Say You Will (The Alexanders 5)

Prologue

SAYING GOODBYE NEVER seemed to get any easier.

“You won’t forget about us, will you?” Travis gazed up at him with blue eyes the same shade as his own.

“I could never forget about you or your mother. I’ll be back as soon as I can, buddy. Be good for your mom, okay?”

“Okay. Here’s my picture.” The little boy thrust the construction paper at him. Trent looked down at the lumpy figurines. Travis pointed at each figure. “That’s me. That’s you. And that’s mom.” He had written across the bottom of the picture in crayon “M-y- f-a-m-i-l-e-e”.

Trent folded it carefully and put it in the inner pocket of his suit jacket. “I’ll keep it right here with me. This is too important to pack in a suitcase.”

Travis hugged him fiercely, then with typical toddler nonchalance raced back to the television. The sounds of his favorite cartoon resumed a few seconds later.

“He’s been working on that drawing for you all week.” Avery stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching him. Tears shone in her eyes.

“I can hardly believe he’s old enough for preschool. It really puts things in perspective.”

She wiped her hands on the dishtowel tucked into her waistband. “You’re all packed?”

“Yeah. I think I got everything this time.” His eyes swept the room, looking for anything he might have missed when he packed last night. He couldn’t afford to accidentally leave anything behind since he wouldn’t be here for a while.

He’d been coming to see them for the past few months and it was harder and harder to leave every time. Soon all the lies would be over and he’d be able to get back to his life.

Just a little bit longer.

He stood and slung his duffel over his shoulder. The weight of it barely registered. Packing light was a requirement for traveling under the radar. Lately, he’d been on the road so much that he could pack and unpack in his sleep.

Avery followed him as he walked to the front door. “He misses you so much when you leave. So do I.”

Trent pushed her dark hair away from her face. She wouldn’t meet his eyes which was a bad sign. She always did this. Just when she got her life back on track, then she backtracked and ended up in the same place.

“This is the way it has to be for now. It’ll all be over soon. Hang in there. I’ll be back to see you in a few weeks if I can get away.”

Avery bit her lip and looked away. “I didn’t think it would be this hard. I’m lonely living here all by myself.”

“It’s hard on me, too. I miss you. You know I love you more than life.” He kissed her on the forehead, the same way he’d done for years.

Her smile never faltered but as she watched him leave, he could tell she was crying.

Just a few more weeks and this will all be over.

Chapter One

MARA SIMMONS WOULD have never described herself as a badass. But to her co-workers at Lawson, Westbrooke & Hyde, she was a vigilante. A fearless crusader. Either that or they all just thought she was too stupid to be afraid.

“I really appreciate this. He keeps asking for these files and I’ve been making excuses until you got here.” Her co-worker, Lanie Roberts, hovered outside of the door to her boss’ office with a frightened look on her face.

Ethan Westbrooke had everyone in the company terrified of him. The only one he couldn’t intimidate was Mara, which was how she’d gotten stuck working for him. Usually he went through executive assistants at an alarming rate. The one before Mara had lasted only three days before calling down to HR in tears asking to be reassigned.

Mara had been with him for a little over a year.

“It’s okay, Lanie. I’ll take them in to him. I was just going in to bring him his coffee anyway.”

“Mara! Where are the contracts Lawson sent up?” Ethan’s loud bellow carried through his office door.

Lanie wrung her hands as Mara took the folder she’d been holding in a death grip. “Okay. I’ll just, ah, wait out here.”

Mara smothered a smile. Then after a perfunctory knock on her boss’ door, she pushed it open with her hip.

“Here’s your coffee and those contracts you’ve been waiting on.” Mara set the folder she carried on the edge of his desk and his coffee to the right of the report he was currently reading. He barely glanced up, just answered with a muffled grunt. The only thing visible was his perfectly styled dark hair. She held in a sigh. Grunting was better than growling. He was in a decent mood today. That was something.

As soon as she left the office, Lanie appeared at her elbow. “Did you give it to him?”