Catching Teardrops (MAC Security 5)

I do as he says, trying to get my panic under control, but I need to make him understand. They’ll put me back in that house with him. I’m still a minor and they won’t care what danger I’m in, so long as they protect the name of the preacher.

“I can’t relive it, Luke,” I choke out. “I just… I can’t.” The lump in my throat is so big I find it hard to breathe through it. My wide eyes stare at Luke, trying to show him how much I mean it, but when he doesn’t acknowledge what I’ve said, I

shoot up off the sofa, wobbling and wincing from the quick movement.

“Lily—”

I hold my arm out, my other hand on my chest. “No. I won’t do it… I’ll leave right now. I’ll go…” My bottom lip wobbles, tears running down my cheeks as fast as a waterfall as realization hits me. “I have nowhere to go.”

Luke steps toward me, his large body taking up so much space, but he calls to me in a way nothing else ever has.

“We won’t report it for now,” he says softly. We. Not me; we. “I’ll get you as far away from here as I can.”

My body deflates as I sway to the side, dropping back to the sofa and letting my hair create a curtain around my face. My head thumps, my eyes sore, and I can’t help but run my tongue over my lip, wincing against the biting pain it causes.

Escape. That’s all I can think about. To get as far away from here as possible.

“I need to shower,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. Looking back up at Luke, I see the sorrow flashing in his ice-blue eyes and I think that breaks me even more. He’s never affected by anything, but right now, all his emotions are on display for me to see.

Kneeling in front of me, he takes my hand in his, his large one encasing mine. “I know, angel.” He lifts his hand and runs his palm down my face. “We’ll get you cleaned up and then you can sleep.” Standing up, he pulls his cell out. “I need to make a couple of calls first, okay?”

“Okay,” I whisper, leaning back against the sofa, my eyes closing, tiredness setting in at an alarming rate, but as soon as I start to drift, all I see is his face, the way he leaned over me, the evil smirk, the way his head reared back with pleasure as he took everything from me.

Whipping my eyes open, I find Luke standing a few feet away, watching me. He opens his mouth, but before he can say another word, I stand up, letting my head drop as I walk toward the stairs.

I can’t sit there with him still inside me, around me, crawling over my skin.

LUKE

Stepping away from Lily is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, it’s right up there with seeing the utter devastation on her face. I want to simultaneously hold her but also go and find her dad and teach him a lesson. Just like I had to do with my own dad. Fuck.

My hands shake as I pull my cell out, listening for Lily as she makes it to the top of the stairs, a door opening and closing. When the water from the shower turns on, I know I need to get a plan in place. The longer she’s here, the more danger she’s in.

I swallow as I head out the back door, trying to get ahold of myself as I work out what to do. She needs to be away from here, but taking her back to the compound is out of the question. She’ll be a runaway still being seventeen; I don’t even want to think about what could happen if they found me with her. No amount of explaining will get me out of it, and I’m sure her dad would love that.

Fuck! I have no idea what to do, but the way she looked at me as if I have all the answers fills me with both pride and fear.

Letting my arm drop to my side, I lean my head against the cold brick wall, closing my eyes as I think back to a few years ago when we were on a job and had to rent a house out in the woods for a couple of weeks. My eyes spring open before I shoot a message off to Ty asking for the details.

A plan is formulating, and when I look back at the house, I can’t help but think it was my fault. If I hadn’t have asked her outright, she never would have given me the cell back and she could have called. But would I have been able to get to her in time?

This isn’t meant to happen, there shouldn’t be this kind of evil in this world.

“Luke?” Mom’s voice calls and when I hear shuffling by the back door, I push off the wall and turn to face her.

We stare at each other for several minutes before I ask, “How did this happen? Why would he do this?”

She lets out a breath, her body sagging against the doorframe. “I don’t know, Son, but I should have seen it coming.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

She looks up at the window to the bathroom, probably checking it’s closed before she whispers, “He did it to her mom and she—” She cuts herself off, her hand on her chest as she clears her throat. “She couldn’t take it anymore, that’s why she killed herself.”

Taking a step toward her, I growl out, “You’re telling me you knew he’d done this before, not only that but we both fuckin’ knew he was doing something to her, and you didn’t tell me?”

“I tried to get you to help—”

“No!” I roar, hating that she flinches but not being able to see past it right now. “You should have told me everything. Everything. Not just what you thought I needed to know.” I run my hands through my hair, gripping it. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. She’s been in more danger than I ever thought, and you knew.”