Page 60 of Forget Me Not

“Who are you?” I ask, too desperate to snap off what may turn out to be a helping hand.

“Reece McAllister,” he says, reaching out to pull a chair toward him and noticeably avoiding shaking my hand in a proper greeting.

“You’re Reed’s father,” I conclude the obvious. “Did Cooper send you? Is she okay?” She must be. Reece McAllister is a big-time attorney. If he’s here to help me, she’s doing better. She’s pissed as fuck, but she’s fine. Physically.

“No one sent me,” he snarls, his disdain for me suddenly becoming abundantly clear. “You and I, have something in common.”

“We do?” Not from where I’m standing.

“Yes. We do. We both have a problem only the other can fix.”

I take a step toward the table he’s sitting at. “Come again?”

“I was told you were smart. I’m counting on that, so I’m only going to explain this once.” He wipes the table clean with his palm before resting his arms on it, fingers together in a point. “I can get you out of here –“

“How?”

He ignores my outburst and carries on unmoved, “A few phone calls to the right people and your case is dismissed, you’re a free man. Freedom, I’m willing to acquire for you in exchange for your help with Jane Cooper.”

“I’ll do anything for Coop.”

“Good.” He looks up, meeting my eyes for the first time since he started his spiel. “Get her away from my son.”

“Excuse me?”

“The accident nearly killed him. He needs time to recoup. Time with his family, not her. She has been nothing but dead weight dragging him down from the moment they met. She nearly destroyed his future once, I’m not about to sit by and watch her drain him of every bit of strength when he needs it to recover.”

It’s all I can do to keep repeating his words in my head, ‘I can get you out of here’. He has the power to get me to Cooper. Cooper who needs me, now more than ever, and chances are, she doesn’t even know it. She needs me to get to her, not to punch this guy’s lights out. That’s what I need. That’s not what Cooper needs.

“What do you want me to do?” I bite out through the simmering rage, hiding within.

“I want you to come to the hospital and distract her. Keep her busy. Remind her that she needs to focus on herself. That she needs to let go of this silly notion that Reed will get better. That he’ll remember.”

“Wait. What?” This is getting weirder by the minute.

“Reed suffered severe brain trauma from the accident. He’s been left with complete amnesia. No memories remain from before the crash.” Reece McAllister sits up straighter. “He needs more care than she can give him. He needs us. And she needs you.” If he hadn’t said it with such a sneer, it might have almost sounded as though he was genuinely concerned for her.

“She won’t want me. She’s in love with your son. That’s not something she can be ‘distracted’ from.”

He snorts, as though I’ve said something funny. “It’ll be easier than you think.”

“Why?” What the hell does he know that I don’t?

“She’s been on so many pain meds since the accident she hardly ever knows what’s going on, but she knows she wants to see you. The only reason I even know your delinquent ass exists is because she won’t stop saying your name.Yourname. Not Reed’s.”

“Pain meds? Why is she still on pain meds? What happened to her in that accident?”

He waves his hand, dismissing her physical state of being as if she’s no more important than a fly he’s swatting away from his coffee. “It’s nothing that won’t heal.” His expression shifts yet again. “I’ll pay you. One hundred grand. Cover her medical bills and get you two on your way.”

“You want to pay me one hundred thousand dollars... to keep Cooper away from your son. That doesn’t seem a little extreme to you?”

He leans back, dropping his hands from the table into his lap. “My son has a second chance at his future. One she never had any business being a part of in the first place. I’m not risking anything or anyone taking it away from him a second time. Least of all some little girl who got dumped in the foster system and bounced back and forth between group homes and juvy until she found a way to hook her claws into my son. Her free ride ends now.”

The tension reaches from my toes to the top of my brows. The last time I wanted to hit someone so bad, I wound up here. I close my eyes and I nod, agreeing to the deal before I can do anything that would jeopardize my impending freedom. “Fine. You get me out of here, and I’ll take care of Cooper.”

Doesn’t mean I’m doing it for his reasons. I’ve got plenty of my own.

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