She threw her arms around me again. “You’re always perfect to me. Well, maybe not that time you and Kye puked in my lilac bushes after sneaking out to go to a field party.”
I barked out a laugh as I released her. “I didn’t think you knew about that.”
Mom’s nose wrinkled. “I knoweverything.”
Movement caught my eye. Luca raced across the back lawn toward us, dodging kids and adults alike. “Have you seen Mom? I can’t find her.”
I glanced around, searching for those familiar turquoise eyes. I saw Thea manning the dessert table, and Arden throwing the ball for Brutus and Gretzky, but I didn’t see Sutton anywhere. “I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I slid it out and saw Sutton’s name flash across the screen in a text alert. Relief swept through me as I swiped my finger across the screen. “It’s your mom. She probably needs to run to the bakery because these monsters have eaten all her cupcakes.”
Luca giggled. “It’s definitely Frankie’s fault.”
“Definitely.” But as I took in the text, everything stopped. Filling the screen was a photo. Sutton, wide-eyed, with tape over her mouth, hands cuffed in zip ties. The message was from her phone but not fromher.
Sutton
I’m watching. Let anyone know something’s wrong, and I’ll put a bullet in her brain. Say you need to get something inside. Come to the barn instead. Bring your phone. And your bank login.
Money. Someone was doing this for money? It had to be Roman. Blood roared in my ears as panic grabbed hold.
Me
Don’t hurt her.
Sutton
That depends entirely on you. Step away from the old lady and the boy. Start walking.
I should’ve known. Life had been too good. Too happy. And I knew too well that all that goodness could be taken away in a flash.
52
SUTTON
The zip tiesdug into my wrists as I stared at the man I used to know. Someone I once thought I loved. A man who had given me Luca.
Now, he was nothing but a stranger dressed in a caterer’s uniform. Far too skinny for his six-foot-two-inch frame and paler than I’d ever seen him. He looked nothing like the photo I’d shown Walter the other day. But it was more than his appearance. It was his actions.
Roman had hurt me and Luca countless times by lying, cheating, and stealing. Not showing up when we needed him the most. But this? This was a choice. An active decision to hurt me, the mother of his child.
Roman’s eyes narrowed on me, a color I’d once thought of as amber but could now see was just mud brown. He adjusted his grip on a gun, shoved one phone into his pocket, and picked up another. Mine. “You eventhinkabout screaming, and I’ll put a bullet in your brain faster than you can blink. Then I’ll go for that little brat next.”
I pressed myself harder against the barn wall as if it would somehow save me. It didn’t.
Roman stepped forward, grabbing the edge of the tape and tearing it free in one swift tug. I wanted to curse or cry out but wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. And I wouldn’t scream either. Not until I knew Luca was safe.
For all I knew, Roman had Petrov’s men with him. How many could infiltrate a small-town catering company? I hadn’t heard any Russian accents, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
For now, I would be quiet. Smart. I’d watch and listen. Wait for the perfect moment.
And then I would fight.
Because I had too much to live for. My son. Cope. The family we were building.
A sob pressed against my vocal cords, trying to break free. But I shoved it down. Not now.
Roman’s upper lip curled in disgust like some over-the-top Bond villain. “What’s the matter, Blue Eyes? Cat got your tongue? Usually, you won’t shut up. Always nagging me about something.”
