If You Say So (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 6)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  I know you. I know that, even if I tell you to move on, that you won’t. And you’re young.

  Which is why I’ve had some of my, errrm, stuff, frozen at a sperm bank in Longview. I wrote everything that I needed to in this letter at the bottom of the page. They have your name on file. You alone are able to access it.

  If you ever get to a point, and I’m gone, that you want a child, I’m hoping that you’ll allow my name to live on.

  A sob caught in my throat as Luca continued to read.

  I love you, Francesca.

  Luca’s deep voice finally went silent.

  I didn’t know what to say.

  I knew what I was feeling, though.

  Completely and one hundred percent overwhelmed.

  And thankful.

  Because having Luca’s baby wasn’t lost to me after all.

  I’d told myself that it didn’t matter over the time that I’d known I wouldn’t ever have that option for me—and having it confirmed after learning that Luca had sustained considerable damage that had altered his ability to have children.

  But it had meant something to me.

  And the thought of never seeing a blue-eyed baby with my hair color and Luca’s eyes? That had broken my heart.

  But to know that I now had that option?

  That was so huge.

  “We can have kids.”

  Luca’s words made my heart soar.

  “You’re such a smart cookie,” I teased, delicately tickling his side.

  Luca grinned and jerked his body away.

  He pulled me in tight, though.

  And his hug said everything that his mouth didn’t.

  He was very happy about the latest development.

  Very, very happy.

  Dinner did eventually get cooked.

  But only after we celebrated.

  Twice.

  Chapter 18

  I’m sorry. Did I offend you with my common sense?

  -Luca’s secret thoughts

  Luca

  My morning run was filled with what-ifs.

  What if I hadn’t enlisted in the Navy?

  What if I’d decided to go with a different branch?

  What if I’d never been held prisoner?

  What if we decided to have a baby and it never worked out?

  What if I married her?

  What if, what if, what if.

  Hell, there were a thousand what-ifs, but only one came back to my mind time and time again.

  What if something else happened, and I was taken away? Or she was?

  Needless to say, I wanted to officially ask her to marry me again.

  I wanted to move in together.

  I wanted to do a lot of things with her, the majority of those making sure that she was at my side a hundred percent of the way.

  So, first thing first, I would ask her to marry me again.

  Second, I needed to tell my parents that I was alive.

  Third, I needed to figure out my job situation.

  I was no longer who I thought I was, so all of my paperwork would have to be redone.

  I’d also need to figure out my living situation, make sure to pay back all of the money that I’d been using off of Malachi’s accounts, and a few other important things where it came to my friend.

  When that was done, I’d like to continue the job that I was doing.

  I enjoyed it.

  Lastly… I needed to stop being a bitch and make sure that I stopped living my life in the shadows.

  I had nothing to be embarrassed about, and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t pull Frankie into those shadows with me.

  With my mind so occupied on what I needed to do and get done, I wasn’t paying attention to how close I was to the house until the steps were almost directly in front of me.

  Shaking my head at my scattered thoughts, I took the steps two at a time and made my way to the bedroom where I took a quick shower.

  It was as I was stepping into my underwear in the middle of the bedroom where Frankie was still sleeping that I heard it.

  A pounding, insistent knock.

  Glass crashed and I went from curious to very alert in about three seconds flat.

  Frankie was lifting her head groggily from the pillow when I stood up straight, gun in my hand, and found myself facing six black-clad figures with their guns trained directly at me.

  “Police, drop your weapon!”

  ***

  I didn’t know what to do.

  I had no allies here.

  No friends. No nothing.

  What I had was a damning murder, a terrified fiancée, and the possibility of actually seeing jail time.

  I needed someone in my corner. In Frankie’s corner.

  Now.

  Chapter 19

  When your day is going really well and you don’t trust it.

  -The Fuckening

  Frankie

  I went to sleep with the house empty, and my heart feeling ravaged.

  The entire day had been filled with confusion, threats, and runarounds.

  I woke up with it still feeling ravaged, but my house no longer empty.

  I’d been racking my brain the night before, trying to figure out just how in the hell I was going to be able to hack staying in town. The vacation house, I’d found out, was rented out for the next week, so I couldn’t even pay to stay there. In fact, everywhere that I’d called the night before had no vacancies.

  Damn the summer’s popularity.

  I’d never once thought to call my father—or even Luca’s parents, though.

  My mind had just been in a whirlwind of chaos as I tried to process everything that had gone on.

  The voice, though?

  They were much different from the ones I’d woken up to yesterday morning.

  Heart in my throat, I threw on some shorts and hurried into the other room.

  The first person that I saw when I made my way out to the kitchen was my dad.

  The second was Gabe.

  I wiped my eyes as I stared at all of them staring at me.

  Surprisingly, it was Ember that came up to me and pulled me into a hug.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Ember said, pulling me in so tight that I couldn’t help but burst into tears.

  “I’m sorry,” I cried.

  Ember was pressing her face to mine and saying, “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Over and over again.

  I sniffled and pulled back.

  “I didn’t… I didn’t even think to call you yesterday,” I whispered. “And I’m sorry for not telling you…”

  She was shaking her head as she wiped away my tears.

  “Let’s not worry about that now,” she said. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about it later.”

  We would.

  Hopefully.

  I licked my lips and looked at Gabe.

  He didn’t look upset with me either.

  Even though they had every right to be.

  “We already have Janie, Jack, and Winter working on this,” Gabe said from his spot at the table. Papers were spread out in front of him as he absently tapped a pencil against the table, allowing his finger to run over the mouse pad of the computer. “Janie got back to me a few minutes ago with a basic background check on the two men. Tober—Toby—Cromwell, your teacher, has been lying to everyone for a while. That ‘brother’ of his isn’t actually his brother. It’s his son.”

  I blinked.

  “Really?” I asked, wiping my eyes.

  “Yeah,” Gabe said. “Brent is his son. Born when Cromwell was in med school at twenty-five. When he was married. And the woman he had the baby with most definitely wasn’t his wife.”

  I waited for more, but he didn’t say anything more.

  “That’s it?” I asked curiously.

  “That’s it,” Gabe confirmed. “That was what she was able to dig up. She’s still go
ing.”

  I rubbed my tired eyes.

  “Luca didn’t kill that kid,” I said finally. “It may look like he did but… he really didn’t.”

  Yesterday had been so horrible.

  And everything had been so coincidental.

  Luca went out for a run at seven. He came back at eight-thirty wet from his exertion from the run. He cleaned up in the shower and was just getting dressed when there was a commotion at the front door. That was when they arrested him, allowed him to get dressed in his sweaty clothes, and left, without caring that they’d just knocked the front door straight off the hinges.

  When I’d gone to the police station, it was by an escort of two detectives who came by minutes after Luca had been taken away. They’d driven me to the police station where they’d questioned me for hours on what had happened. When I gave them the truth of events, they’d then informed me that somewhere in between seven and eight in the morning, Brent Cromwell had been murdered on the beach by a scarred man. They hadn’t been able to give the police any such information on build, hair color, or anything.

  But, fucking Jessica had been on the beach with Brent at the time of the murder. She’d been knocked out cold and had only woken long enough to see a scarred man running away.

  A scarred man that she immediately linked to me—and to Luca.

  After asking some questions, and getting information from my friends, they’d found my house. After double-checking with the rental agency, and having it confirmed that a scarred man had been with the renter of the house, they’d then gotten a warrant for Luca’s arrest.

  “It was really weird,” Cora said, sounding just as confused as I’d been yesterday. “I mean, every single person was quick to point fingers. I realize that there’s a really damning viewpoint here but… Luca’s not the only scarred man in the world.”

  I’d agreed.

  And it’d been something that I’d said to the cops.

  I mean, shit.

  It could’ve been anyone!

  Luca wasn’t the only scarred man in the world. Plus, they’d only seen ‘scars,’ they hadn’t seen hair color, build, eye color. Or anything.

  In fact, there’d been one on the boat that we’d ridden on… “Oh, holy shit.”

  “What?” Gabe asked, his ears perking up.

  “There was another scarred man that I saw on the boat we took a ride on,” I said. “When we were going fishing down at the pier, we passed by his boat on the dock. Cromwell—the boy, not the adult—caused a scene after Captain Mike tossed him into the water. He had thrown some trash into the bay. The captain didn’t take kindly to that, and elder Cromwell lost his shit. Threatened to sue later that evening when he texted me for the captain’s name.”

  Gabe was on the phone moments later, talking to Janie.

  I rubbed at my eyes and realized that I really needed to pee.

  ***

  It was a little after noon, as I was pacing back and forth with my dad watching me silently, that Gabe came out the door that led into the kitchen.

  “Do you remember treating Brent your first year as a resident?” Gabe asked bluntly.

  I frowned. “Um, what?”

  “Your first year as a med student, Brent Cromwell broke his arm playing soccer. He came into the emergency room to have it set and you were one of the med students that helped treat him. You and the doctor that you worked with the first year,” he said. “It was a long time ago.”

  I was shaking my head because I had no clue.

  “Um, yeah,” I said. “I don’t know.”

  “He was about twelve at the time,” Gabe continued. “On his chart, it was noted that you were able to calm him down. Your name was mentioned specifically.”

  I had no clue.

  None.

  “I don’t remember,” I admitted. “I’m sorry.”

  Gabe nodded. “It gets worse, though. He’s been stalking you on social media. Your profile is the one he visits at least once a day on his computer.”

  “His computer?” I asked in confusion.

  “Yes,” Gabe said. “Janie’s hacked into his computer.”

  Shit.

  That wasn’t good.

  “Shit,” I said softly. “What the hell?”

  “It’s just another link,” he said. “But the reason it jumps out is that it shows that you had a connection to this kid much earlier than just this year. It shows that you’ve had one for years. And if that gets found out, this could be bad. Could be motive if Luca found out that he was basically stalking you.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t.

  The doors burst open again, this time with Ember coming out, a phone pressed to her ear.

  “We’ll be there,” Ember said to whoever was on the phone.

  When she hung up, the occupants of the porch stared at her with confusion.

  “What was that?” Gabe asked when she just stood there bouncing excitedly.

  “The lawyer,” Ember said. “They got him bail. It was granted an hour or so ago. He’ll be out in about an hour as long as nothing happens between then and now.”

  Gabe nodded, his entire body strung tight.

  “He’s going to need some clothes,” I found myself saying. “They were talking about taking his for evidence when they left with him yesterday morning. If they’re going to keep the clothes, he’s going to need something to leave in. Will they allow us to get him some before that point?”

  Ember turned around to barge inside, but I stopped her.

  “I’ll get them,” I said.

  Ember turned and nodded, her excitement a little dimmed now.

  “I’m sorry, but he’s particular about what he wears,” I admitted. “The scars… they sometimes hurt. And I’m sure after being in shitty clothes for the last twenty-four hours, he’s going to want something soft against his skin. I can find that in our suitcase.”

  Ember’s eyes softened minutely at that news.

  “God, my baby,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

  Gabe looped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest.

  My dad let go of Cora, who was up and walking to her parents in the next few moments.

  When I walked away to give them space, I hadn’t expected my father to follow me.

  When I looked up after finding the clothes I needed, it was to find him staring at me.

  “I don’t think that what you did was the right way to go about everything,” he said. “You knew days ago. That was why you asked us not to come.”

  I swallowed hard, not liking the way he was judging me without knowing the first thing that had happened.

  “I realize what it looks like…” I started.

  He tilted his head and stared at me, anger rising to the surface.

  “You don’t know what the last two years have been like for her, Francesca,” Dad said.

  I stiffened at his words, and at his use of ‘Francesca’ instead of ‘Frankie.’

  I gritted my teeth, placed the clothes carefully on top of my suitcase so I didn’t lose my shit and throw them at him, then turned carefully so that I was facing him fully.

  “I don’t know what it’s been like for her?” I asked calmly.

  Too calmly.

  He should’ve known better.

  “Yes,” he said stiffly.

  I took in two calming breaths.

  “Let me ask you something,” I said. “Did Cora have someone to fall back on when she was grieving?”

  Dad didn’t say anything.

  “Did Gabe? Did Ember?” I pushed.

  Still nothing.

  “Well, I fucking didn’t,” I snapped. “Because my man was the one that went missing. The man that I wanted to have babies with was missing. The man that was my confidant. My best friend. The person that I turned to when I needed something. He. Was. Gone. Gone, Dad. Cora had you. Gabe had Ember, and Ember had Gabe. But
me? My person was gone. Fucking. Gone.”

  Dad opened his mouth to say something, but I talked over him.

  “I’ve spent the last two fucking years thinking the love of my life was gone,” I hissed, getting more and more pissed off. “Two and a half years, Dad. While Cora’s had you, while y’all have raised your family, while y’all have spent time with each other, I’ve been alone. I haven’t had Luca. And then the last eight months happened. I thought I was losing my goddamn mind. I thought I was falling in love with my fiancé’s best friend. I went through grief and disgust at myself. All the while I couldn’t stop thinking about Luca. And then he finds out that the Navy fucked up. That he isn’t Malachi. That he’s Luca. So, when he asked for a few days—a fucking week, that’s all—to get his head on straight, I gave it to him. Want to know why? Because that’s what people do for the people they love. They support them. And, if you’d get your head out of your ass long enough, you would know that you’d do the same goddamn thing for Cora if she asked it of you.”

  “I think.” A deep, menacing voice sounded from behind my father. “You need to back away and give us a few minutes alone.”

  My breath hitched when I heard Luca’s voice.

  Even after knowing he was okay, knowing that he wasn’t missing anymore, hearing the deep rasp of his voice was still like an ocean of feeling crashing in on me all at once.

  “Luca,” I breathed.

  Dad turned in the doorway, his eyes on Luca.

  “Luca…”

  “A minute,” Luca snapped.

  Dad sighed and backed away, raising his arms in defeat.

  The moment he was out of the way, I was launching myself at Luca as if he held the secret to life.

  He caught me with barely a sway in his step.

  The moment he had me in his arms, I buried my face into his neck and burst into tears.

  ***

  Ember

  I was staring in sympathy at Coke.

  “Well, that went about the opposite of how I expected it,” Coke admitted.

  “I think that you’re probably expecting this to be a normal situation and it’s not,” Cora explained. “I realize that you were pissed on my behalf, Coke, but shit. I can’t say what I would or wouldn’t do if this situation were reversed. You’re going to have to let them handle it the way they think it needs handled.”