by Terry Towers
“What do you want me to say? We both knew the kind of person you were back then…”
“Didn’t seem to bother you before,” I snapped.
“Because I was young and stupid.”
“Doesn’t appear that you’ve gotten any smarter over the years.”
Her lips formed into a sarcastic little sneer and I waited for her to demand I leave right then and there. Or slap me. She did neither. Taking a deep breath in, I counted backwards from ten as I slowly exhaled, calming my temper. If anyone had a right to be angry in this situation it was me! “I brought you a drink, double chocolate chip and an everything bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese. If I recall correctly, they used to be your favourite,” I said, removing the bagels, two for me and one for her from the brown paper bag and placing them on the table. Crumbling up the bag in my fist I placed the ball I created next to them. It used to be her favourite breakfast combo.
A look of guilt flashed in her eyes and she nodded, her expression softening. “It is. Thank you, I’m not hungry, but I could really use something to eat.” She snatched up the bagel and wolfed it down, washing it down with a big gulp of her beverage.
Watching her, I couldn’t help but laugh. She was so tiny, not a pound heavier than when we were together. Considering her appetite, it was shocking.
She stopped eating, cocking her head and staring at me. “What’s so funny?”
“You.” The laughing stopped, but the smile remained on my lips. “You always could pack away food at record speeds.”
“I ummm.” She lowered the bagel from her lips and shrugged, her cheeks taking on a slight rosy hue. “I prefer to call it a healthy appetite.”
“It’s definitely that.”
“You’ve always been jealous that I could drink you under the table as well.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I would.” She took another bite out of the bagel. “Remember Lucas McVicker’s party, during the shots contest?”
I fell back against the sofa, a roar of laughter erupting from me. “Yeah, well, you might have drunk more than me that night, but who out of the two of us ended up praying to the porcelain gods that same night?”
She cringed. Busted. “That’s beside the point.”
“Just saying.”
“Right.” She finished off the bagel. “Thank you for this. I’ve had next to zero for an appetite over the past couple of months.”
“Welcome.” I ate silently, not really sure where to begin the very long talk that we needed to have.
“This is quite the dump, huh?” She looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. “Certainly not what I’d envisioned for myself at this point in my life.”
“What stopped you?” How did she get to be with Gabriel? Why didn’t she have the career she always dreamed of? Sure she’d been a single mom, but she was hardly a dumb girl. She could have figured something out.
She cocked her head to the side and eyed me a moment. “What do you mean?”
“What stopped you from accomplishing what you wanted? You had some pretty big dreams when we were teenagers.”
“Life.”
Life that included me, or excluded, whichever way you wanted to look at it. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“I know.”
She didn’t know as much as she thought she did. As much as I wanted to dive into the shortcomings of our failed relationship, there were more pressing matters.
“You and Austin aren’t safe here.”
She huffed. “Tell me about it, I’ve never seen so much crime.”
“No. I lied to you yesterday, what I mean is that Gabriel doesn’t want you back.”
“What?” She looked genuinely confused.
There was no delicate way to say it, so I was going to simply hit her with the truth. “He wants you dead, Robyn.”
“What?” Her brow creased as she stared at me as if I were the devil himself, her complexion going white. Maybe she wasn’t far from the truth. “What are you talking about? How do you know this?”
“I’m saying I wasn’t sent here to convince you to go back to him like I’d led you to believe.”
She sprang from the sofa, tripping over the leg of the coffee table as she tried to flee. “What are you here to do?” Despite her question, I could see she was starting to understand.
I couldn’t say it. But I didn’t have to, she could read it in my face.
“You? You were sent to...” She choked on the rest of what she was trying to say, her eyes widening in alarm. She continued to back away, not looking where she was going and tumbling backward over the armchair, coming down on her elbow and groaning out in pain.
“Robyn, just calm down.” Standing, I put my hands out to my sides, palms facing her. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Conclusions? I know. I know what you’ve done in the past...” She crab-walked backwards away from me. “My god!” Scrambling to her feet, she made a run for Austin’s room.
She didn’t make it far. Circling an arm around her waist, I hoisted her up off of the ground and tight against my chest. She went wild against me. Bucking against me, her ungodly sharp fingernails dug into my arm and wrist.
“Jesus fuck Robyn! Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I don’t believe you!” She fought even harder, my grip loosening on her numerous times and almost releasing her altogether when she lowered her head and bit down on my arm. “I swear to god, if you hurt my child!” She screeched when even biting me wouldn’t grant her freedom.
“Our child,” I corrected, Angry all over again. “Our child, Robyn. OUR CHILD!”
Despite her struggling, I managed to force her back to the sofa. My intention was to throw her onto the sofa, but it didn’t work out as planned. As she gave one inhumanly strong jerk to get out of my grip, I caught my foot in the armchair she had moments earlier, causing us both to begin falling forward onto the sofa. Robyn landed face first onto the sofa, me after her. She let out a soft gruntlike sound as my body crushed hers under it, winding her.
“Get off of me!” she snarled, looking over her shoulder at me, hate and fear in her eyes.
“Calm down or you’ll wake Austin.”
~*~ TT ~*~
Robyn
The fight within me dimmed when Constantine mentioned Austin. The last thing I wanted was him to come out of his room right now. Anger, hurt, surprise… so many emotions were racing through me. The man who was once the love of my life was going to kill me. I knew he was troubled when we were younger, but a killer? Sure, there was the robbery, but in the back of my mind I kept trying to convince myself it was a mistake, or maybe the other guy did it. It was so hard to believe. And he was going to kill me?
I needed to get away. But how? I was trapped under two hundred pounds of pure muscle. “Please, Constantine, if you ever truly loved me at some point in your life, please let us go.”
“I’m not going to hurt you Robyn, but you can’t stay here.” He loosened his grip on me and sat up. Cautiously, I sat up as well, scooting myself as far away from him as possible on the sofa.
“Where do you suggest I go? What am I supposed to do? Do you think I’d still be here, living in this dump if I had a way out? I’m working on something, I just need time.”
“Unless this something is going to happen within the next few days that’s not good enough.”
Fear shot through me, my entire body tensing. “Why?”
“You’re going to have to trust me.”
I didn’t, not really. There was a point in time where I would have trusted him with my life, but now… I just didn’t know. I’d spent two years with a crime boss and been oblivious to it, endangering not only my life but that of my child. To say I was a bad judge of character was an understatement. Maybe I was just addicted to bad boys. Not the best addiction.
“I don’t trust you. Pretty hard to trust someone who admitted he was hired to kill you.”
&n
bsp; “I never admitted such a thing.”
“Then why were you sent here?” I felt slightly better. I’d overreacted. It wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe I’d misread the guilt that had flashed in his eyes.
“That’s not important. What’s important is the safety of you and Austin, which is why you’re moving out of this shithole and in with me. Until I can figure out something.”
Chapter 8
Constantine
The declaration that she was going to move in with me was out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. But then again, it wasn’t such a bad idea and it would only be temporary. Gabriel and his goons didn’t know where I lived and my place was armed to the hilt, just in case things went bad for me. You can never be too safe in my line of work.
She gave me a look like I’d just lost my mind and then she verbally confirmed what she was thinking. “You’re out of your mind. There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“You don’t have a choice.” And she didn’t. If I had to kidnap her, then so be it. But I wasn’t about to let her be alone. Time was running out on my contract.
“I can call the police. That’s what I can do.”
Cocking an eyebrow up at her I replied, “And they’ll do what? Exactly.”
“They’ll…”
I could see the wheels churning in her mind. Gabriel had a lot of contacts in high places. He was on the NYPD’s most sought-after list, but no matter how hard they tried they could never nail him. Expensive, hotshot lawyers and bribes to the right people, that’s how criminals kept out of jail.
“Look, like it or not, I’m the only one who can help you right now.”
“And what do you plan on doing to help me?” She laughed, but it was hollow-sounding. “Kill him instead?”
I shrugged. If that’s what it took, then perhaps. “If that’s what it takes.”
“You’re crazy.” She shook her head at me, disbelief in her gaze. “Look. I have something in the works.”
“And it can continue to be in the works at my place. If you really love our son you’ll do what’s best for him and keep him safe. I can do that. At the moment I’m the only one who can do that.”
The look of determination and defiance began to fade in her eyes and expression. I’d found the correct pressure point and was breaking down her resolve. “Okay. Fine. But I have one condition.”
I was relieved. I didn’t want to force her. “Okay. Hit me with it.”
“I don’t want you telling Austin you’re his father.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she raised her hand and pointed her index finger at me. “I’ll tell him when I feel the timing is right. If and when the time comes. There’s too much chaos to add more to it right now.”
My jaw clenched as I considered her words. I supposed I could hold off for now. I’d won the first battle; the second battle could wait.
“Fine. Go get your stuff packed and ready to go.”
“Now?”
“Of course now. I’m thinking you aren’t grasping the magnitude of the situation, Robyn.” I looked around, taking in the apartment, which was sparse of much of anything. “Looks like you don’t have a helluva lot to take anyhow.”
She didn’t respond verbally, but just nodded.
~*~ TT ~*~
Robyn
Bad idea. Good idea. I had no idea which of the two it was, but Constantine had said the magic words when mentioning the safety of Austin.
But, can you really trust Constantine? You may have known him years ago, but it’s evident he’s not the same man anymore, a voice in the back of my head chimed in. He may have been the one sent to put a bullet in your head.
But did I ever really know him? Back then I would never have thought him capable of armed robbery, but I’d seen it with my own eyes on the security camera footage that had been aired on the news. Despite the ski mask I’d known it was him. So after a couple of weeks of soul searching and the positive reading on the pregnancy test I’d decided to run from him six years ago. So if I couldn’t trust him back then was it smart to run to him now?
Questions, so many questions…
Though I didn’t think I had a choice really. So it became a matter of what was the lesser evil. Take my chances until the FBI agreed to protect me, or put my faith and the lives of myself and my child into the hands of the man I used to love.
No, it wasn’t a choice, not really. I’d take Constantine’s help and as soon as I could cut a deal with the feds it would be see ya later, gator. I was only a few days away from settling a deal with them. I’d accept Constantine’s offer of protection until then.
“Fine. Fine,” I said once I was finally able to regain my ability to speak. “This is all so much.” Placing my elbows on my knees, I placed my head in my hands and forced myself to keep from bursting out into tears. I’d never cried a single tear since this whole thing began with Gabriel and I refused to allow myself now. Taking in a deep breath, I exhaled slowly as I raised my head from its resting place and looked up to meet Constantine’s gaze.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve been dealing with, but for right now we need to focus on getting you packed and out. Right now. They might have people watching your place. I haven’t noticed anyone yet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t.”
Another shot of panic raced through me. I’d always thought there was a possibility but to have someone confirm that Gabriel may be having me watched sent chills through me. “When do you want to do this?”
He stood. “Now. Do you still have boxes from the move?” He made his way toward my bedroom and opened the door.
“I do. Honestly I didn’t come with much and only unpacked what I needed.” Standing, I followed him into my room, somewhat indignant over the fact he was taking liberties in my home.
“How much do you have? Whatever is left behind you most likely will never see again.” He scanned my bedroom and walked over the closet, pulling it open. The closet was far from full. He didn’t wait for me to reply. “Doesn’t look like there’s much. What I’m going to do is call a courier service.” He exited the bedroom and headed for the kitchen. “Is the furniture yours?”
“No. Came with the apartment.”
“Good. Then everything will fit into a mini van from the service.”
I leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb and watched him survey the small room, opening cupboards and drawers, still feeling irked at the intrusion regardless of whether he was trying to help me or not. “Couldn’t the people who might be watching me see me moving out and then just follow the van?”
Constantine stopped his examination of the room and turned to face me. “There’s close to 50 apartments in this building. Even if they did catch on it was you moving out, the courier van won’t be dropping off your stuff at its final destination. I’ll be picking it up where the van leaves it and taking it to where it ultimately needs to go, which is why I’m thrilled you don’t have a lot.”
The comment pissed me off, because it reminded me of everything I lost because of Gabriel. I gritted my teeth. Constantine was going to help me and if I were to go into protective custody I would have to give up 80 percent of the few things I had left anyhow. It wasn’t his fault I was in the mess that I was in. It was my own damned fault.
“Yeah, well.”
His expression softened as he strode up to me, grasping my upper arms in his hands. “Look, Robyn. It’s going to be all right. You’ll have your life back; I promise I’ll make it happen for you.” The sincerity in his eyes was all I needed. I broke down.
Stepping up to him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself tight to him, burying my face into the crook of his shoulder and neck. It was like the floodgates I’d been holding tightly closed had burst open and I needed him to draw strength from. And I was thankful to him for that. Regardless of the past, he was here for me now when I needed support more than ever. I needed a familiar, strong set of arms to console me and he was offeri
ng just what I needed in the moment that I needed it most.
“It’ll be okay,” he murmured as he stroked my hair, holding me tight against him. His embrace felt so good and so familiar. And it made me cry even harder, my tears saturating his black cotton shirt as my hands fisted the back.
“I’ve gotten myself and our child into such a mess, Constantine.”
“I know.”
Boy, way to sugar-coat it. But he was never one to sugar-coat his words. “I’m trying to get us out of this. I really am,” I groaned, sniffling as my sobs began to subside. I suddenly felt exhausted, more exhausted than I was already.
“Yes, I know. And I’m going to help you.”
“Why help me after what I did?” If it weren’t for arms still around me, I would have surely fallen to the floor. Could he still have feelings for me even after what I did?
“I’m not. I’m doing this for Austin. A child needs his parents.”
“Oh.” It was like a wave of cold water had been splashed onto me and I flinched. I shouldn’t have been disappointed, but a small part of me was. Of course, it was Austin and not me. It was crazy for me to even think anything otherwise so I gathered myself and nodded. “Let’s get started.”
Chapter 9
Robyn
Constantine was like a machine, working quickly and efficiently. Within two hours everything we owned was ready to go and the courier service had been called. Austin slept through the entire process, which was a blessing. But now it was time to wake him and let him know we were moving – again.
“Just give me a moment.” Leaving Constantine in the living room, I entered Austin’s room and sat down on the bed next to him. Grasping his shoulder, I gave it a gentle shake. “Austin, honey.”
He groaned softly and batted at my hand as he rolled over so his back was to me. Rolling my eyes at him, I grasped his shoulder a little tighter and gave him a harder shake, my tone much more firm than before. “Time to get up. Come on.”
Rolling to his back, he closed his hands into little fists and rubbed at his eyes. “It’s time to get up already? I’m sleepy, Mommy.”
