This Is Love, Baby (War & Peace #2)(60)

“War and I will always take care of you,” Land assures me. “You’re our family now, Baylee. Got it, kid?”

His last words are playful but I know he’s serious. I can feel it deep inside my heart. Knowing I have at least two people in this world willing to love me and look out for me lessens the burden that has been weighing my mind down.

“Thank you, Land. You have no idea how much that means to me.” And with a smile, I add, “So will you take me to get my belly button pierced?”

He chuckles loudly and then feigns a deep, fatherly voice. “I don’t think so young lady. Not while you’re living under this roof.”

We both laugh and my heart feels lighter.

One day at a time.

We can do this.

Together.




War runs his fingers through his hair and huffs in frustration. “Nothing. Fucking nothing.”

I’m curled up in the chair in his office, needing to be close to him. “No money trail?”

“Nothing that will hold up in court. They’re all meticulous as f*ck,” he grumbles and slams his fist on his desk, startling me.

He continues clicking on webpages but doesn’t turn around to regard me. My mind drifts to that night. The night I encountered that horrible man.

“I bid one point two million,” an amused voice says from beside me.

I jerk my gaze over to a man who reminds me of Brandon. His dark hair is cut short and spiked on top. He has an easy, charming smile.

“That’s a lot of money,” I squeak out.

He winks. “That it is. And you’ll be worth it.”

I chew on my lip and cast another glance out in Gabe’s direction. Nowhere. My gaze falls back to the man who seems harmless in his nice suit and disarming grin.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

He steps toward me. “And so polite. You’ll be a great addition to my girls.”

“You have more than one?”

“I come here every month and buy more. It’s an addiction.”

I swallow. “What do you do with them?”

His eyes flicker with something dark and evil. He’s nothing like Brandon. “I hurt them. Just like I’m going to hurt you,” he says in a matter of fact tone. He winks and grins at me as if his words aren’t awful. “Your pale skin is so perfect and untouched. I’m about to come just thinking of all the nasty words I’ll carve into your skin. You’ll wear my name and other words like cunt and whore on your flesh for the world to see.”

I stumble back away from him and gape at him in horror. “You’re a monster!”

He sneers. “Where’d you think you were, sexy? A f*cking fundraiser?”

“I, but, I…”

“You’re in the den with some of the biggest monsters on the West Coast. You are nothing but a meal purchased to be devoured with greed and no restraint. Some of us are into sex. Others are into more deviant acts. I’m into the deviant with a side of sex. They won’t recognize their precious beauty by the time I finish with you. But then, it’ll be too late. You’ll bleed out all over my Persian rug and I’ll drag your ass outside to dump you in the goddamned ocean.”

Tears stream down my face and I start to bolt from him. His tight grip is around my arm before I can move though. “The name’s, Edgar Finn. Remember it because you’ll take it to your grave,” he threatens. “See you soon, Gardenia Lee.”

He releases me and I push through the crowd away from him at breakneck speed. I need to make my escape now. There’s no way I’m going home with that lunatic.

As I hurry away from him, I try not to make eye contact with the leering men along the way. They’re all the same. Monsters just like Gabe. I’d been an idiot to believe otherwise. There is no finding the nice side of this world. The only thing I need to worry about finding is the way out of it. Now.

I shudder at the memory. “Do you think he really kills them? Edgar Finn I mean.”

War swivels in his chair and stares at me, the worry over me written all over his face. When I’m being closed off, which is a lot of the time, he pours himself into his work. His weary gaze skims over my face and he frowns. “I wouldn’t be surprised. All of them are monsters.”

Licking my dry lips, I sit up in the chair, suddenly eager for his undivided attention. “He bragged to me about killing those girls and dumping them in the ocean. Do you really think he does that? Wouldn’t people find their bodies? Do you think it was all an act to terrorize me or was he for real?”

His eyes zero in on my mouth as I speak and a shiver, the first sign of life in nearly a month, courses through me.

“You’re so beautiful, Baylee,” he murmurs, completely ignoring my questions. But I don’t care. I’m too enthralled in the way my body that seemed to be slowly dying has shown some real signs of life. My heart is beating erratically inside my chest and my breathing picks up. His mouth barely moves and I can tell he’s counting. Counting my beats, my breaths…he’s counting me. The smile on my lips is immediate.

And it makes me so damn happy.

“How many?” I question after what feels like a minute.

His cheeks turn pink and he smiles sheepishly at me. “Nineteen blinks, fourteen breaths, and one big smile I haven’t seen in a long time.”