The Wrong Kind of Love

He tugs his shirt off and sinks to the bed, dropping his head to his hands. Despair clings to him, and I want to take it away, to comfort him the way he’s comforted me so much. I crawl into his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. “It’s okay,” I whisper.

“It’s not…”

I rake my fingers through his hair as he presses his face against my throat. “If you don’t find him, he will find us, Jude…” I let that statement hang in the air between us. I don’t have to tell him what Tom will do if he finds us.

“I know.” Then his hand slides between us, palming my rounding stomach. “I can’t risk this…”

I’d do anything to protect our baby, but the ugly lash of conflict rips away at my insides. I want my child safe, and I want Tom dead, but not at the expense of a young girl. She’s also someone’s daughter–sister maybe. “You won’t hurt her?”

“No. She’s just a bargaining chip. Her father’s Tom’s driver.”

“It’s just a means to an end.” I don’t know if I’m convincing myself or justifying this for both of us.

Then his lips press to mine. “I would do anything to keep you safe, Tor. Any-fucking-thing.”

_____

Marney moves around the kitchen the same as almost every morning. Only today, we’re ignoring the elephant in the room, ergo, the kidnapped girl that I know is locked in the spare room.

The old man is on a French toast cooking spree, loading a plate with way more food than necessary.

When Jude walks in, he moves around the kitchen, making his coffee without looking at me. But even from here, I can make out the dark circles below his eyes, the stress tight on his face.

“How long are you keeping her?” I hate the thought of her being scared and alone. At least when Jude took me, I had Caleb.

“I’m taking her tonight,” he finally says.

My stomach knots. That means Jude is going after Tom tonight. We’ve been waiting around for over a month with no word, and suddenly, it’s happening. Now. And if it doesn’t work, Jude won’t make it out alive. I can’t lose him. “Maybe we should just run, move country. Hide.”

“I tried to send you to New Zealand, Tor….”

There is nowhere we could run where we wouldn’t need to constantly look over our shoulders. Maybe I could live like that, but not with a child. I know Jude needs to do this, but the thought makes me sick. Pushing to my feet, I pluck a piece of French toast from the plate Marney is stacking, then pour a glass of juice. “I’ll go and take her food.” I just need something to focus on. The least I can do is make the girl that might buy us freedom a little more comfortable.

When I go to the spare room, I find the girl on the bed, knees pulled to her chest, cheeks streaked with mascara. Guilt clenches through my chest like a blade between my ribs.

“I brought you some food.” I place the plate and glass on the nightstand. She doesn’t move or speak. “I know you probably don’t want it.” God, I hated Jude when he tried to force-feed me because Caleb wouldn’t. Caleb. It’s just pain on top of pain, but he reminds me why Jude is doing this, why this is a necessary evil. She will get us Tom, and then she’ll go back to her life as if none of this ever happened.

“My name’s Tor. What’s yours?”

Her suspicious gaze shifts to me before taking in my bump. Maybe that makes me more trustworthy, less of a monster than Jude’s tattooed, growly self because she looks up.

“Sofia.”

“You’ll be home by tomorrow night, Sofia. No one will hurt you, I promise.”

And then I walk out because I can’t take the guilt and hypocrisy of it all.

Jude

The old truck rumbles along the interstate, the street lights casting an intermittent glow across the cab. Tor’s hand is in mine, her leg bouncing anxiously. Gabe sent some guy named Rio to help me out since I’m supposedly dead, and he’s sitting in the front of the truck with Marney, Stan’s daughter sobbing between them.

"Tor.” She glances up at me, biting her lip. " Do not fucking untie her."

She closes her eyes. I know that is hard for her to deal with, but there is no way around this. "Just don't look at her. Pretend like she's not even there."

Her gaze darts to mine. "Please be careful."

"Nothing's gonna happen to me." I take a quick breath as we pull off the interstate. I need to make sure she understands everything before I leave. "You don't get out of the car. If Marney tells you to leave, you do it. Don't argue."

The truck sputters to a stop, Tor looks utterly terrified. She grabs onto my arm.