Lucas’s POV“Just when I think you can’t get any crazier, you prove me wrong yet again” said Alex in a strained voice.“Nothing brings me more joy than knowing that I can still get to surprise you, brother” I said dryly.Instead of Alex going off on me like I was expecting once I was done telling him everything, I heard another fiery, feisty voice that I’m too proud to admit that I’ve missed so damn much as if we knew each other for decades, and she was royally pissed off at me from the sound of it “Lucas Snow, you total asshole! What the hell is wrong with you treating the girl like that! You never learn from your mistake, do you? And don’t you dare lie to me and tell me you don’t feel fucking guilty for everything you’ve done to her because you do! You need to apologize to her as soon as she wakes up! I don’t give a fuck if it will ruin your super evil plan to reveal what she’s hiding, or show the soft side of you I know so damn well it exists even if you claim that it doesn’t!”I w
Lucas’s POVAfter Mathew confirmed that the men will be casing the place until go time, I left the living room and headed towards the guest bedroom.Without knocking, I opened the door and closed it quietly behind me to find a scene that brought my heart into a broken rhythm.Angelina was asleep, shivering and whimpering as if she was in pain, tightly holding into my mother who was holding her to her chest and trying to soothe her, while tears filled both their faces.When my mom spotted me, she gave me a hard look, telling me that she doesn’t want me going anywhere near Angelina, but I ignored her look and walked over towards the edge of the bed anyways.“She still has a fever?” I asked in a strained low voice.Reluctantly, my mom answered dryly “It comes and goes, every once in a while”“Has she spoken any word, did she wake up at all?” I asked curiously.Before she could answer, Angelina’s whimpers grew more intense, began struggling against my mom, and she started murmuring in a b
Lucas’s POVWe sat in that living room in silence, digesting everything we just saw.“Why would they kill her mom and kidnap her? Why not kidnap them both?” asked Mathew curiously after a long stretch of silence.I shook my head, telling him I don’t have the slightest clue. This whole thing didn’t make a lick of sense until now. They were obviously a poor family trying to live their lives in peace. There is nothing even remotely indicating their involvement with drugs or whatever Zade and his men deal with.Something tells me the answers I seek can only come from three sources. Angelina, her father, and Zade.Angelina is a lost cause. She’s as stubborn as they get, even just the few hours I interacted with her confirmed the extreme difficulty of getting anything useful out of her.Zade is still out of reach for me and for Alex as well.Her father is the only clue I have left. I need to get my hands on him first before Zade tracks him down, and it’s only a matter of time. Right now, he
Angelina’s POVI wake up with an extremely dry mouth and throat.I also wake up with a warmth surrounding my back. A human warmth; no doubt about it even if I have my back to it and can’t see it, that no amount of blanket can provide.I open my eyes to a very shallow, dim light that is only coming from the huge two windows in the room.It was night time.It takes me a few moments to understand where the hell I am as I look at my surroundings without moving a muscle.The room was completely unfamiliar to me.I start to panic, my heart pounds loudly against my rib cage as I try very discreetly to move without alerting whoever was hugging me from behind in their sleep.Once I manage that, I look at the person and instantly recognize her. Lucas’s mom.And then it all comes back with an intensity and speed of a freaking train, causing tears to instantly fall down my face without wasting a second to linger inside my eyelids.My mom, my kidnapping, Lucas, his family, the lies I had to say to
Angelina’s POVTo say I wasn’t scared shitless by his dark, cold, threat would be a total fucking lie.Even my knees went weak from the intensity of every single word that came out of him.Of course he knows that I’ve been lying to him! But how many lies was he able to catch from me? That, I had no clue about. One thing was for sure though, he still doesn’t know who I really am. Which is about the only reason why I don’t pass out of fear right here in this kitchen and instead, gather myself despite the terror coursing through me and speak steadily to him “And you think I owe you a single damn truth Lucas? You haven’t exactly given me any reason to trust you with them! You don’t get to stand here and threaten me about lying to you. I don’t owe you anything!”“I saved you from those animals! If it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead at the bottom of that mountain because there was no chance for those assholes to cross over that mountain without risking their car flipping over, and even if they
Angelina’s POVI have no problem going back to sleep right away.Even though Lucas kept confusing me every time I talked to him, I tried to push him out of my head very hard, convincing myself that I won’t have to think about him at all in three more days, hopefully.With a full stomach, a satisfied throat, and a very comforting warmth next to me, I slept soundly until the morning.I woke up to very bright light coming through the windows.I turned around from my side, expecting to see Ms. Snow beside me, but much to my surprise, I was alone on the bed, alone in the whole room for that matter.I didn’t have a watch on my wrist and there was no clock to tell the time from.I stayed lying there for a while, staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to think how the hell I’m going to manage my lonely, ruined life now.I can’t ever go back to Seattle. Just like I can’t ever go back to that apartment.I was ninety percent sure they took care of her… body. They wouldn’t leave her in the house
Lucas’s POV“Good morning” my mom said tenderly as she walked inside the dining room, with Angelina walking behind her.I found myself checking her out instantly, taking note of every single detail. Like how her hair was still that messy, wild, jumble of curls around her head from yesterday. It really suited her, that wild look. And how she was still wearing the same white pants and sweater that belonged to my sister. It also suited her more than April. And finally, my heart tugged at me when I looked at her eyes; which were looking everywhere but at me, that had those fading red traces in them. She was definitely crying before she came here.I looked at my mom and saw her teary eyes as well, a lot less noticeable than Angelina’s, and I wondered what went on between them in that room.I had a small guess, My mom being her kind self must have tried to make her feel at home and told her that she was probably safe here. And for some odd reason, Angelina carried a look of shame or guilt i
Lucas’s POVThe guys heard everything I said and were prepared to take him right away.They booked the first flight back to Fairbanks; which was taking off in an hour, and were already waiting at the airport there. I instructed them not to answer any question he asks at all.They alerted me to something that made my paranoia crack open to a maximum level. The ID he had and used to book the flight with didn’t have the name Ben Collins, but James Sandler. He explained himself by saying it was a fake ID because he has a lot of enemies looking for him.It made sense, but it still didn’t sit right with me all the way.I asked Dan to snap a clear headshot of him without raising his attention and send it to me.I looked at the photo, inspecting it thoroughly, looking for any sort of resemblance to Angelina, but there were no similarities.I sent it to the sheriff of our town, Charlie Dawson. While Charlie is not a Snow, he is very loyal to us and does everything we ask of him because he know