Page 54 of Misdeeds of a Billionaire
Her brown eyes found mine and a soft groan left her lips. “Because I hooked up with the jerk that night you hooked up with his brother.”
My eyes widened. “I thought you couldn’t stand him.”
She shrugged. “I can’t.” Her eyes flickered to the unconscious body on the ground. “I still can’t. Obviously.”
Oh, Lord.
This day was getting worse by the second. “Step over him and give me my son,” I ordered, my patience teetering on the edge of control. “Then let’s get out of here before anyone finds him.”
“Sorry, Winston,” Billie murmured as she stepped over him. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you, though.”
We’re both lucky she didn’t kill him, I thought silently. I wouldn’t put it past him to come after us. As if we didn’t have enough trouble.
Once out of the bathroom, I took Ares into my arms and squeezed him to me. “I love you, baby.”
“Love you too, Mommy.”
He had seen too much crap over the last six months. His routine was pretty much nonexistent. He missed his kindergarten friends. Since we hadn’t stayed put in one spot longer than a week for the past six months, I’d been homeschooling him. Ares being Ares, soaked up everything. All you had to do was show him—or read to him—something once and he remembered it.
“We’re gonna have to move quickly. Okay, buddy?” I had to be the worst mother on this planet. “If bad people take Mom or your Aunt Billie, you scream and you run. You run until you find a police officer. Oui?”
No child should be dragged through this shit. See this shit. And here I was, explaining it to my kid.
His blue eyes watched me seriously. “Oui, Maman.”
Goddamn it, he deserved better than this. Every child did, but when it came to mine, I wanted to give him the best of everything. Not in terms of material items, those came and went. But in terms of quality of life. Our parents had given it to us. When my mother died, Dad ensured we had a good life. Wonderful memories.
What was I giving my boy? Nightmares. A life on the run.
I swallowed hard, pushing hair out of my face. We didn’t have much time, surely Winston’s family had already started to wonder where he was. “Okay, hold my hand. As soon as we push through the door, we run.”
After a terse nod from my son, I stood up, holding his small hand in mine, and found my sister’s eyes. She nodded too.
We headed toward the back, until we found the emergency exit. It was the only way out, unless we wanted to risk going back through the front. That wasn’t an option. So I pushed the door open, feeling the sunlight hit our faces, just as the alarm sounded.
“This day is turning into a full-blown disaster,” I muttered as I took off down the cobblestone alley, holding Ares’s hand.
As we ran out of there like the devil was on our heels, the alarm blaring behind us and sending the entire building into commotion, one thought lingered in the back of my mind.
The one thing that never crossed my mind to do. But I might not have a choice now.
Chapter23
Byron
Something set off the alarm, the shrieking sound piercing my eardrums, shaking the entire building.
Alexei grabbed Kostya and Aurora, ushering them from the table. Aurora refused to be rushed, always taking her time and rarely losing her cool. She was like me in that regard. Vasili had already left with his family and Sasha’s wife. Thank fuck Royce wasn’t here. He’d go busting through the building and probably shoot the fucking place up. Unfortunately, Sasha was here, and he was doing exactly that.
“Go with my brothers,” he ordered his wife and plowed his way through the crowd trying to go the opposite way.
I shot to my feet and started to push my way through.Odette’s still in the back. I had to get to her. I barely made two steps out when Aurora’s voice came from behind me.
“Byron, you’re going the wrong way.”My woman’s still in the back.“Byron.”
I locked eyes with Alexei. “Take them out. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“She has my kid.” Winston’s voice came from behind me. “That’s my son.”
