Charger. That, combined with the footage we have, will nail his ass to the wall when he goes to trial. Since Paulson had the Talbot Estate wired with cameras, we have footage of him tampering with Maddi's swing as well.

  The only problem? I'm not so sure there will be a trial. Like Lewis said, McKee has no way out of this. He's dug himself into a hole, and I'm terrified he knows it. He's coming for my girl, and he's either stupid as hell or he's planning something big. Considering he was studying chemical engineering in Italy, I'm not banking on him lacking intelligence.

  "I'll get patrol to start looking in dumpsters." Lewis already has his phone out, dialing.

  Brewster steps away, leaving me alone momentarily.

  I stay where I am, staring blankly at the screen while Lewis calls out the cavalry to start looking for that bat. Every part of my body aches with pent up tension. I need to move, to do something, and chasing around town looking for leads isn't enough. We need to locate him… and there's only one person I know who might have a clue where he's hiding.

  Savannah.

  No part of me wants to ask her to dredge up memories of him, but I don't think I have a choice.

  Chapter Eleven

  So High

  Savannah sits between Lexi and Katrina on the sofa, chewing on her bottom lip. Evans lounges in a chair to the side, while Madeline sits in the floor by the girls, her arms wrapped around her legs. They're all staring at me, waiting for me to say something. I'm still reeling, unsure what to say to what Savannah blurted when I walked in the door two minutes ago.

  "Think about it," she whispers when I open my mouth and then close it, my heart pounding fiercely against my ribcage. She pulls herself up from the couch and walks toward me, her bare feet silent on the carpet.

  "Is this really what you want?" I manage to ask, tilting my head down to meet her gaze when she's right in front of me, so close her breasts brush against me with each exhalation of breath from her lungs.

  "Yes." She sounds so confident, so certain.

  "Let's do it."

  "You're sure?" she asks, chewing on that lip again.

  "I'll marry you tomorrow if that's what you want, love," I whisper, reaching out to gently tug her lip from between her teeth. "If you really want to move the wedding up, let's do it. I told you, all I need is you."

  She stares at me for a long moment and then a bright smile blooms across her face, lighting her up from the inside out. Her hands come up and latch onto my shirt, pulling me down to her. She kisses me gently, her lips like butterfly wings across mine.

  I grunt when she starts to pull away and lash my arms around her waist, holding her in place against me as I take the kiss I really want. A quiet moan falls from her when my tongue swipes across her bottom lip before darting into her mouth to tangle with hers. I lose myself in her, oblivious to everyone else in the room as her body moves against mine, wriggling as she tries to get closer to me.

  "Jared," she breathes against my lips.

  I groan and pull away, knowing if I don't stop now, everyone in this room is going to see me lose it and take her against the wall. That's just what she does to me: makes me so fucking crazy, I forget everything but her and how phenomenal it feels when I'm inside of her.

  She blinks her eyes open, a satisfied smile on her lips. Her cheeks are flushed, her pupils dilated with lust. She looks absolutely edible as she stares up at me, love and affection stamped across her face.

  "You really want to get married on my birthday?" I ask her quietly.

  She nods immediately and then bites that lip again. "Is that okay with you? I can pick another day if you'd rather not-"

  I pull her to me and kiss her hard on the mouth, silencing her. "Hell yeah, I want to marry you on my birthday," I mumble against her lips. I can't think of anything I want more than to make this crazy girl my wife. Doing it on my birthday is the best gift I can think of.

  "That's settled then," Lexi laughs from her spot on the couch.

  "We're getting married in two weeks," I say, grinning.

  "We are." Savannah's happy smile takes my breath away.

  "Congratulations," Evans says, standing up to clasp my shoulder when Kit and Maddi descend on my girl, pulling her away from me to hug her and squeal.

  "Thanks, man," I murmur, my eyes on Savannah as Lexi pulls herself up to join the girls. "Any problems today?"

  "Nah, we were good."

  I glance at him to find his gaze riveted to Lexi, something gentle and predatory at once in his expression. He wants her. I chuckle, pulling his attention back to me.

  "Be good to her," I murmur, pitching my voice so only he can hear. "I'll have to break your legs if you hurt her."

  "It's not even like that," he says instantly.

  I snort, not believing him for a minute. I don't think he believes himself either. We watch the girls for a long moment as they whisper back and forth, laughing.

  "You find anything today?" Evans asks.

  The girls quiet and turn to me, suddenly sober. I watch Savannah for a long moment before I sigh and nod, reluctant to say anything when the girls are so happy and celebrating.

  "It was McKee."

  Savannah's face falls as soon as the words leave my lips.

  "What happens now?" Kit asks, wrapping a protective arm around Maddi.

  "Lewis is working on getting an arrest warrant issued." I rake a hand through my hair, my eyes locked on Savannah. "We need to talk, beautiful girl."

  She licks her lips and nods.

  I hold a hand out to her, waiting until she takes it to pull her to me. When she's in my arms, tucked against my chest, I take a deep breath. "Once the warrant is issued, we're not going to be able to keep his name off the news. They're already submitting FOIs to San Francisco, demanding information on what happened yesterday. By Monday at the latest, they'll know his name. They'll put the pieces together from there." I tilt her face up to mine. "I can't stop it, sweet girl."

  She looks stricken, her face paling and her eyes widening. I think she's going to cry, but she doesn't. She takes a deep breath and then nods. "I understand."

  "If I could protect you from this, I would," I whisper to her, my heart aching that, once again, I can't protect her. Toby McKee has ensured that.

  "I know."

  "I can't promise they aren't going to find everything… why you came home, your medical records in Italy." I lift my gaze to the girls. "And what he did to Madeline."

  Lexi sighs.

  "You need to be prepared," I say, looking at each of the Talbot girls, Savannah, and then Evans. "It's going to be intense."

  Everyone nods.

  "The good news is this is going to make it harder for him to hide. When his face is splashed all over the news, he won't be able to just stroll down the street and cause havoc like he did yesterday, not without someone noticing. If we're lucky, the attention will smoke him out."

  "And if we're not?" Savannah asks, her voice quiet.

  I take a deep breath, wishing like hell I could keep this from her. Wishing like hell I didn't even have to consider the possibility that the bastard might actually cause more damage. "If we're not, he's going to come for you." I cup her face in my hands, dropping my forehead to hers when a shiver runs through her. "If you're going outside, you need to take someone with you. If you leave this property, you leave with an armed guard. Until we catch him, you're not to be alone at any time."

  "I'm a prisoner," she mumbles, so softly I don't think she intended to say the words out loud, but hearing them kills me.

  My arms tighten around her, holding her close to my
heart. I want to give this girl the world, and instead, I find myself taking it away from her bit by bit. In a matter of days, he's managed to imprison her as thoroughly as he did when she was in Italy, thousands of miles away. She's no longer even with him, and he's still managed to lock her up. "I'm so sorry, love. If I could keep you safe any other way, I would."

  "I know," she says into my chest, her voice muffled.

  I lift my head to find everyone in the room watching us, different degrees of frustration and sadness plain on their faces. And I love them for that, for how much they care about Savannah and what's being done to her. Even Lexi, who has struggled to forgive herself and let Savannah in again, hasn't hesitated to be there for my girl since McKee reappeared. They've rallied around her, giving her something else to focus on.

  In an odd way, I find myself suddenly grateful to Melinda. I'll never understand how she could walk away from my girl, but at least when she did it, she left her with the Talbot family. They love Savannah like she's one of their own, and my girl deserves a family like that.

  "You okay?" Lexi asks me after dinner, slipping out of the house onto the porch where I'm sitting, staring out at the darkening sky. Savannah's inside with Kit, rearranging wedding plans. I should be in there with her, but I had to get some air before I dragged her away like a caveman. Every time she smiled at me, my cock ached.

  "Yeah, I'm good." I hold out a hand to Lexi who takes it and eases herself down beside me.

  "You're getting married in two weeks," she says, bumping me with her shoulder.

  "I can't fucking wait." I pause. "Your idea, I take it?"

  "Not really," she says, laughing. "She mentioned it, and I thought it might give her something else to focus on. For both of you to focus on. Neither of you wanted a big wedding in the first place, and she was stressing herself out trying to please your mom. This way, you both get what you want."

  "Is it really what she wants?" I can't help but ask.

  Lexi rolls her eyes at me. "Are you serious? She'd marry you right now, Jared."

  "That's not what I meant." I frown, trying to find the words. "Last night, she wanted to postpone the wedding because of him. I don't want her to ever regret how she becomes mine. If she's doing this because she thinks it's what I want or because of him, I'd rather wait."

  "She's doing this because it's what she's always wanted," Lexi says, rolling her eyes again. "She would have married you the second you asked her if we'd have let her, but we convinced her to wait. We wanted her to have the wedding every little girl dreams about, but that's not Savannah. And what she really needs right now is control. He's taken so much from her already. She needs to marry you to remind herself that she can, and to remind herself that when the dust settles, you'll still be hers. She's scared, Jared."

  "I don't want her to marry me because she's afraid," I say, shaking my head. No way do I want her saying yes because she's scared I won't be there when McKee is gone. I want my ring on her finger because it's what she wants, because she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm hers. If I have to wait for that, I will.

  "She's not. She's marrying you because she loves you. Maybe she moved the wedding up a little because of what's happening, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. She needs to know that she has control here. She decides what happens in her life. And the thing she wants most is for you to put that ring on her finger. If doing it in two weeks reminds her that he can't take you away from her or control her future, is giving her that peace of mind really a bad thing?" Lexi asks.

  "Of course not." I rub my hands down my face and take a deep breath. "I just don't want her to regret any part of how she becomes mine."

  "Trust her to know her own mind, Jared," Lexi advises, squeezing my arm. "She's vulnerable, but she knows what she wants, and that's you. I think marrying you on your birthday is the best thing for both of you. She loves you more than anything. Don't second guess that because of him."

  "I'm not."

  Lexi shoots me a pert glare.

  "I'm not!" I chuckle, holding my hands up. "I'm just worried about her. He's lost his mind, Lex. If they don't find him soon, I'm terrified he's going to come for her."

  "You're afraid he'll come and you won't be here," she says softly.

  "I'm doing everything I can to help San Francisco find him. I can't do that and watch over her twenty-four seven. It's killing me." I hate that I can't keep her with me and help find this bastard, too. "She threw up half the night last night. I hate that she's so afraid she's making herself sick."

  Lexi hesitates for a brief moment, looking like she wants to say something, and then decides not to do so. She reaches out to squeeze my arm. "She's going to be okay. She's safe here, Jared. We won't let anyone hurt her."

  "I know that." I blow out a breath, staring down at the step below me. "But fucking hell, Lex, all I can think about is that he got to her here before, and Paulson snatched her out from under us. I wasn't careful enough, and he took her. I won't survive a repeat of that."

  "You won't have to," Lexi promises. "Paulson fooled all of us, but it's different this time. He isn't here. We have Chris and Demetri's people here around the clock, and Drake is here. No one is going to get to her again. Trust us to help keep her safe, Jared. We all care about her, too."

  She's right. I know she is. But I can't help the sharp edge of panic at the thought of someone getting to her again, of McKee getting to her. He has nothing left to lose, and I have everything to lose.

  "She's my life, everything I breathe for," I tell Lexi honestly. "Without her… I can't even imagine not having her. I've known since the moment I saw her that I wanted her. It's so much more than that now though. I need her in my life because none of it makes sense without her. I was born to love that girl, Lex, and the thought of him taking her away from me or hurting her absolutely fucking terrifies me."

  Lexi sniffles loudly.

  I lift my head to see her wiping tears from her face. Savannah's standing behind her, tears dripping down her cheeks, too. The look of wonder on her face makes it hard to breathe around the lump it puts in my throat. I'll never tire of the way she looks at me like I'm the most important thing she's ever seen.

  "He's not going to take me away," she whispers to me.

  I reach out and pull her into my lap, wiping the tears from her face. "Damn right he's not," I murmur to her, burying my face in her hair. "You're mine, baby. You'll always be mine."

  "I want to marry you on your birthday for us, Jared." She leans back to look at me, putting her hands on both sides of my face, her watery expression completely serious. "Please don't doubt that."

  "You're the only thing I want for my birthday," I tell her simply, pressing my forehead to hers. "I can't wait to make you my wife, beautiful girl."

  The radiant smile that spreads across her face makes my heart rate speed.

  "Everything okay out here?" Evans asks, stepping out the front door. He walks up to us and leans against one of the pillars, his arms crossed over his massive chest.

  "Fine," Lexi snaps.

  Drake's jaw firms at her curt tone and the glare she shoots in his direction. The muscles in his arms tense, his entire body going rigid. "Sorry to interrupt, princess. Just doing my job."

  Savannah buries her face in my neck to hide the giggle threatening to erupt when Lexi growls and jumps to her feet. She gets right up in his face, hissing like an angry kitten.

  "I told you not to call me princess, asshole."

  "You also told me it'd be a cold day in hell before you touched me," he murmurs quietly.

  Lexi jerks, a shocked gasp flying from her lips. I can't see her face, but Evans instantly looks like he regrets the words he just said. That alone keeps me from getting in his face alongside Lexi. Whatever is going on between them, he likes her, and she doesn't need me to step in on her behalf.

  "Screw you," Lexi snarls and stomps off.

  Evans stands there for a moment, and then tips his head back and curses. "I swear
to Christ, there's no talking to her. She's driving me up the fucking wall," he says, looking at me and shaking his head. "Is she always so goddamned impossible?"

  "No," Savannah says, pulling her face out of my neck to look at Evans. "She's scared."

  One of his eyebrows rises.

  "She likes you and you turned her down. She doesn't know what you want, and that scares her." Savannah shrugs as if that answer is obvious and then she frowns at him, her expression serious. "If you're just toying with her, leave her alone, Drake. She's been through enough."

  "I'm not toying with her! Jesus Christ, I told her that I'm not interested in a quick fuck if that's all it is to her." He shakes his head like he's truly mystified. "She told me to go to hell. What am I supposed to do with that?"

  "Man up and tell her what you want," I tell him, rising to my feet with Savannah still in my arms. "She's had men chasing after her since she was a teenager, and most of them had an agenda. After everything she's been through in the last year and a half, do you really blame her for not believing you?" I shake my head and smile. "If you want her, prove it. Fight for her, even if that means you fight her."

  He mutters something under his breath, scrubbing his hand across his bald head, and then he turns toward the door, a frown on his face. "Thanks," he mumbles before strolling back inside.

  "She almost slept with him after the reception," Savannah confesses when I look at her. "He turned her down."

  "So I gathered," I say, chuckling. I may not know Evans well, but I know him well enough to know he wouldn't sleep with Lexi if she wasn't stone cold sober, and she definitely wasn't sober after the reception.

  "I think they'll be good together."

  "Yeah, so do I." I tilt my face down to Savannah's, running my nose across her cheek. "I also think I need to take you home and get you naked," I whisper against her ear.

  She shivers in my arms, moaning my name.

  I take that as a yes.