Page 45 of Their Secret Little Discovery

Her large eyes blinked up at him. They were red-rimmed and filled with tears.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” he asked her before taking his hand from her mouth so she could answer.

“He has Adam,” was all she said.

“I fail to see your logic, Alisha.”

Her small chest rose and fell as she took a steadying breath.

“He told me if I came to him, he’d let Adam go. I’m not stupid. I knew you could track my phone. I’m also not helpless anymore. I am strong and capable. This is something I can do for Adam.”

Rueben hung his head forward in helplessness. Her words had merit. He didn’t want her to put her life in danger, but he also needed to trust her and her abilities. She was an amazing cop. One of the best. Hopefully, this ordeal wouldn’t derail her career because she was going places. But that didn’t change the fact that having her do this, warred with every single Daddy instinct inside him.

“Fine,” he said, even though the word was one of the hardest things he’d ever said.

“What?” Alisha cried out incredulously.

“I said, fine. We do this, but we do it my way. You go in armed. Even if it’s just a fucking knife. And youwillhave backup. I’ll phone Dan while you get changed and arrange for him to track my phone. He still has Adam’s in evidence, and he can use the app on there,” Rueben said as he took out his phone and started dialing the department’s number.

“What about you?” Alisha asked as she started undressing.

“I’ll go back the way I came. Wait in the fucking cruiser to hear from Dan. I’m going to trust you, babygirl. I need you to come back to me, though, you hear?”

“Yes, Daddy,” she responded with a solemn nod.

As she got changed, Dan Forrester answered the phone and quickly jumped into action. When she was done, Rueben said goodbye and handed her his cell phone so they could keep track of her.

He gave her a scorching kiss before slipping out of the fitting room and then back out of the shop as if he’d never been there.

The further he moved away, the heavier his heart felt. He was already missing a crucial part of himself ever since Adam was taken, and now he had to voluntarily let Alisha walk into the lion’s den.

It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

He got into the cruiser and sat back, with his head leaning against the rest. Rueben wasn’t religious, but he said a quick prayer to whichever deity was listening that he’d get both his lovers back to him safely and unharmed.

About five minutes later, the dispatcher called for him on the radio. Alisha was on the move. He was ordered to stay back until they had a firm location but advised that unmarked cars were trailing her yellow cab.

Fucking hell.

They were coming for him.

Adam had to believe it. He’d heard the asshole on the phone with Alisha and he knew she was coming to save him.

Everything hurt. And it was getting harder and harder to stay awake.

The man had taken sick pleasure in inflicting as much pain as he possibly could. One of Adam’s eyes was almost completely swollen shut, he had a loose tooth and it hurt to breathe, which made him think at least one of his ribs had to be broken.

He worried for Alisha’s safety as she made her way to his rescue, but he believed in her. And Rueben.

His girlfriend and Daddy would save him.

He just had to hold on a little longer. Just a little longer.

Darkness was calling to him again. And as much as he tried to fight it, the darkness won, pulling him into its depths where he knew nothing but fear and pain.

Chapter 31

Alisha took a deep breath before she knocked on the door as instructed. She felt naked without her uniform and gun, but thanks to Rueben, she knew she had backup coming.

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