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“Your mother is getting brilliant treatment here, and seeing your face when she walked in is enough for me to know that I own every inch of you. She’s getting better and is set to enjoy more of her life for a little longer. All those precious moments with her that you thought you lost? I got them back for you.”
Warmth prickled behind my eyes and I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her. He was right. His terrible intentions had given me my mother back, and that was priceless.
“So what do you want?” I asked hoarsely, pain clogging my voice.
“All I need you to do is give me the patent info for whatever this new thing Sawyer is working on. Just one file. I saw his little announcement and if I can take him and Kane down with one stone, then I will. You get me that file.”
My stomach twisted as my heart dropped.
“I c-can’t.”
“Oh come on. It doesn’t matter who supplies the drug, Callie, and it’s all beyond your pretty little head. It means nothing to you. It won’t ever affect you. One file and this place? Your mother? The things that matter to you will be taken care of.”
He wanted Sawyer’s patent. How did I not see this coming? I was so blinded by my rage, blinded by confusion, that I didn’t see what was in front of me until it was too damn late.
Eli’s hand landed on my shoulder, a weight that dragged me off balance.
“You will steal that information and give it to me.” He turned me to face him and grasped my chin, forcing my head up. “One file. That’s what your mother’s health costs. And if you think of going to Sawyer or calling the police again, I will not only make sure you end up with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt that you owe this place, I will make sure your mother is lost in the system, and you never see her again.”
Calling the police again?
How did he know I tried to do that? Out of all his threats, somehow, that one stuck out to me. His reach was boundless, and nothing I did for help would get past him. I was trapped in his crosshairs, utterly frozen.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Come on, Callie. You know I would, and I would enjoy it. I can get the patent another way if I have to, but your mother is safe this way. What do you have to lose, hmm?”
Everything.
And nothing.
My mother was the most important thing in my life. She meant more to me than anything else and I had worked so hard to get her good care and support. Seeing her here, living a good life, it was heaven. And the chilling threat of losing her in the system was almost too much to stomach.
I didn’t want her to suffer because of me. I couldn’t.
But could I betray Sawyer? Would he understand?
I would lose him. I would lose Kane and Liam and Marie, too.
Was it worth it? Sacrificing them to save my mother?
I already knew the answer, even as thoughts jumbled in my mind and tears clung to my lashes. I knew what I had to do but it sickened me right to my core.
Never in my life had I felt more alone, and with Eli’s cold gaze boring deep into my soul, I was certain he could already see my answer.
“Think about it.” Eli released my chin and patted my cheek sharply. “Look at your mother. She knows your face. She knows where she is. Give me the patent and then go to her. Spend time with her before it’s too late.”
18
KANE
“Do you anticipate any issues?”
This was the final hurdle in securing our deal, the final change to make everything watertight and then we would finally be able to move forward with production.
My lawyer, Dennis Troutman, was an elderly man in his late fifties with the most wiry-looking glasses I had ever seen in my life. Many had looked down on me for choosing to work with a man who did most of his work pro bono, but it was that kind of outlook on life that I valued. And I created a fund at his agency that allowed him to take multiple cases at no cost. All he needed to do was call and I would top up the account.
Always helping the little guy.
