Page 4 of His Claim

I never let Tatum in that inner circle.

She told me she needed more from me. She needed to feel like she was a part of my life, and not just someone standing on the outside looking in.

I never gave that to her.

“Nothing to say?” she asked. “You were the one who wanted to take a trip down memory lane.”

I glanced at her. “I wouldn’t say I was illiterate to what you wanted and were saying to me.”

“Then what would you say it was?” she asked.

“I heard what you were saying, but I knew I couldn’t give it to you, Tatum.”

“Couldn’t, or wouldn’t?” she whispered. She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

“I couldn’t, Tatum. I’m not a good man who goes to work and comes home every night.” I turned back to the window. “Just look at you now. It’s been five years since we saw each other, and you were kidnapped because of me.” I never would have thought that Brandt would wade through my past and find Tatum.

“Any other ex-girlfriends you’ve had going to be tossed in here with us?”

I grabbed the next board and pulled with all my might. I managed to get the nails from one side out and grabbed closer to the other nails. “Only you,” I grunted. I pulled again and tossed the loosened board onto the ground.

“Only me?”

I nodded and wiped my face with my forearm. “You’re the only girlfriend I’ve had, Tatum. The only one I ever cared about.” She had been there when I thought that I had a shot at a normal life.

I had watched Apollo and Greer together and thought I could have that, too. Apollo told Greer everything, and there weren’t any secrets between them. I had tried to bring Tatum into my world, but the fear of something happening to her because of me was too much to handle.

“I find it hard to believe that you weren’t with anyone before or after me.”

I gripped the next board and easily ripped it off. “We’re about five minutes away from breaking out of here, baby girl. How about we continue this conversation when we’re miles away from this dump?” I suggested. I wasn’t interested in going into what I had been up to the past five years.

Tatum scrambled off the ground and moved close behind me. “This can’t be that easy,” she whispered.

It did seem a bit too easy to me, too, but I wasn’t going to not try to bust out of here. “We’re gonna have to be quick once I bust this window.” I had no idea where Brandt was in relation to the room we were.

“They have guns,” she reminded me.

“I know.” I leaned forward and took in what I could see. “Assuming Brandt and his goons aren’t right below the window, we should be able to make it to the woods before they get their heads out of their asses.”

“What happens when we get to the woods?” she asked.

I glanced at her. “We run like hell until we get to a main road and I figure out where the hell we are.”

“And then what?” she asked again.

I closed my eyes. This right here was why I didn’t tell Tatum what I was doing. I didn’t need fifty questions and the doubt in her eyes. “I figure it out then, baby girl. You gotta trust me right now.”

She tipped her head to the side. “That was something I never struggled with, Murphy. I just wanted to feel like I was a part of your life.”

That was what I had wanted, too. I just didn’t know how to do it.

Focus on getting us out of here, Murphy.

“Just stay close to me, and do exactly what I tell you, okay?”

She nodded and stood straight. “I’m ready.” She tipped her head to the side again. “Well, as ready as one can be when preparing to run for their life.”

I shook my head and turned back to the window. “It looks like the sun is going down. That is going to work in our favor. It’s hard to find what you can’t see.” I ripped off two more boards and handed one to Tatum.

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