I glanced at Sam because I wasn't really sure what Ryan was asking me. I'd always made sure to leave by morning long before Ryan got up, so this was a first for him and for me.
"I was telling Ryan that you and I had a sleepover and that we would probably have a few more this week."
"I have sleepover?" Ryan said.
"No," I automatically said. There was no way I could risk another kid’s life. It was bad enough that I'd put Ryan in danger.
I realized immediately that not only had I responded inappropriately, I'd scared Ryan in the process with my too-loud response. The little boy shrank in upon himself. I felt like a complete and utter asshole.
"Yes, buddy," Sam said as he knelt down next to Ryan's chair and put his hand on his son’s arm. "You can have a sleepover soon. Maybe we can talk about having a couple of your friends spend the night for your tenth birthday."
Whatever damage I’d done to Ryan with my callous behavior, Sam managed to undo with his gentle touch and soft words. Ryan nodded happily, though he shifted his gaze back and forth between me and his father. I wisely held my tongue this time.
"Why don't you start getting ready for school?" Sam said. "I'll be in to help you in a minute." Sam leaned in and pressed a kiss to his son’s forehead.
"Okay, Dad," Ryan said. Then he was maneuvering the chair out of the kitchen. He gave me a wide berth in the process. I didn't blame him.
The second the little boy was out of hearing range, Sam said to me, "That will not happen again, do you understand me?"
Normally, Sam's defiance would've turned me on and had me itching for a confrontation that would end in the most delicious of ways, but all I did was nod in response.
"He can't go to school today, Sam."
Sam grabbed the breakfast dishes that had been sitting in front of Ryan and took them to the sink. "So what was your plan, Matias? To lock us up somewhere while you go off hunting the sadistic bastard you've been trying to find for two years?"
That had been my exact plan. But before I could open my mouth to tell him so, there was a knock at the kitchen door. I immediately got to my feet and pulled my gun. I put my hand out to make sure that Sam knew to stay behind me. As I approached the door, I saw who it was through the glass. I tucked the gun back in my waistband and opened the door for Ronan.
"We need to talk," the man said simply before his eyes shifted to Sam. I expected Sam to cower before the clearly angry Ronan, but to my surprise, he straightened his spine and crossed his arms.
"Actually, we don't. I'm going to talk and you two are going to listen," Sam said in response.
To my surprise, Ronan didn't comment other than to hand me his phone. The screen was already unlocked, so I could see what he’d been looking at. Disbelief tore through me as I took in what was on the screen in front of me. It was a screenshot from Sam's Facebook page. There was a picture of me and him in bed. I was asleep whereas Sam was cuddled up next to me taking a selfie of us. It looked like he was in the process of kissing my cheek. The description beneath the photograph said waking up with my guy. Sam had actually tagged me in the post, which couldn't have even been possible since I didn't have a Facebook account. I was about to ask Sam not only what the hell he’d done but how he’d done it since he didn’t have his phone but then my eyes fell on his iPad sitting on the kitchen table.
"Look at the next screenshot," Ronan murmured. I did just that and saw that Sam had changed his relationship status from single to in a relationship. Again, he’d tagged me in the post. I scrolled through several similar screenshots on Ronan’s phone. They all said the same thing—that Sam and I were in a relationship—but were from different social media sites.
"What the hell is this?" I asked.
"‘I'll find Bishop and end all this.’ That's what you said, right, Matias?" Sam asked, his jaw tight and his eyes burning with emotion. "Until that happens, I don't get my life back, right? My son doesn't get his life back. Neither of them do. Well excuse me if I'm not okay with waiting two years for that to happen."
His jab stung. But before I could respond, he was continuing on his own.
"So here's how this is going to go," Sam said. "You"—he looked directly at Ronan—"are going to take Ryan someplace safe and you’re going to make sure that no one touches even a hair on his head. Elliot is going to go with you so Ryan thinks it’s just a brotherly adventure. I will be asking Cruz to go along as well because I know that he’ll do anything to keep Elliot and Ryan safe." Sam's gaze shifted to me. "I'm going to be the bait. You're so certain this man will try to take someone you care about from you, well, we’re going to see if that's true or not."
It was safe to say that every single word he said had me seeing red. More and more red. Endless swaths of it.
"Mr. Wittier, I understand your frustration—" Ronan began.
"Do you, Mr. Grisham?” Sam asked, keeping his eyes on me as he spoke. “And I think under the circumstances you can call me Sam. We can hash out the details of my plan a bit later but for now I think Matias and I should have a little talk."
As much as I hated to admit it, Sam's tone was having an untimely effect on my dick. From the moment I'd met the man, I’d loved his submissiveness. But I could completely get on board with this version of Sam too. I couldn't help but imagine him leaning over my back as he held me down and told me everything that he was going to do to me in that no-nonsense tone of his.
I was more than a little surprised when Ronan left, but also glad. The second the kitchen door closed, I was on Sam. I walked him backwards until he hit the refrigerator behind him. He put out his hands to grab my arms but made no effort to escape me. "You're not doing this," I said simply.
"Unless you plan on locking me in a room and throwing away the key, this is exactly what I'm going to be doing. I don't care how many fake social media accounts I have to create so I can tout our love in front of the world. If that's what it takes to keep my kids safe, then that’s what's going to happen."
“No—”
“That’s a word you don’t get to say to me anymore, Matias,” Sam cut in, his voice steady and even. “You gave up the chance to have any say in the decisions I make when you walked out on me like I was nothing. If you don’t get on board with this, then Ryan and I will run but you won’t be part of that either. You’ll never know what happened to us. Is that really something you want to have to live with for the rest of your life?”
“I’ll—” I began before I realized I had nothing. I shook my head because it was the best I could do.
Sam’s eyes softened a bit and then his hand was coming up to cradle my cheek. “Keep me safe, Matias. End this thing with Bishop and we can both go back to the lives we had.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him the truth… that I had absolutely no desire to go back to the life I’d had because he hadn’t been a part of it, but I had the sense to keep the words to myself. Instead, I kissed him hard. I was glad when he kissed me back. When I pulled back, Sam looked startled and confused.