Page 48 of Desperate Vows

“Would you help with it?”

He blinked. “Yes, I can help you with it.”

I was going to ruin Franklin’s plans, and then I would go after his entire empire.

It took a couple of hours, but when I left Mr. Bridges' office, I felt accomplished and satisfied that Franklin would never touch my trust. I was so happy that when I stepped outside, I didn’t notice the two men waiting for me or that they were holding a blindfold.

They were on me before I could even scream and easily overpowered me. I was blindfolded, tied up, and tossed inside a car onto smooth upholstery in seconds. I didn’t even know if anyone saw it happen.

I went from shocked to scared to curious in the span of seconds. I was pretty sure I was in a limo. I don’t know why I thought that, but it felt bigger than a regular car.

Then fear clamped its fingers down around my throat. Oh no. Franklin. It had to be. Of course, he would be watching me. My birthday was a week from today. I was a walking paycheck he didn't want going too far. I thought I was so smart, changing cars and going outside of Chicago.

I would not cry. Before the sentence was out, tears formed. Maybe the blindfold would hide it. I didn’t want to look weak in front of him. I was so tired of being weak and pathetic.

Why didn’t I leave a note for Lucas? I should have left a note, but that trust factor was lacking between us. For good reason. We came into this with nothing but suspicions. No one with any good sense trusted Franklin and his ilk. Which, from the outside, anyone would think I was just like him. They wouldn’t know what living with him was like.

Now that I was positive what I read was the truth, I felt guilty for not at least telling Lucas something. I’d probably made him worry.

I’d never get to tell him that I’d felt safer in the last week than I had in so long. I could leave my hair unbraided. I didn’t have to walk on eggshells or wonder when the world would be ripped from under my feet.

He didn’t trust me, but he’d proven again and again that he wouldn’t hurt me. I should have talked to him the moment I figured out his family was behind the disruptions in the crime families in Chicago, but I’d spent my life learning that no one could be trusted.

I’d also learned that I’d transitioned to Claire 3.0. The Claire who was damaged and broken but finding a voice. I didn’t know why it took so long. I was never safe, so I couldn’t even say I was playing it safe.

Maybe I needed my world to be shaken, so that I had to reorient myself, see things differently. Now that I did…

I wondered if I’d ever get the chance to discover who I was without fear guiding every decision. If Franklin had me, which I was positive it was him, I would never get the opportunity. Once he found out what I did, he’d kill me. If I was lucky, he’d make it quick.

Chapter Nineteen

LUCAS

I could tell something was going down when Claire snuck out of bed and got dressed. That was why I had a limo pick me up. I thought we'd chat once I knew where she was headed.

The last thing I expected was having to drive for almost an hour to Waukegan and watch her disappear into a lawyer’s office. When I realized where she was going, it took every ounce of restraint I had not to march in there and drag her out. We just got married, and there was only one reason a married woman needs to see a lawyer. Divorce. I thought she knew that was off the table, but clearly we haven’t been on the same page.

Her knee began to bounce.

Maybe that made me a real bastard, but I didn’t care. Let her sweat.

“I know it’s you, Franklin.”

What? Franklin? Why would she think it was her father? Well, I’d deliberately left off my typical cologne, but I doubted if it was Franklin nabbing her, he would have thought of that.

Her lips pinched together. Her knee bounced even harder. “I guess you figured out that I broke into your office.”

Well, that was a revelation I wasn’t expecting.

“I bet you never thought I’d do that. That’s why you were so careless with the paperwork. My trust? You just left it right out in the open. So cocky and arrogant. But that worked in my favor.” She laughed.

Oh, now I was doubly curious and even more inclined to keep my mouth shut.

“I thought maybe I read it wrong, but I didn’t. That trust was mine the moment I said I do. Not when I’m twenty-one. I bet Lucas doesn’t know that. Let me guess, the plan was to double-cross him? Let him think that he had to wait another week while you and Marco plot to take him out?”

I knew they were working together, but how did she know that? Unless she was working with them, too. Before I could get too angry, she continued.

“Bet you didn’t expect me to find your little treasure of information hidden in your desk either. I have to admit, you and Marco were careful. Killing Emil? What did he find out? That you were selling little girls, and he wasn’t too keen on that? Or Marco pretending to make a move to take me so that it looks like you tried to double-cross him? You even made me think that when you said you’d kill Lucas and give me to Moretti.”

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