Page 81 of You've Got The Love
Amber breathes, one, two, like I asked her to. On the second, some of the iron inside her melts. She presses her forehead to my jaw. I pull her closer. The van hums. The night slides by. My heart, finally, starts the long trek down from the ledge it’s been standing on.
Jack shifts on the bench opposite, the hard edges in his face softening when Amber finally looks at him. For a second, she just stares, like she’s checking he’s real. Then she’s moving—slipping out from under my arm to cross the small space and fold herself onto his lap, how a young girl would.
Her arms lock around his neck, tight enough that her knuckles go white. “Thank you, Dad,” she breathes, voice shaking. “For coming. For… saving me.”
Jack’s big hands come up, awkward at first, then firm. “Always, babygirl. Always.” His voice is rougher than usual, and for once, he doesn’t try to hide it.
She holds on for a long moment before she lets him go and comes back to me, but I can still see the way her shoulders are just a fraction looser than before.
Even then, my mind’s not letting go. Not of the sight of her bound and gagged. Not of Hawk’s smile with the gun in his hand.
And not of the promise I just made to myself?—
There won’t be a next time.
Chapter 43
Amber
The van smells like cold metal and fear.
It hangs in the air, clinging to the walls and the fabric seats, sinking into my skin like it belongs there. Every bump in the icy road rattles straight through me, setting my teeth on edge.
Bas is pressed up against the window in the back, the icy glass at his shoulder. I sit as close to him as I can, my own side pressed into his warmth. My hands won’t stop shaking. I bunch them into the folds of his hoodie, pulling it tighter around me and burying my face in the fabric for a moment just to breathe him in—clean soap, sandalwood, and that warm something I’llneverbe able to name. Usually, it steadies me. Tonight, it’s not enough.
Bas is close, knees touching mine, but his body is rigid. His hands are on his thighs, fingers flexing like he doesn’t know what to do with them. His gaze stays fixed on the floor, jaw set hard enough that a muscle jumps in his cheek.
Dad is on my other side. He leans forward, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on the narrow strip of windscreen between the driver and passenger seats. One of his men drives, the low hum of the engine filling the space between us, along with the occasional clink of Dad’s rings when he shifts his hands.
It’s suffocating—the quiet, the closeness, the memory of hands grabbing me, dragging me, forcing me to the ground. I stare out the window, but all I see is that room. The cold floor. The smell of salty air, oil and cigarettes. The weight of eyes on me like I was athing, not a person.
I blink hard, focus on my breathing.In. Out. In. Out.It doesn’t steady me.
“Amber,” Bas says finally, his voice low, raw. “Are you hurt?”
I shake my head slowly. “No. Just… scared.”
He exhales like he’s been holding it for hours. His hand comes over mine, warm and firm, his thumb brushing over my knuckles once, slow and deliberate.
“I almost lost you,” he says.
I swallow. “But you didn’t.”
“I—” His voice cracks, just enough for me to hear it. “I can’t… I can’t go through that again, Amber. Tonight—” He stops himself, pressing his lips together.
Dad shifts, his voice cutting in, rough but steady. “She’s here now. That’s what matters.”
Bas’s gaze lifts, meeting Dad’s across me. “You think I don’t know that? You think I’m not grateful you were there? But if we’d been minutes later?—”
Dad’s hand curls into a fist on his knee. “If you’d done your fuckin’ job, she wouldn’t have left the cabin on her own in the middle of the fuckin’ night.”
The air between them tightens. I put a hand on my dad’s arm, trying to pull the tension down.
“Dad, he kept me safe and hidden for weeks. He put his whole life on pause for me. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.”
Dad’s jaw works, but after a beat, he nods once, though his arm tightens around my shoulders. “You need to be somewhere safe. Somewhere you can breathe. You’ve been through hell tonight, Amber.”
I glance at Bas, hoping to see the protest I want from him. But it’s not there.
