Chapter 44

West

Where Everleigh couldn’t eat, I had consumed the best meal of my life. I took one last drink of wine, placing down the empty glass as I leaned back. Life was great. More than great. Soon I’d see Bram dead for, myself, and I could get back to Whitlock. To what was mine.

I grabbed Everleigh’s hand as I stood and basked in the ease at which she let me lead her. Maybe she was a little intoxicated as well. Hell, she’d had two glasses of wine, to my five. For someone who never indulged, she had to be feeling something. Was she leaning into me? I smiled at the realization that she was. She was probably having trouble walking. My day just kept getting better.

“Mr. Harper?”

I slowed at my name, not quite placing the voice who called it. I scanned the room with a fuzzy mind. It took a moment to place Mr. Barber, who was now waving at me. He was a former associate and not one I cared for.

“Mr. Barber.” I walked us over, reaching out to shake his hand as he stayed seated. The sad expression on his face was one I would have loved to knock off.

“I heard about Mr. Whitlock’s passing. My condolences. He was a great man. Very charitable in his works, just like his mother was.”

Was he? I forced a similar look of grief, nodding. “Yes, his passing was most unfortunate. I’m not sure what I’m going to do without him.” I trailed off, appearing probably a lot more lost than I felt. Which was technically more drunk by the minute.

“I’m so sorry. The two of you were inseparable. I don’t think there was a time that I didn’t see both of you together. It’s been a while … three, or four years. But I remember. You two …” He trailed off, his grief evident as he swallowed and cleared his throat. Bram liked Mr. Barber. I never understood why. They were closer than the associate and I was.

“Will you be at the funeral on Saturday morning?”

“I will. I definitely will.”

“I’m sorry.” My head shook as I took Everleigh’s buried form out from hiding at my side. Her body had been stuck to mine, and she was trembling so badly that I wasn’t sure how the hell she was standing. “This is my wife, Lee. Lee, this is Mr. Barber.” I leaned in by her ear. “Shake his hand and tell him hello.”

Everleigh’s hand came out, trembling even worse than her body. Mr.

Barber didn’t seem to notice as he reached forward to grasp her fingers.

“I wasn’t aware you’d gotten married. Congratulations to the both of you.”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling and pulling her in close again. My arm wrapped around her shoulders, hugging her body to mine. “You’ll have to excuse my wife. She’s taking Bram’s death extremely hard. They were very close. He introduced us.”

Mr. Barber looked toward her, his face once again turning sad. “I understand. I’m so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Harper. Please know that I’m here if either of you needs anything. Anything at all. Bram was loved by so many. He was one of the kindest men I knew.”

Confusion once again seeped in. I knew Bram had donated to some charities. It had been part of his duties, but had he been so kind? Sure, people loved him. He knew how to play the part of happy socialite, but had it made all the difference? He was an asshole. A coldhearted bastard the majority of the time. He ran an underground fortress full of slaves, raped, and murdered. No one knew Bram. Not like I did.

Fingers dug into my suit jacket, bringing me back. “Yes. Well, if you’ll excuse us. We have to be going. It was a pleasure seeing you here,

Mr. Barber.”

I reached out, shaking the man’s hand. By the time I got Everleigh into the car, I damn near had to pry her off of me.

“What is the matter with you?”

A sob exploded from her mouth as her eyes scanned the cars and busy sidewalks. She was panting, trying to leave my arms to crawl to the floorboard. Eli paused in shutting the door, instead, crawling in to sit further down.

“Everleigh,” I growled. “Sit up.”

“Yelling won’t help. She’s having a panic attack. Like … PTSD or something. It’s too much for her. She’s …” Eli tilted his head, watching while she buried her face in her hands. “Pop her something. Did you bring anything?”

“Yeah,” I snapped. “I carry a fucking pharmacy around in my pocket. Of course, I didn’t bring anything.”

“I just,” she tried to catch her breath. “I need air. Quiet. Alone. All

… be okay.”

“We’re in the car in the middle of traffic. Quiet and alone isn’t coming for a while so you better get yourself together. We have to go to the viewing, remember? We only have a short window. They’re not doing this again. It’s now or never.”

Everleigh wrestled out of my arms, crawling to the side seat to lie down. Her arm came up and she buried her face in the crook of her elbow. The deep breaths still left her, but she seemed to do better away from me.

“I kept waiting,” she said, shakily. “I thought he would try to h-hurt us. I don’t like this place.”

I smirked at Eli. I’d wanted her to fear being on the outside and I had succeeded.

“We’re lucky he didn’t. He was closer to Bram than he was to me. I have no idea what kind of man he is. But that’s why we have Eli. He’ll protect us, won’t you Eli?”

He rolled his eyes, pursing his lips as he continued to stare at her.

“Yeah. Definitely.” He paused. “Mistress, may I ask you a question?”

My lip slightly pulled back at his address, but I stayed quiet as I studied my guard. Everleigh’s arm lifted and she wiped away the tears as she sat.

“Of course. What it is?”

“Are the stories true? About you and The Cradle?”

Dark hair swayed as she shook her head. “I’m not sure I understand.

What stories?”

He glanced at me. I could still see his anger toward something and I

didn’t like it.

“Is it true you brought all of the children into one room and slept with them there? So you could protect them?”

Her cheeks reddened and she peeked over at me. “Some were afraid. I fear they have a valid reason. I wanted to make sure every single one of them was safe.”

“You would have died to protect them, wouldn’t you have?”

“Without hesitation. They don’t deserve this life. They’re innocent. I know no more have been brought in since Bram took over from his father a few years ago. The ones there are from before. But if we could help them. If we could do something. The youngest is not nearly five. She’s been here since she was only weeks old. The oldest, only twelve. They don’t have to know this life. It’s not too late to set them free.”

“Free?” My head shook. “We can’t set them free. They were taken.

Kidnapped. You’re asking me to release a good twenty kids into the world? Do you not think the law here isn’t going to wonder why so many have suddenly reappeared? It’s too risky.”

“There’s fourteen. And it doesn’t have to be all at one time. We can set free two or three at a time, spanning the release of all in a year or so. You can put them anywhere. Far from their home, but in the hands of someone who can help them and get them back to where they belong. The parents need their children. Have they all not suffered enough?”

Still, my head shook at her. We needed them for the foundation. For the first auction, I plan to host a few weeks from now. It would be an introduction back to the old ways. I couldn’t lose the one thing I had that would make a statement.

“We could do it,” Eli said, quietly. “We could set them free. I could be in charge of it. I’d personally make sure they were delivered into the right hands.”

“You, too? Have we not talked about this?”

His jaw tightened as he clasped his hands at his knees. “And I told you I didn’t like the idea of it. I am capable of anything. Anything. But I don’t do kids—not the selling, not the sick shit that happens to them. I don’t support it and you know that.”

“And I told you that you wouldn’t have to be a part of it.”

Eli kept his head down, staying quiet as he stared at the ground. I knew what he was thinking, and I hated that Everleigh had one up on me concerning the damn kids.

“We’ll talk more about it later. There may be something we can do with the younger ones, but the older ones, I won’t budge on those. They know too much. They’re not going anywhere.”