Over the Line (21 page)

Rob’s face contorts into disgust. “Should have known you’d sell out your organization to save your own sorry ass.”

I glance at Oliver, because he’s the only one here who knows that’s basically what
I
did—sold out my father to save my siblings.

His eyes soften when they catch on mine. “I sold out my father to save
all
of us.”

Rob pushes past me and gets into Oliver’s face. “So you just painted a huge target on your forehead and now you want to drag my sister down with you? No fucking way.”

I yank his arm to bring his attention back to me. “You don’t get to make that decision, Rob. That’s my choice to make!”

His wrath turns on me. “Not if your choice puts the rest of us in the crosshairs.”

“I would
never
risk this family’s safety, Rob. You know that.”

He shakes his head slowly, his disillusioned gaze locked on mine. “I don’t know anything anymore. I sure as hell don’t know
you
. He did something to your head when you had him tied up in your room all that time.”

“Oliver and I were together for a year before we left Chicago, Rob. This isn’t a rash decision. He did what he did to get out from under his father, just like I did what—” I catch myself when I realize where my emotions were carrying me. I can’t tell Rob the truth about why we’re here. “He’s out, Rob. He’s with me now, so you’re going to have to get over yourself.”

“If he’s testifying, he’ll never be out. He’ll always be hunted. Which means if he’s here with us, so will we.”

“We’re a package deal,” I say, backing toward Oliver and taking his hand.

“You’re really willing to put your entire family in danger for him? You’re willing to risk Sherm’s safety?” he says, looking over his shoulder to where Sherm is curled into one of the wicker chairs, watching with terrified eyes.

“Of course not. We’re already being hunted. I don’t think him being here is going to change anything.”

“It’s not going to happen, Lee,” Rob says with a stiff shake of his head. “He can’t stay.”

“Please, Rob. I love you so much. This family is everything to me. But you can’t expect me to give up my only real chance at happiness for you. Think how you’d feel if I was asking you to give up Adri.”

His brown eyes darken, a storm passing through them. “You are! Savoca being here with us only increases our risk of exposure. We’ve barely been holding it together as it is.” He glares at Oliver. “After he took off, I’d kidded myself into thinking we could stay because I didn’t want to go, but him showing up here again . . . it’s all the proof I need that we’ll never be safe if he knows where we are.”

“Oliver and I will find somewhere away from here. You never need to see us if you don’t want to.” I glance at Oliver, then back to Rob. “He’d never betray us, Rob. You don’t have to go.”

His eyes widen then narrow as first surprise, then betrayal flash across his face. “You’d abandon the family? Sherm?”

Somewhere deep in my gut, a sucking wound opens. “Only if you force me to.”

There’s a long, strained silence while Rob holds Oliver locked in a glare meant to leave nothing but scorched earth. “Decide, Lee. It’s him or us.”

I stare into Rob’s eyes for a long minute, long enough to know he’s serious and I’m never going to convince him he’s wrong.

My eyes move from Rob to Grant to Ulie, who’s on the edge of tears, to Sherm, who’s sitting with his hands in his lap, staring at his knees. Just last night, Oliver was sure I’d choose my family over him. At the time, so was I. But as my gaze shifts back to Oliver, I know he’s my future, the one thing I can’t live without.

I move up the stairs on shaky legs and Grant surprises me by hugging me hard when I wrap my arms around him. “Take care of Sherm,” I tell him.

I feel his nod against my cheek. “You sure about this guy?” he asks low in my ear.

“I am.”

He pulls back and looks at me a long second. “What about what they did to Mom?”

My heart bleeds at the pain and bitterness in his voice. He’s never talked about her with me before. “He didn’t kill her, Grant.”

His eyes narrow. “But—”

“How many people has Papa killed?” I interrupt.

His gaze grows wary as he sees where I’m going.

“Should we be blamed for what he’s done? Is all that blood on our hands?”

His lips press into a line. “Just be careful, Sis.”

When he lets me go, I move to Ulie and pull her into a hug.

“Don’t go,” she whispers in my ear.

I draw away and wipe a tear from her cheek. “I wish it wasn’t a decision I had to make, but . . .” I glance over my shoulder at Oliver. “I love him, Ulie, with everything I am. I can’t live my whole life wondering what if, you know? I have to do this.”

She hugs me close again. “Come find us.” It’s barely a whisper.

“I’ll try.”

“Try hard,” she says, her voice hitching.

I let her go and find Sherm standing near the chair. “Hey, buddy. School starts next week. Don’t get in fights, do your homework, listen to your teacher, and it’s going to be awesome.”

“Are you going away?” he asks, studying his bare toes.

I nod, and there’s a second I can’t speak. “I love you all, but I love Oliver too.” I swallow. “We’re getting married, so it’s time for us to find our own house.”

His eyes flick to mine, then to his feet. “Will you come back to see us after you get married?”

I glance at Rob, whose face is set in a deep scowl. “I don’t know, buddy. I’ll try.” I pull him into a hug. “Do everything your brothers and Ulie say, okay? And don’t forget to feed Crash and Burn. I’m not going to be here to do it.”

When I back away, I look at all four of my siblings. “I love you guys
so
much.” It’s everything I can do to keep my voice from cracking around the hot pulsing lump in the back of my throat. “Please, wherever you end up, if I can’t find you to tell you, always remember that. I’ll always love you.”

I turn and stagger a step, but Oliver steadies me with a strong arm around my waist. I’m able to contain the tears as we walk back to his car, but we’re not even to the end of the driveway before they come in a rush. I bend at the waist and brace my forehead against my knees as sobs wrench out of the deepest corners of my soul.

I’ll never see my family again.

Oliver’s hand is on my back as he drives, and the solid weight, the warmth of his skin, the strength I feel flowing through him, is the only thing that keeps me from bolting out the door and running back.

“The guy can be a total dick, but occasionally, he’s got a valid point,” he says. “If they’re going to be hunting me, we’re probably better off on our own. More mobile.”

I wipe my face on my skirt and lift my head. “I just never thought he’d do this. Not after everything.”

But Rob will never know
everything
. He has no idea what I did to save him from Papa.

Oliver smudges a tear off my cheek with his thumb. “He’s just trying to do what’s best for his family. You know all about that.”

It should make me angry that the man I just gave up my family for is defending my brother’s decision to throw me out, but it’s weirdly the opposite. “Why are you defending him? You hate him.”

“I can relate,” he says with a one-shouldered shrug. “It doesn’t mean I think he’s right, but I can see where he’s coming from.”

“Me too,” I say, rolling my head toward the window.

“So, what should we do between now and Friday?” he asks, weaving his fingers into mine as we cross the bridge onto the mainland.

I stare at the passing town without answering. I can’t even imagine a life without my family.

Oliver

I never remember Lee looking more beautiful. Maybe it’s sorrow that softens all her hard lines—not that I don’t love the strength in those lines—but as she sleeps, all I can do is stare at the glow of her golden skin in the pink of the rising sun, mesmerized by the curve of her lips, the flare of her nose with her slow breaths, the way that long sandy hair is strewn across the pillow and spills onto the bed.
Our
bed.

From now on.

She’s still in her clothes from yesterday. We came back to the hotel after the scene at the house and it was past midnight before she cried herself to sleep in my arms. With every other part of our lives so irreparably fractured, I can’t help thinking maybe this is something I can fix for her.

I pull myself out of the armchair and move to the desk. I stare at the pad and pen next to the phone, thinking about what I want to say. If I let everything I want her to know pour out of my head onto the paper, it’s going to be a long and sloppy soliloquy.

I opt for short and sweet.

I scratch down what I need to, then go to the bed and stare down at her a moment longer, wishing she never had to wake up to our harsh reality. If I could give her any wedding gift at all, it would be peace.

“I love you,” I whisper as I lean down and press a kiss to her temple.

Downstairs, I stop into the restaurant and order Lee a big breakfast, with instructions not to deliver it before ten. The valet brings my car and I spend the drive back to Port St. Mary sorting out my argument.

It’s not even nine when I roll up the driveway. Not surprisingly, the house is quiet. Both Lee’s and Rob’s cars are in the drive and I pull up next to them. I stride up the porch stairs and bang on the front door. Instantly, dogs are barking upstairs.

I step back from the door and wait.

The curtain in the rectangular window that takes up most of the top half of the door pulls back and a bleary-eyed Ulie appears there. Her eyes instantly go wide when she sees me.

She drops the curtain and yanks open the door. “What’s happened? Is Lee okay?”

“She’s fine. Sleeping last I saw. I need to talk to Rob.”

He appears over Ulie’s shoulder in black athletic shorts and bare feet. He’s taller than my six two by about three inches, and he’s broader than me, likely outweighing me by at least thirty pounds. But I’m quicker than he is. In school, I found out I’m quicker than most everyone, and even the bigger guys never beat me in a fair fight. Rob Delgado has never intimidated me, so I’m not going to let his glare make me second-guess my decision to come here.

“Abandoning your bride so soon, Savoca?” His voice is a low, threatening rumble.

“You need to reconsider your decision.”

He brings his expression to a deliberate neutral. “It wasn’t my decision. It was Lee’s.”

Ulie spins on him. “Rob! You should—”

“Go back to bed, Ulie,” Rob says, cutting off her argument.

She steps in front of him. “Just listen to what he has to say!”

Rob lifts her by the arms and sets her down inside, then slams the door. She pulls back the curtain and glares at him through the window, giving the inside of the door a solid pound of her fist.

“I’ve considered everything there is to consider,” he says, tromping down the stairs to the sandy driveway.

I follow him as he takes off jogging toward the bluff. “Throwing your sister out like that was an asshole move, even for you.”

“You left me no choice.”

I get in front of him and slam a palm into his chest to slow him down. “Stop being a dick.”

He glares a dagger at my hand. “I suggest you remove that before I take it off at the wrist.”

I lower my hand, resisting the overwhelming temptation to shove him. This visit is all about diplomacy. For Lee. “All I’m asking is that you don’t cut your sister out of your lives. It would kill her.”

“
You
are the one killing her, Savoca!” he shouts, no longer able to contain his rage. He shoves me back. “If what you say is true—if you’ve flipped on your father—you’ve got a bigger target on your back than we do.”

“That’s why the Feds built my cover. I’m dead, as far as anyone knows.”

“Until you show up in Chicago to testify. Then what? They kill you again? That only works once.” He punctuates the word by stabbing his beefy finger into my chest. “They’re going to hunt you down and slaughter you, and if Lee’s with your sorry ass, they’ll take her down too. Maybe rape her first and make you watch. How does that sound?”

My blood runs cold at the image and a shiver fingers up my spine. There’s no denying it. He’s right. “We’ll stay ahead of them.” But my voice loses conviction as I struggle to dissipate the image Rob put in my head.

“You hope,” he snarls, his feet moving again.

I force my legs to move, jogging at his side to the bluff. “That’s all any of us can hope, Delgado. Once you’re on the outside, it’s all about staying alive.”

He gives his head a crisp shake, then starts down a path that leads to the beach. “I’m trying to do more than stay alive. I’m trying to make a life for my family. I thought that included Lee, but she’s made her choice.”

“You didn’t give her any options,” I say, following him down.

He stops dead in his tracks and spins on me, his jaw flexing and his hands fisted at his sides. “I gave her the only options there were. I laid awake all fucking night last night trying to figure out what happens next. You might actually believe you love Lee for now, but what happens in a week, or a month, or a year when things go bad—when one of you realizes it’s all a sham? I can’t trust you won’t sell us to the highest bidder. We can’t stay here. And if Lee’s with
you
, she can’t come with
us
.” He starts down the path again. “That would defeat the purpose of moving.”

“So what happens now?”

“Now,” he says, his feet sinking into the powder sand at the bottom of the path, “
I
figure out how to say good-bye to the woman I love and
you
try to figure out how to keep my sister alive.”

He takes off running.

I lunge for him and grab his arm, spinning him to face me. “It doesn’t have to—”

But before I can get the rest of the sentence out, his fist is cracking off my face. On pure reflex, I take an uppercut and connect with his jaw. He swings again, and my eye explodes in my head. I stagger back and drop to a knee. I force myself to stay here, resisting the overpowering drive to get up and finish him. Sinking to his level isn’t helping my cause.

“I am giving up more than you know,” he grinds out, wiping the blood off his lower lip with the back of his hand. “If there was another way, don’t you think I’d take it?”

He turns and runs down the beach. I watch him go, then climb the path. I drop into my car, and as I’m backing out, I glance up and see Ulie in the family room window, watching me. She lifts a hand in a wave, then wipes it under her eyes.

I negotiate the narrow streets with Rob’s words cycling through my mind on a loop. Everything he said about the mob hunting me is true. Once the ruse is exposed, I’ll have a neon target on my back. I was only half joking with Lee when I toasted going down in a blaze of glory. My chances of surviving another five years are fifty-fifty at best. What makes me so sure I can keep Lee safe? Am I being supremely selfish?

I cross the bridge to the mainland, and when I reach the highway, I pull to the side of the road, my hand fisted on the steering wheel and my mind racing. I have a decision to make. North to the airport, or south to Lee.

In my heart, I already know the right decision, and it’s going to kill me.

But the wrong one might kill us both.

I hit the accelerator and fishtail onto the northbound ramp.