Page 28 of My Everything

The car slowed down, rolling the last bit in slow motion as I tried to stall. To wrap my mind around the inevitable. I had to leave her. I’d never see her again. The woods cleared, and just a few hundred feet away lay a building. A cement block perched on an empty concrete ground. From the outside, it looked like nothing. But it was heavily guarded. A tall fence with barbed wire at the top stretched around the perimeter. A camera glared down at us as we crept closer. A tall iron gate slid open as the car approached.

I shot Kaylie a look. She met my gaze, then just as fast, tore it away. She swallowed visibly, eyeing the setting with worry shining in her blue orbs.

It went against everything I was to drive through the gate, and up to a line of armed men dressed in pure black waiting outside the concrete building.

The gate slid shut as we entered, and as the car came to a halt, a man stepped out from behind the line of guards. He looked like a businessman in a black suit and dark hair graying in the temples. His bright, twisted smile made me tense further. Moving toward us, he carried himself with an ease that screamed confidence, just like Kaylie’s father. Two men flanked his every move as he stepped over to my side of the car. Their eyes took in the damaged windshield, the three fucking bullet holes surrounded with a spiderweb of cracked glass. But they didn’t comment.

“I don’t like this,” Kaylie whispered. “I never saw them before.”

I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to scare her further. Rolling down a window, I waited for the man to speak and studied him closely. He was older than me, probably in his late forties, judging by the lines framing his eyes, and he wasn’t American. It wasn’t the golden skin-tone, nor the dark eyes and hair, but if I’d guess, I’d say Mexican, or central American. He stopped outside the car, looking down at me with a superior smirk on full lips.

“Mr. Maddox, I presume?”

I gave a curt nod. “And who the fuck are you?”

The man chuckled. Producing an ID, he showed it to me. Alejandro Ramírez. It confirmed my guess about his nationality, but did nothing to ease my discomfort.

“Call me Xander. Or Mr. X,” he added with a grin that made me scoff.

“I’m gonna need more than that.”

He smiled a pleasant smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course. I appreciate your concern. But there’s no need to worry.” He fished out a cell phone, dialed a number and waited. “Mr. Remington. They are here. I need you to confirm that everything is all right before Mr. Maddox hands over the kid.”

I scoffed at the choice of word, and Kaylie grimaced. She was no fucking kid. She was a woman. Young. But every bit a woman.

Mr.Xhanded me the phone, and I had no choice but to listen as Kaylie’s father came on the line. I bit back a scoff.Nowhe was available? What about the numerous times we tried to reach him? When we fuckingneededhim.Asshole. He assured me everything was good. That Mr. fucking X was legit. That I was to drop her off and disappear. Just like that.

There was nothing more to say. Kaylie was where she was meant to me. She was safe.

I cut the call, shoved the cell back into the waiting hand of Mr. X, and turned to Kaylie. “It’s okay. Your father’s word.”

She looked at me, tears brimming in her eyes.

“Get out,” I choked out. “Don’t fucking look at me like that.”

She stifled a sob, fumbling with the door. Once she was gone, I let out a long breath and squeezed my eyes shut in a useless try to pull myself together.

Then I stepped out too, grabbed her bag and handed it to the men while trying not to let the stiffness of my movements, or the goddamn pain alert them.

Kaylie hesitated, then she stepped over to Mr. X and stood with her eyes cast to the concrete ground.

There was so much I wanted to say. Goodbye wasn’t part of it.

“Let’s go, kid,” Mr. X placed a hand on her back, slipping it low.

Don’t fucking touch her.The sudden thought stunned me. The strong urge to rip his hands off her and punch him in the face was hard to resist. I had to shove my hands into my pockets to keep from acting on it.

She fought his push, refusing to walk, and stood frozen to the ground, eyes searching my face. I clenched my jaw, keeping my expression blank. There was no way I could let her know how much this was killing me. How much I wanted to grab her and never let her go.

“Marc?” She shook the hand off her and ran the few steps separating us. I stepped back in the last minute, shaking my head at her attempt to hug me. Holding her with one hand on arm’s length, it took all I had not to crush her to my body and kiss her.

“I don’t want to go,” she whispered. “Please. I don’t like this.”

I squeezed her upper arm, looking at the ground next to her as I fought for my sanity. The uneasy feeling since I drove through the gates intensified by her fear. I didn’t like it any more than she did. But it had to happen, regardless.

“You’re hurt.” Mr. X stated, and I cursed silently.

“Just a scratch.” I gritted out, and he sneered at the obvious lie.

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