The next few hours were torture. Uncle Gino ordered trays of room service while she huddled on the bed and waited. She listened to him eat with his mouth open. He had always been a slob. The kind of man who walked around with a stain on his shirt leftover from something smelly at lunch.

“Finally, you’re good for something, Lily. Good for something. I knew I did good taking you in.”

“Shut up,” she shouted. “This is completely illegal what you’re doing. It’s called extortion.”

“It’s money. Money you owe me. I deserve every fucking penny they are paying me.” He reached into a silver platter for a handful of French fries. At least if he was going to order room service at the Waldorf, he could have tried the lobster or something refined, but that was never who her uncle was.

He was the man who thought everyone owed him something. His deals would go sour, but he never could see the role he played in it. There was another person to blame. Someone else to take responsibility. He even blamed his sister for dying and leaving her child behind. That’s the kind of man he was.

“No one owes you anything. My parents left me money, which you could have used to pay for a roof over my head, or food on my plate, but you gambled it. You didn’t pay for me to go to college. I earned scholarships and worked two jobs to get through school. There was the time you had to pay something when I broke my arm. But I could write you a check for five hundred dollars. No one owes you a damn thing. You are insane.”

“That’s enough. Just like your mother, trying to talk down to me.”

Lily stood from the bed.

“Where are you going?” He eyed her.

“I have to use the restroom. Is that ok with you?” Her question dripped with sarcasm.

He waved her off. “I don’t give a shit. They’ll be here soon with my money.”

Lily locked the door behind her. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. It revived her in some small way.

How had this happened? How had things gone so far? She blamed herself for bragging to him the other night. She never should have mouthed off about how close she was to Sawyer and Jack. If he hadn’t known, he wouldn’t have been able to use that leverage to extort more money from Sawyer and Jack.

God, what had she done?

She pressed her palms onto the coolness of the marble countertops. What would she say to Sawyer? To Jack? Did this ruin things between them? Would her family ties change their opinion of her? Would they believe she was somehow mixed up in her uncle’s scheme?

There was a pit in her stomach from all the questions. All she could hope for was a chance to explain.

She jumped when she heard her uncle pound on the door. She hadn’t expected him to interrupt her time in the bathroom.

“I need some privacy,” she shouted at the door.

“I don’t care. They’re here.”

She threw open the door. “Where? Sawyer and Jack are here?”

He wiped his greasy fingers on the front of his shirt. “You go to the door. Let them in. And make sure they’ve got my money.”

Lily ran through the suite. She couldn’t get to the front door fast enough. All she wanted was to throw herself in Sawyer’s and Jack’s arms. She wanted to tell them she never meant for this to happen. She never intended for her crooked uncle to threaten them this way. To steal from them. She was ashamed. She was embarrassed. But more than anything, she was scared she was going to lose them both. She couldn’t blame them if they broke up with her. She had put them in a terrible position.

There was a second knock on the door. She reached for the handle and as soon as she opened it, she spotted Sawyer’s deep look of concern. He pulled her into the corridor.

“Shh.” He pushed his fingers to his lips. She looked to the left and the right, and counted seven police officers.

“Oh my God,” she mouthed.

Jack held her waist and whispered in her ear. “We’ve got this.”

She nodded as Sawyer walked in first. She wanted to pull him back into the hallway with her and Jack. What if her uncle did something crazy?

But Sawyer carried a look of determination and she knew there was no talking him out of it. She turned into Jack’s chest, feeling the warmth of his embrace.

“You ok, sweetheart?” he whispered.

She nodded. “He never touched me. He just wants the money. He has lost it. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s just crazy and obsessed.”

“I know.” He brushed her hair back. “But we’ve got this. It’s going to be ok.”

She stiffened in his arms when she heard a commotion inside the suite. “Sawyer!” she called in fear. There was a loud crack and she could hear the police scuffling inside. There was no way to know what was happening.

Jack held her tightly.

Something crashed against the wall and she shuddered.

A few minutes later, the door was kicked open. She stared in disbelief when her uncle was escorted from the suite. His face was bleeding. His eye was already swollen shut. She looked down at the handcuffs on his wrists.

“Your own family.” He spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. “You little bitch.”

“You are not my family,” she hissed. “You never have been.”

The police officers holding him shoved him into the elevator. “That’s enough.”

“Mr. Kincaid, we can call you if we have further questions?” Sawyer faced the lead officer asking questions.

“Of course. Anything Jack and I can do to make sure he is behind bars for the rest of his life.”

“Then we’ll call you, sir.” He looked at Lily. “Miss Francini, can we take a few minutes to get a statement from you at the station?”

She nodded.

Sawyer stepped in front of her. “You can take her statement here. Thank you for responding so quickly, but I’m sure you can appreciate the ordeal Ms. Francini has been through tonight. I don’t think the station is necessary. Why don’t we step inside the suite?”

Sawyer walked with him inside. Lily was amazed by how easily he could sway the police officer to change his protocol.

“You up for this?” Jack asked, holding her hand.

“I’m fine. Really. If answering some questions, helps. Then, yes. I’m up for it.” They walked inside the room and she sat at the dining room table while the officer went through a series of questions.

Finally, he wrapped up with the last one and told Lily he felt confident he had all the information he needed on her uncle.

Sawyer walked him to the elevators and returned to the suite.

“Are you ok?” he looked at her.

She walked from Jack’s arms into his. She nodded. “Now I am.”