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“She’s going to be okay. I’ll be in touch if I find anything else,” he says as he leaves with his partner.
“Okay, I think we’re all up to date. I want everyone who is able out there looking for them. We don’t know if Travis knows that Lila is with you or not. I would assume that if he did, he wouldn’t have touched Maddie. But I can’t say that for sure. Either way, we won’t stop till we find her.”
Everyone pounds their fists on the table, agreeing with Forza.
“I want to thank all of you for helping Lila and me find Maddie.”
“Family,” Fuoco says. Everyone stands and agrees. Family. I don’t know what I’d do without them.
ChapterTwelve
Travis
When my wife, Shawna, and I decided to take Madeleine, I didn’t know my ex was involved with that fucking criminal. Now that I do know, I’m convinced we did the right thing. My daughter will not be raised around that ‘club’. I know about their reputation. The kicker is that I want to be with Lila. I’ve never loved Shawna, I only stayed because of the kids. Every time I thought of leaving, she got pregnant again. She threatened to take them away from me if I left her. The only woman I’ve ever loved was Lila Slater. She even kept my last name when we got divorced. That has to mean something, right?
The school that Lila picked was so easy to get into. I made up a story about Madeleine’s mom being in the emergency room. They brought her to me and we left. They didn’t even ask Maddie if she knew me or not.
When Maddie realized something was wrong, I told her that her mom didn't want her anymore and asked me to take care of her. Of course it was all a lie, but she’s a kid. How much can she really understand? And Shawna convinced me we deserve her. We lost our little girl almost a month ago and it’s been the worst time of our lives. But now we have another little girl and our family is complete.
“Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich,” I hear Shawna say to Maddie.
“I want my mommy. Why won’t you take me to my mommy?” She sobs.
“Your daddy already told you. Your mommy doesn’t want you anymore. She told your daddy and me that she wants you to live with us now.”
“You said my mommy doesn’t love me, but you’re lying! My mommy loves me more than anything. She tells me every day!” Maddie yells at Shawna.
“I’m your mommy now. And you will not yell at me,” she snaps back. I walk in to see her pick Madeleine up and put her in the room we prepared for her, locking it from the outside. Madeleine pounds on the door and screams how much she hates us.
“You need to either shut her up or soundproof that room. Otherwise, someone is going to call the cops,” she yells at me.
“Why are you yelling at me?” I frown.
“She’s your daughter. You need to control her.”
“She’s your daughter too. If you remember, this is what you wanted. So figure it out.”
I watch my wife open the bedroom door and slap Maddie across the face.
“Stop your screaming right fucking now. Or I will tape your mouth shut and tie you to the fucking bed.” She walks out and slams the door, then locks it again.
“I didn’t mean for you to fucking hit her. She’s just a kid,” I yell at Shawna. I’ve never seen her hit our boys like that. Even when they were throwing their own tantrums.
“Well she stopped, right? Your bitch ex probably let her get away with everything. That’s why she’s a fucking brat. She’ll learn to obey us.”
I sigh and sit on the couch. I need to figure out how to get us out of Illinois. When we came up with our plan to bring Maddie home with us, I had to make sure they couldn’t trace us. We got out of our apartment lease and are staying in a weekly rental. They don’t ask questions. Our boys are on a trip to Montana with some friends of ours. They won’t be back for another week, which is perfect. By then, we’ll be out of Chicago. When they come home, the plan is to tell them that Lila didn’t want Maddie anymore and that she’s going to be living with us from now on.
I have no doubt Lila and her criminal boyfriend are looking for Maddie. As I’m trying to think things through, I see Shawna take something out of the closet. It looks like a gun case. But why would she have a gun?
I’ve loved Lila since we were kids, and one day that love felt different, so I kissed her. It was the best decision of my life. Then at seventeen, Lila got pregnant. It scared the shit out of me, but I was happy. We had Madeleine right after we graduated high school. Then one stupid mistake brought Shawna and I together. I went out with my friends and drank too much—fake IDs were the thing back then. We were celebrating graduating high school and ended up at a strip club. It was a simple lap dance that started it. My friends thought it would be fun for each of us to get one. So of course like an asshole, I let it happen, even though I knew Lila would be pissed. Shawna danced for all of us, then did a lap dance for each of us privately. We ended up fucking during my lap dance.The condom I had in my wallet was old because it’s not something I had to worry about with Lila. And to be honest, I forgot I even had it in there. So of course it failed, and Shawna got pregnant.
I didn’t find out until after my son was born. I ran into Shawna at the store one day. I didn’t recognize her, but she recognized me. My boy wasn’t with her at the time, but she made it a point to tell me and gave me her number. I was fucking scared. On one hand, if she was telling the truth, I had to decide what to do and how to tell Lila. On the other hand, if she was lying, I still had to tell Lila. There was no way I could just sit and wonder if that kid was mine. I was fucked either way.
The kid turned out to be mine and I was more fucked than I originally thought. I knew the minute Lila found out, she’d leave me and take my daughter with her. Could I blame her? No. I was the one who fucked up. So I did the only rational thing I could think of. I left her first. And in doing so, I destroyed the only real thing that ever mattered to me. And now Lila is with that biker asshole and I’ve kidnapped my own daughter to make my current wife happy. I’m fucked again.
ChapterThirteen
Hollis
