Beautiful Broken Promises(99)

“I took her keys!” His words were mixed with wet gurgles and I felt almost sick at the sound. “When I came to visit her, I stole her keys. I made a copy and tossed them back in her stroller when I saw her at the park.”

I thought I had gone crazy when those keys went missing. I’d turned the apartment upside down, and when I easily found them in the stroller later, I thought I had just majorly overlooked them. But he had stolen them and then allowed strangers to come in and take his son. I lunged for the flowerbed near us and threw up my entire dinner. Although it hadn’t been much, it was all gone now. Jace held back my hair and supported me by my arms. How could anyone betray someone they supposedly loved so much?

I heard Adam grunt again, and I assumed Lane had landed another of his deadly blows I prayed that he wouldn’t kill him. Adam deserved to rot in prison.

“Jace, Lane can’t go to jail. What about Kate?” I moaned.

“Jax has him. Adam’s… passed out,” Jace whispered in return.

“Passed out or…” I couldn't finish.

“He’s breathing.”

I sighed and slumped into Jace’s arms. Slowly, I turned and saw Lane staring down at his hands, looking as if he couldn’t figure out how they had become so bloody. He genuinely appeared puzzled and his confusion tore at my heart. I pulled out of Jace’s arms and stepped in front of my heartbroken man.

This wasn’t fair. It answered so many questions, but if given the choice, I think I would have chosen to never know. Not this—this was too sick.

“Lane…” I breathed. “Oh God, I can’t believe this.” I reached out for his shirt and he stepped back quickly.

“No,” he clipped out, “bl-blood.” His hands were covered in it, his shirt had splatters, and some of it had even reached his face. I dug around in my purse quickly for a tissue. When I reached up again—this time to help wipe his cheek—he turned away from me.

The sirens began to sound in the distance and Jace moved forward. “One of us should take Raegan back.”

“No—“ I started to protest, but then stared at the pained look on Lane’s face as he looked down at Adam’s prone body.

“Give him a moment,” Jace whispered. “He hates fighting unless it’s in the ring. A guy with his strength, he knows he can’t let that out and he just did. He needs some time.”

“He’s right, Rae.” Jaxon joined us. “It’s getting late, and the kids will wonder.”

And they would. Especially Braden. He’s a stickler about schedules and he knew I would return before bedtime. I swallowed harshly and looked back at Lane. Staying a safe distance from him, so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, I approached.

“I’m going to give you your moment. But I’m so sorry, Lane,” I whispered.

As if my words hadn’t even penetrated his brain at all, he croaked, “Please, leave Kate. Once I’m cleaned off, I need to hold her.” I looked at his face to try and understand what he had meant, but he moved away and continued pacing. He was in a state and I hated leaving him.

“You should take her,” Jaxon suggested to Jace. “I’m pretty familiar with the cops in this town.” A brief smirk crossed his face before he wiped it away.

“That’s no lie. They handcuffed you enough times in high school,” Jace responded dryly.

“I never actually got arrested though,” Jaxon jested. I handed him my little package of tissues so he could help Lane clean up a bit. I dug around further in my purse and also found a tube of hand sanitizer he could use. Jaxon nodded in appreciation.

When we climbed up in Jaxon’s truck, Jace turned the key and peeled out of the parking lot. The second my seat belt clicked in place and I looked over to see Lane’s hunched form in my mirror, I lost it. Big gulping breaths seized my throat and giant streams of tears poured from my eyes.

“What do you think I should do, Jace? What would you want?” I asked through my hiccupping sobs.

He cringed and said, “I have no idea. I think maybe he just needs a little time to process this.”

“Oh God, he’ll never look at me the same again.”

“Don’t say that. He loves you,” he consoled.

“No, think about it. He just found out that I was practically the reason his daughter was abducted. He’ll always think about that when he looks at me. Put it this way… Jocelyn is practically the same age Kate was when she was abducted. What if that had happened to you?” I don’t know why I said it like that, but my emotions were on overdrive. “He told me to leave Kate. Does that mean he wants me to leave?”