Page 53 of Can't Be Love

“What?” Kent asked.

“That’s Lily Westin! Her pack will stop at nothing to find her. Give her the memory serum and get her out of here.”

“Dave, calm down man. It’s all good. The snow fell last night. No one can track her here,” Trevor assured him, with more confidence than he had a right to.

I snorted before I can stop myself. “I’m happy to see my reputation precedes me. You clearly realize my family has the connections, resources, and tenacity to find me. And they will. Of that I’m certain. So, run your little tests, and play your little games quickly, because they’re coming for you. Every single one of you will pay for this.”

I knew I shouldn’t provoke them, but sometimes things just had a way of popping out of my mouth before I could assess if they were things that should be said or not. Most of the time I didn’t care. And if it wasn’t for the challenge written all over Trevor’s face at my bravado, I wouldn’t be caring now.

“You’re certain no one saw you take her?” Trevor asked Kent.

Kent’s face blanched white. “Well,” he stalled.

“Did someone see you or not? It’s a simple question,” he said, raising his voice.

“There was a girl with her. She got away.”

“What?” Trevor yelled, slamming down the folder he was carrying onto a nearby desk. Papers went flying.

This seemed to bring more attention to the room as the door opened and Jacob Winthrop walked in. Jacob was Madelyn’s guardian. She had lived with him for eight years, and he’d practically raised Oscar. He was family. My breath hitched as I fought back the urge to beg for his help. I knew Jacob would get me out of this. I was going to be okay. I looked up and watched him turn a little green as he shared a look with Dave, who subtly shook his head at me.

I didn’t know why they didn’t want me to react or acknowledge that I knew Jacob, but somehow, I understood that this Dave guy was trying to help me in some weird way. It took every ounce of personal restraint I really didn’t possess not to cry out to Jacob for help.

“What’s going on in here?” Jacob asked.

“We have a new visitor. However, Kent let a witness go when he grabbed her,” Trevor said.

“I see.”

“Dave says she’s a Westin and we need to get her out of here. I’m thinking we should relocate her to the Philadelphia facility.”

Dave and Jacob shared another quick look while the others continued to remain oblivious.

“It’s too risky. They’ll be on the hunt for her for sure,” Jacob said. “It’s best the girl stays here,” he added.

I shook my head and started to open my mouth to protest, but the look Dave shot me stopped me.

“Don’t give them the satisfaction,” the big guy in the cage next to mine said under his breath.

We didn’t speak again until the room cleared.

“I’m Lily,” I said to my new neighbor.

“Samson,” he replied. “You really think they’ll come looking for you?”

“Definitely. Hey, reinforcements were already coming in looking for you. That’s why I’m here,” I confessed quietly. “Do you really think they’re recording us?”

He nodded.

I took a good look around the room, matching up the lights I’d memorized the night before in the dark with the camera and various other devices around the room. I took in everything I could about the place. Based on the cold concrete walls, the cement floor, the creepy hanging caged lights in the ceiling, I could only assume it was some sort of shelter, like a fallout shelter or something.

It wasn’t long before Dave came back in, this time wheeling a metal cart with our breakfast trays. He passed each of them through a slot at the bottom of our cage. Two above me, which I could only assume were Lyle’s and Yutu’s, then Samson’s, and finally mine.

He didn’t say a word, but he made eye contact with me. Again, I felt like he was trying to send me some sort of telepathic message.

He glanced at my tray, then quickly turned and left the room.

“Well, at least the food’s good here,” Lyle commented with a laugh as the other two men groaned.

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