Step Bride: A Bad Boy Mob Roman(60)

He threw my bag in the back as I climbed into the passenger seat. He got into the driver’s side and the engine roared to life.

“Come on,” he mumbled. A second later, the garage door started to open. He grinned hugely. “Hold on.”

We flew out the open door, out onto the road heading toward the front gate.

As we drove, something caught my eye. “Lucas, stop!” I yelled.

He slammed on the brakes. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s my mom!”

We looked across the lawn and saw Camille sprinting toward us, followed by four men. I climbed into the backseat and threw open the door. “Camille!” I yelled.

She veered toward us, sprinting fast, her hair flopping in the wind. The men were yelling at her to stop, and I could tell Lucas was pissed, but I didn’t care. It was my mother, after all. I couldn’t just leave her.

Camille slammed into the car, practically diving inside. Lucas hit the gas and we lurched forward just before the men got to us. They were yelling, but we couldn’t hear them as I yanked the door shut and we flew forward.

“I told you to wait,” Camille said.

I glared at her. She didn’t say anything else.

Up ahead, the gate was still shut. “Lucas,” I said.

“It’ll open.”

“How?”

“Louisa. She’s in control of the compound right now.” I saw him grin in the rearview mirror. “The computers aren’t just for games. She shut down the security cameras too, let us move around.”

I nodded, and suddenly something welled up inside me. It was hope, and gratitude.

Louisa didn’t have to help. Lucas didn’t, either, but they both wanted to get me to safety. My mother too, I guessed. But I was willing to bet that they were both going to get into deep shit for this.

For all the insanity, for all the awful shit, I was happy that I was in their lives. I was happy they were in mine.

Ahead, the gate swung open. The guards in the booth were yelling, standing in the road.

Lucas pressed the gas down, the engine roaring.

The guys dove out of the way as the car shot out onto the main road. Lucas swung the car around, pointing it toward Chicago. The gate closed silently behind us, blocking the cars that were already starting to chase us.

We sped out into the night, heading toward safety.





Chapter Thirty: Lucas





I watched as the city flashed by, the lights blending into nothing. I was headed toward my own personal safe house, one of several that I kept scattered across the city. It wasn’t exactly luxurious, but the girls would be safe there at least.

And I knew Louisa would be safe, too. No matter what she did, my father would never bring himself to punish her. She could play him like a fiddle, although she couldn’t get him to allow her to join the business.

No, I was more worried about my ability to solve this problem. My father was not going to allow Camille and Natalie to simple go free; he’d scour the city if he had to. And if I knew my father, he wouldn’t stop until someone gave them up.

Which meant that I had to lie low. I didn’t know how I was going to convince him to pardon the girls, especially after I had taken out two of his guards pretty violently.

Worries within worries swirled in my mind as we drove silently toward the safe house. Even though I knew I was in a shitty situation, I felt incredibly alive. I glanced at Natalie and caught her looking at me. She smiled, and I smiled back.

I thrived under pressure, and this was the most pressure I had ever been under.

It took twenty minutes to get to the house. I drove carefully, doubling back twice just to make sure that nobody was following. I pulled up outside the place and cut the engine.

The house was a row home in a sketchy neighborhood. Camille made a face. “We’re staying here?” she asked.

Natalie glared at her and then looked at me. “Are you staying with us?”

“We’ll talk inside,” I said softly.

She nodded and went to climb out. She fumbled with something, and I watched her phone clatter down between her seat and the console.

“Shit,” she said and began to dig it out.

I got out of the car and helped Camille climb out. I grabbed their bag from the trunk and put it on the sidewalk. Nat shoved something into her sweatshirt and climbed out of the car.

“Ready to see your home?” I asked.

Natalie nodded.

I walked up to the front door and unlocked it. We all walked inside together.

I watched their reactions carefully.

Natalie just smiled at me. Camille, though, looked like I was asking her to sleep inside of a dead, rotten corpse.

“It’s not much,” I said, “but it’s safe. Nobody knows where this is.”

“It’s gross,” Camille said.