“But you don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m prepared to raise the baby myself,” I told him, holding my head high with pride.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No way are you raising our child alone. What kind of man do you think I am? Wait, no, don’t answer that right now.”
“I think you’re a good man, Graham,” I told him, my voice softening. “I was scared, which is why I ran - but I believe you.”
His lips curled into a small smile. “Thank you, Emmy. I promise to make it up to you, to prove that I am who I say I am. We do not work with bad people.”
I wrapped my arms around my chest and hugged myself tightly. I was freezing from the rain, which wasn’t letting up.
“Come on,” Graham said, reaching for my arm to lead me back. “Let’s get you inside and into some warm clothes. We have a lot to talk about.”
He ran his hand down my arm and took my hand in his, and I followed him back to the road.
“I’m sorry,” I said after a few moments.
“For what?”
“For everything. For not telling you about the baby sooner, for running away, for not trusting you…”
“Stop,” he said, stopping and turning to me. “You have nothing to apologize for. You were scared and protecting our baby, and that’s all I could ask for.”
Our baby.
Hearing those words filled me with warm and fuzzy feelings.
He squeezed my hand reassuringly, and we continued walking to the truck. He helped me inside and turned the heat up high.
“I need to tell Liv what happened,” I said mostly to myself.
He cocked an eyebrow at me.
“I asked her to rent a car for me, she’s waiting at the end of the road,” I told him sheepishly. “God, I put everyone through so much.”
“We’ll take care of you, Emmy. You and the baby will be just fine,” he promised softly.
The gate opened, and he drove toward the road instead of heading back to the house. We reached the end of the road, where Liv was supposed to be waiting.
“What time is it?” I asked when I didn’t see her. I checked the clock on the dashboard and frowned. “She was supposed to be here five minutes ago.”
I dug out my phone. There was a message from her from ten minutes earlier.
I’m here, girly.
“She said she’s here, but I don’t see any cars,” I muttered, sitting up taller and looking in every direction, hoping I could see better that way.
“I don’t see a car either. Sure it was here?”
“Pretty sure,” I said, scrolling back through our messages. “Yes, I said at the end of Falls Creek Road where it meets the highway…”
The rain was slowing, but only a bit, making it easier to see out the windows. No car parked was anywhere. My heart raced as I reached for the door handle.
Graham reached across and grabbed my hand before I could get out of the truck. “No,” he said. “It’s not safe.”
He did a quick U-turn and headed back down the road to his house.
“Graham, I need to find Liv.”
“She’s not there, Emmy, and this doesn’t feel right.”
“I can’t just leave her if something’s wrong,” I cried, panic in my voice.
“We’re not going to leave her, but we need to get back to the others. Once there, I’ll send my brothers out to look for her. Hopefully, she just got lost.”
I quickly typed a message to her and hit send.
“What did you just do?” he asked.
“I sent her a message telling her I couldn’t find her and asking for a response,” I said. “I want to make sure she’s okay.”
“You need to limit all contact with her.”
“Why?” I asked, looking at him.
“In case they got her,” he said gloomily.
I gasped. “You don’t mean—”
“I do, Emmy,” he said, glancing at me. “They’re here. They’re in Liberty and looking for you. I saw one of them in town earlier.”
My blood was as cold as ice in my veins, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe. I gulped my fear and asked, “How do you know it was them?”
“Because the man handed me a photograph of you and asked if I’d seen you.”
I collapsed back into the seat. Antonio had told me earlier that they had people in Liberty. I don’t know why it came as a surprise, but it wasn’t until that moment that reality hit me. He’d meant it. It wasn’t just an empty threat - Antonio Lombardo knew I was