Trey raised his brows and motioned a clear message that it could be a long while, but I chose to ignore that. I needed to take one day at a time.
“Okay,” she said, completely unaffected by what I was terrified of. “Did you remember to pack Kitty?”
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “Daddy packed Kitty for you.”
“And your favorite books,” he added.
“Cool.” And as she began giving us details of her day at camp, I stared at Trey, not liking his blank stare and severe frown.
The chaos was obvious even before we hit his building. Throngs of people littered the sidewalk, cars double-parked from corner to corner. A police siren blasted, while an authoritative voice called out over an intercom to “move your cars immediately.”
“Fuck.” Remembering his role, he cut his eyes to Alivia. “Don’t ever say that word.”
How the hell would we get into his building? Alec pulled up to one of the police cars and lowered his window. He spoke in quiet tones, prompting the officer to glance at Alivia before doing the same.
“Mommy, is that because Daddy’s famous?” she asked, staring at the mob with trepidation.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
The officer began barking orders to those who were blocking the path into Trey’s building. Another immediately came over to our idling SUV, clueing the mass to who was inside.
All cameras pointed our way, and my blood ran cold, feeling so exposed. I had always known this was a possibility because of who Trey was, but I hadn’t grappled with the lengths they’d go to for that exclusive snippet of his life.
While the police woman who spoke to Alec called for backup, a second officer began plowing through the mob, shouting at them and having little success.
“I’ll carry her out.” Trey robotically unsnapped Alivia while his eyes were on me. “You’ll hold my hand and follow, head down. Don’t engage.”
“Daddy, will they hurt us?”
“No,” he responded emphatically. He then held Alivia’s face in his hands as the gravity of the situation began to hit her. “They just want to take your picture. Your job is to hold on to me, okay, Squirt?” She nodded but remained quiet while he gathered her in his arms.
Alec appeared at Trey’s door and through the tinted glass we watched him nod, prompting Trey to ask, “Ready?” The door flew open, and Trey expertly bolted out with Alivia in his arms, his large hand holding her small head against his shoulder to shield her face. His other hand reached back and grabbed mine so hard I flinched.
It all happened so fast, yet it unfolded in slow motion. The screaming questions, of which I couldn’t make out anything that made sense. The flashes. The claustrophobic feeling clawing at me when bodies pressed closer as we made our way into the building.
Once behind the glass entryway, Trey released my hand and rushed toward an already waiting elevator.
“My Kitty,” Alivia cried with tears shimmering in her eyes.
“Mr. Alec will bring her up soon,” Trey said before releasing a weighted breath when the elevator doors closed on the bedlam just outside.
As Alivia trembled in his arms, he continued to clutch her tiny body to his. “Shh, it’s over, baby,” he said while rubbing her back, purposely avoiding looking at me.
And I hated that he’d lied to her, although I would’ve done the same, because it wasn’t over… this was just the beginning.
Chapter 31
Trey
I felt awful for having to walk through my door and deposit them in Alivia’s room. But I needed to release the anger festering in my core and sparing them from seeing my own fears was necessary. Panicking wouldn’t help the situation—nor would it slam a lid back on the can full of those slimy worms already on the move.
Giving them space, I reasoned Camilla was better at calming Alivia down as I tried to do the same for everyone’s sake.
We were home five minutes before Jack called. “I knew I’d fuck it up,” I said as a greeting.
“Stop. You didn’t fuck anything up.”
“Yes, I did! I ignored this very scenario that I knew would eventually happen.”
“You were careful, but this is our reality, Trey. We’ve all been through it, most of us thrown in with no life jacket and no mercy. Unfortunately, it won’t go away. Learning to deal with it is part of the journey.”
“At what cost?” I asked quietly. “I signed up for this, but by forcing myself into their lives I gave them no choice. They had no idea how bad it could get and had no way to prepare for it.” Silence on his end meant he agreed. “It’s my job to protect them, and I already failed and can’t promise I’ll be able to in the future.”
“It’ll die down.”
“For how long?” I argued. “You know they never give up. They may move on for a bit, to the next victim they need to exploit, but they always come back. With every major event in our lives, they’re always right there buzzing around us like a fucking mosquito looking for blood.”
Memories of being holed up at dive hotels in the middle of nowhere slammed into my thoughts. Right after I’d left rehab to try to escape my pain, they’d searched for me like a pig scrounging for a truffle. Days upon days I’d remained in isolation until I couldn’t stand the sight of the room that was my prison. Only to move to another random place—California, Texas, Montana, freakin’ Iowa—anywhere I could escape to without drawing attention by boarding a flight or showing identification. All while trying to stay sober.
Fucking hell.
And even though I was alone, determined to stay hidden, and pissed at the world… still, it wasn’t easy. How could I protect them from this bullshit? They were merely innocent bystanders to my fucked-up existence.
And that damn little voice in the back of my mind refused to stop chanting, What did you expect?
“I should’ve known better.”
“Krista is on this. She’s working with the authorities to—”
“To what? Keep them away? They’ll disperse for a bit, and now that they know we’re here, they’ll come back again and again. And then what? I’ll move, like I have in the past, and force them to move with me?” I knew I was rambling, but nothing I said was untrue. “Maybe Camilla should take her away.”
“Away where?” Jack asked.
“Her family is in Puerto Rico. Maybe they need to go there to escape what will undoubtedly happen if they stay. At least my daughter could have a life.”
“My kids have a life,” he countered.
“Because they’re lucky to be your kids. My kid is cursed because she’s mine.”
A gasp stole my attention, and I didn’t need to turn to know where it had come from. Regardless, I slowly twisted to meet her gaze. “I’ll call you back,” I said to Jack while keeping my eyes locked on her.
She remained stone-still and silent, as did I.
An eternity passed before she finally said, “You want us to go?”
“No,” I was quick to say. “It might be the right thing to do until this dies down.”
“But you yourself said it will never die down,” she responded barely above a whisper. “I can’t go to my family,” she added, shaking her head adamantly.