Page 97 of Take Me (Dark Odyssey 5)

“Vera go home to your family,” I tell her.

“Am… I fired?” she asks. Her hands tremble and she swallows hard.

“Have I fired anyone yet today?”

She shakes her head.

“Then no, just go and come back tomorrow.”

She gets up quickly and leaves, leaving me with Georgiou.

He comes closer to me and rests his hand on my shoulder for reassurance.

“Try not to worry, brother. You know we’ll do our best,” he offers.

“I know… I just wish I didn’t fuck things up. Lilly called me Georgiou and I never answered the fucking phone.”

“Don’t think about that. You can’t. You gotta stay focused so you can concentrate.”

I bring my hand to my head in frustration. It’s ironic that we were talking about Lilly earlier back at the office. Me in my stupidity was so blind I thought I didn’t know what to do with her.

The last time we spoke we argued. I’d never argued with her before. She fucking spelled her feelings out to me by saying it would be hard for her to walk away from me when the time came.

I was such an ass.

I think back to her question again—what are we to you?

The answer was everything.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Christian

I lean against the wall in the study and look at the bright morning sunlight spilling through the window.

It’s a new day and Lilly and Rosie are still missing.

Miguel still has them and I don’t even know if he’s still in Chicago. He could have headed back to Columbia for all I know. if the fucker could fool everybody into thinking he was dead for close to a year, what to stop him from getting gone before we can catch up with him.

I was out all night on the streets looking everywhere I could, talking to everyone I could, getting my ass kicked for whatever intel I could get which was nothing.

It’s a new day and I’m nowhere closer to where I was yesterday.

Frustrated I move away from the wall and make my way to the bedroom. I need to lie down. I can’t sleep, but if I lie down it will be enough to give me some rest so I can be ready for later.

As I make my way down the corridor and pass Rosie’s bedroom I stop when I see the little assembly of her toys together on her bed. Her babies. The sight compels me to go inside.

There’s her little pig, a giraffe that’s missing a leg, a pink teddy bear she’s placed ribbons on the ears, and a giant goose with the little golden egg Amelia gave me next to it.

The egg… it was something I didn’t have. Now I’m the rich prick again and Rosie and Lilly were something I didn’t have either.

A family that I wanted.

I didn’t have to know them for any length of time. I’d known Rosie the least amount of time, but it didn’t matter.

I hear her little voice so clearly in my mind.

Are you here to save us from the monsters?

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