Page 69 of Inked Craving

“I need some fresh air. I’m going to go outside. Just for a minute.”

Annabelle held my elbow but nodded tightly. “We’re here if you need us. All of us. I promise.”

I looked at her, at Archer and Marc, at my mother and father, and swallowed hard. “Thank you. I just need to breathe. I just need to breathe.”

It was a lie. It was all a lie, but I couldn’t do anything else. I stood outside under an old oak tree, and leaned against the bark, facing the park that sat behind my house. It was a small piece of land, one almost hidden for my neighbors and me. I had wanted to bring Emery out here when she was older, to let her play and learn to do cartwheels and somersaults. Maybe start a game of soccer. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do now. Why had they taken her?

“Paige?”

I whirled at the sound of Lee’s voice and put my hands to my mouth. “You startled me.”

He stood there, the despair on his face making me want to reach out and console him, and yet I didn’t know if he would want me to.

“I love you, Paige. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head and moved forward. My back to the park. “I don’t blame you.”

“I sure as fuck blame me. That note was the same as the others. It has to be whoever was doing that. But I have no idea who it was. Who itis. Or why.”

Everything felt dull inside, as if I couldn’t feel what I needed to in that moment. “I know you don’t. We’re going to find her.”

“I know we will. We’re going to find her, and we’ll make sure this never happens again. I’m so fucking sorry.” He let out a breath. “I should go. I should go so you and your family can deal with this. I shouldn’t be here. This is my fault.”

I shoved at him then and scowled. “No. You’re family, too. You said you love me. Well, this is it. This is what love is. Standing together. I’m not going to have someone else walk away because it’s too tough. I am barely holding on, and I need you to stay. Can you do that? Can you be strong for me? Because in the next minute, I’m going to break down, and I don’t think I’m strong enough for that.”

Lee cupped my face and leaned forward. “I will be whatever you need me to be. I said before that I would be here for you through thick and thin. Through all of this. But I didn’t know if you wanted me here.”

“I’ll always want you here, Lee. That’s the problem.”

He didn’t kiss me then, and I was glad for it only because I knew I would break down. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he held me. Just the two of us under the old tree, the silence deafening.

A few moments later, I heard a cry and whirled, my feet moving of their own volition before I even realized I was doing it.

Lee was right behind me, and then he was passing me, the two of us running.

Emery lay on a blanket, screaming, her little fists waving in the air. I ran towards her. Lee pulled me back, and I nearly pushed at him, shoving at him, and then I realized why he’d stopped me.

A woman with dark hair, clean black slacks, a white button-down shirt, and manic eyes stared at us.

She held a knife, and I almost threw up.

“I’m sorry,” the other woman said as Lee pushed himself in front of me, blocking me from her.

I tried to move past him, but he was so strong that I could only get to his side. I just needed to get to Emery. She was crying. She was hungry. My breasts ached, my milk coming in at her cries, and it was all I could do not to push Lee out of the way and reach for my baby. But that woman was so close to Emery with that knife, and I couldn’t do anything but stand there and beg the gods for my baby to be unharmed and safe.

“Caroline?” Lee gasped. “What the hell. Caroline?”

He knew her.Iknew her. I’d met her before in passing. I knew this woman. She’d dated Lee before, but it hadn’t been serious, and yet here she was, holding my life in her hands. It was fate’s sick joke, and I couldn’t keep up with the punch line.

The woman bit her lip, her gaze glassy. “I thought you loved me. I just thought... I don’t know. I know that we were so busy before, but I thought you loved me. And then you left. You left me behind.”

“What?” I whispered fiercely as I stared at her from beside Lee.

Lee spoke up then, his voice calm, soothing, but I could hear the underlying panic. I just prayed Caroline couldn’t. “Caroline. I’m sorry. We can talk this over. I promise. Just let me get the baby. Let me get the baby because she’s hungry. Can’t you see? She’s hungry.”

The other woman’s gaze drifted, her body swaying. “I gave her formula that I got at the store. I didn’t want her to be hungry. I just wanted you to notice me. Because you have a new family now, and it should’ve been me. Don’t you see? It should’ve been me. But then you chose Leia. I remember Leia. She was a friend. And you dated her. But you left her, too.” Caroline met my gaze. “He left me and her for you. I don’t want to hurt the baby. But why doesn’t he love me?”

My heart twisted, and I could barely follow her words. Emery cried out again, and I nearly pushed Lee out of the way, tears falling down my cheeks. “Please just let me hold my baby. Please. I’ll do whatever you want. Just let me hold her.”

---