Page 16 of Keegan's Promise

“Elodie,” he growls as if telling her to stop talking. But I see the truth written all over his face.

He meant it when he said he looked for me. He…missed me. I’m not sure why that hurts so much, but it does. Maybe because I didn’t expect it. I thought about him every single day. I missed him all the damn time. And I wondered, every second, if he ever thought of me. But I never let myself truly believe that he did or that he was out there, missing me the same way. I think it would have broken me had I known.

Being locked up was hard enough. I spent every day in a single room with no one to talk to except the baby growing in my belly. No one hurt me. I was invisible behind that door, like treasure in a freaking vault. Except, the treasure was the baby growing in my womb. The one they wanted to take. I think they were afraid I’d hurt myself or lose the baby if they bothered me too much, so they did the opposite and didn’t bother me at all.

Loneliness may be the worst punishment of all. The effects are insidious. I felt like I was slowly losing my mind. And maybe that’s what they wanted…for me to lose it. For me to forget who and what I needed to fight for.

Memories of that one perfect day with Keegan and the need to protect Lily kept me going. It kills me a little to know that he’s been suffering too. I never wanted that for him.

“Oh my gosh. She is!” She stares at me. “You’re from here?”

“I…no.”

Her brows furrow as she glances at Keegan. “I thought you said…?”

“I lied,” Keegan snaps.

“What? Why?”

I gape between them, not sure what they’re talking about.

“I can’t believe you lied to us!” Elodie cries, glaring at her brother.

“Enough, Elodie,” he snaps, the warning in his voice clearer this time. “She wasn’t your business or Coby’s. She still isn’t.”

His sister laughs quietly.

“I need you to call Dillon and tell him to meet me at the MC clubhouse. Tell him it’s important.”

My gaze flies to him, anxiety churning through me. I don’t want to go see an MC. The last place I want to be is anywhere near an MC.

Keegan must sense my anxiety because he squeezes my hand. “It’s okay, sweetness,” he murmurs. “Do you trust me?”

I don’t even hesitate before I nod. Maybe I shouldn’t trust him. He could take our daughter, keep me from ever seeing her again. But I know instinctively that he isn’t that kind of guy. I wouldn’t have fallen for him if he were. And I did fall. So damn hard.

Is it possible that he fell too? It can’t be…can it?

“I’ll get him out there,” Elodie says, her voice soft.

I peek over at her to see her watching us with a look on her face that makes my heart ache. It’s some combination of happiness and sorrow that I don’t understand.

“Come on,” Keegan murmurs, wrapping his arm around my waist to lead me out of the shop.

“What did you lie about?” I ask, curious.

He sighs heavily. “I told them I met someone here in town, and then she disappeared. Figured it was better than admitting that I was hung up on someone whose name I didn’t even know.”

“Oh,” I whisper, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry.”

He squeezes my waist as we head toward a massive black truck parked a few spots from the front door.

He pauses beside it, muttering a curse. “I don’t have a car seat.”

“I do.” I point at my car. The thing is so old it’s more rust than metal at this point. I stole it from a junkyard in Dallas. I figured by the time anyone noticed it was missing, I’d be long gone. I stole the tags from an elderly lady in New Mexico because I knew she wouldn’t notice, either.

I feel worse about that than I do about stealing the car. But I couldn’t afford for Garrick and the MC to find me, and I had no money. I’ve stolen virtually everything to get me to this point…to get Lily to safety. If I go to prison for it, at least she’ll be free. At least I won’t be back in their hands.

“Jesus Christ,” Keegan mutters, scowling at the car like he wants to set it on fire, but he carefully passes Lily to me before stomping toward it to get her car seat. He grabs her bag and everything else he can carry, too.

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