“I’m not sure if I know what to say to her.” I’m in tears, and for the first time since my life spiraled out of control, I feel as if I’m going to break down completely.

My head is buried in Katch’s chest. It’s been the worst two days I’ve had since the day my father told me my mother had died.

I’ve done everything I can think of to keep myself busy and out of Katch’s way while he digs to find the source who helped my father put my mother and my life through hell.

And Katch. I don’t even know where to begin to describe my feelings for him. It’s as if he knows when I’m going to fall to pieces. He’s there. Right there holding me and telling me everything is going to be alright.

For the first time in my life, the fear of the unknown is wrecking me. It’s twisting my gut from the inside out. Churning my head and stealing my soul with the worst possible thoughts.

“Hey, Hollywood.” Katch lifts his head, taking my comforting place with him.

I widen my legs for him to nestle in and he does but doesn’t stop there. He presses me back into the mattress with his large body now acting as my shoulder.

“What’s worrying those emerald eyes?” He kisses my lips and then rears his head back to stare into my stinging eyes.

“I’m freaking out, Katch. I don’t think I can do this.” I pet his scruffy beard, finding solace in him.

“You can and you will.” He kisses me again. “Your mom wants to see you.”

“You don’t know that. She’s going to be angry and bitter, or at least I would be. These last two days I’ve rolled it over and over in my head. There’s no way I could have survived that.”

“Baby.” He catches my tears with the pad of his thumb. “I’ve told you everything we know, which isn’t much. Curtis had to fight like hell to get to her and pay off the club doctor to get her released without the cops knowing. I’ve kept you informed each step of the way.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know,” he chuckles.

“Dick! Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re fucking adorable.”

I slap his shoulder and fight to press him up and off me. A losing battle at best.

“No, you don’t.” He seals his body closer to mine. “Curtis is on the way here now with her. He called about ten minutes ago. He said she’s not talking but keeps repeating your name over and over. She wants her daughter. And she’s going to get her. The real her, not some beaten-down version who thinks she can’t handle it. This is a Goddamn miracle. You have your mom back, and if you don’t quit acting as if she isn’t going to like the woman you’ve become, then I’m going to blister your sweet little ass. ”

“Whatever. You did that last night. If you’re going to threaten me, then make sure it’s something I won’t get off from.” I smile lightly.

I close my eyes, letting the tears fall freely now. I want to see her so badly my chest aches. It’s just…this is all unbelievable. A girl should feel safe and loved by her father, yet even in his death, I feel that man’s chokehold on me.

I keep waiting to wake up from a twisted nightmare. That I’m still at that party having fun with my friends, but it doesn’t happen. Even sicker and darker is the fact that if I did wake up, it would pull me from Katch, and I’ve fallen for this man. Fallen so hard that I would fight with everything I have in me not to wake up. But I’m awake. He’s real. He’s here, and regardless that we are so unlike one another, he’s perfect for me.

“Make it all better, Katch. Get me my life back. Find every one of those fuckers who helped my father and make it so I can put them away for the rest of their life.” I open my eyes and stare up at his face.

This dark and dangerous man smiles down at me. “The most important mission of my life, Hollywood.”

Katch stands and lifts me from the bed. I keep my legs wrapped around his middle and my face buried in his neck, inhaling his woodsy, smoky scent. My shelter. I hear the water begin running and then comply while he undresses me. In moments, we are bared to each other under a stream of hot water. His hands roam over my skin, washing me and relaxing my body from the inside out with each touch.

His hard cock bobs at my ass, making me smile. While he’s washing my back, I bend over just enough for his dick to be at my entrance and then push back. And Katch makes good on his promise taking care of me as he thrusts hard and fast into me.

We manage to make it to the living room with about fifteen minutes to spare before they are supposed to get here. Katch starts a pot of coffee as I stare down at my worn-out jeans and off-the-shoulder navy-blue t-shirt that Rachel bought me at Target. Katch loves the leggings, but a woman can only wear them so much. I asked Rachel to go shopping for me at my new favorite store: Target. It’s funny how a pair of fifteen-dollar jeans and an eight-dollar shirt can feel and look just as good as a two-hundred-dollar outfit. I may never shop at an expensive department store again. Well, that’s a lie. I miss my silk nighties and my La Perla bras and panties.

I glance up and eye him where he’s leaning up against the counter watching me. I glance at his bottle of Jack. He smirks, reading my silent message loud and clear. He pours a large amount of it along with my creamer into a cup, mixes it with the coffee. I’m going to need it. The shower and Katch taking care of me managed to do some magic soothing my nerves. I never would’ve thought this would be happening. She was buried with a headstone and everything. And now what if...it’s all the ‘what ifs’ that are killing me.

Katch slides my coffee mug over to me. Tentatively, I take a sip and then recoil.

“Damn, that’s stiff.”

“Heard you like them stiff.” Katch winks and takes a seat across from me.

“Oh, God.” I throw my head back in laughter. “Katch Sterling doesn’t do the cheese factor well at all.” See, he knows exactly when I need to lighten up.

I take another drink of the numbing liquid, and it slowly does the trick of relaxing the rest of me.

“Tell me everything you know again.” I grip the mug tightly. “I need to hear you talk.”

“I could talk about your sweet pussy,” Katch replies.

“I’m serious, motherfucker.”

“Fuck, I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He smiles. I glare.

“Okay, fine.” He holds up his hands in surrender. “Curtis had to prove he was blood-related to your mother through his dad’s death records and identification. The cops now know your mother has ties to the club if they didn’t before. It appears she was in good living conditions for the majority of the years until these last six months. Something in your father’s plan went haywire. Could’ve been his death?”

I interrupt him. “Do you think the men who held her captive killed my dad?” We’ve been through this all before. The lawyer in me needs to hear it again.

“One of the puzzle pieces we’re still figuring out. The charter down in the L.A. area had a doctor at the hospital who is on their payroll. It took a lot of extra cash to get your mom out of there. She’ll be staying here, since this is a safe house and the cops will be looking for her at the hospital. We’ll have a doctor checking on her daily.”

My lawyer brain goes into overdrive trying to piece the puzzle together. It’s what I do best. Take the evidence I’m given and prove a point.

“I want to see everything you have on this. I need to read it, process it to see if I’m able to put anything together.”

He reaches over, placing his large palm on mine. “One step at a time, Hollywood. Get through this with your mother, and then I promise I’ll get you the information. I need to keep you moving forward and strong.”

I turn my palm over and lace my fingers through his. “Cheeseball to Prince Charming, what’s gotten into you, Katch Sterling?”

“Blaming your sweet pussy.”

Our silly laughter is interrupted by the slamming of the door. I stand on shaky legs and walk into the living room, where Curtis is holding my mother cradled like a newborn baby in his arms. She’s so fragile-looking; I’m afraid he’s going to break her. She probably weighs ninety pounds at most soaking wet.

It’s when he carefully sets her down in the recliner that I notice her hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, but just like during the breaking news flash, I know it’s my mom. Katch comes up behind me, pressing his front to my back, wrapping me up in his arms. This makes me feel strong even if I’m nothing but a mere mess.

I stare at her for a long time, while Curtis gets her settled and a woman I didn’t even see checks her vitals. My mom doesn’t turn her head but continues mumbling something so softly that I can’t make it out.

“It’s time, baby,” Katch whispers in my ear. “Go to her. I’ll be right here.”

Katch lets me go, nudges me forward. My first three steps are wobbly at best. It takes everything inside me to move. I freeze when I finally hear her sweet, raspy voice.

“Caitlin. My Caitlin. Caitlin. I need to go get her. Caitlin.”

Those words fuel me and rip me wide open. All fear and hesitation fly out of the window. Nothing in this moment could keep me from her. I’d tear any obstacle standing in my way limb from limb to help her.

“Mommy.” I crash to my knees before her. “I’m here, Mommy.”

The tears spill over, and my fingers tremble on the top of her bony kneecaps. Her eyes open a bit wider, and her jaw drops, cutting off all her rambling.

“Cait-Caitlin,” she stutters, then reaches out to grab a lock of my hair. “My baby.”

Her tears flow, followed by her body wracking with sobs.

“It’s okay. Calm down, Mommy. We’re safe. No one is going to hurt you anymore.”

“Move,” a deep voice bellows behind me.

I turn to see Katch, who jerks his head to the side. I want to argue, but his sudden interruption has me baffled.

“Now,” he growls.

The real Katch is back. The one who I met on the highway. The no-bullshit and ‘you better fucking listen right now or else there will be hell to pay’ Katch.

“Be careful.” I slowly rise to my feet and am pushed to the side by Katch.

I watch him bend over and pick her up, cradling her as delicately as Curtis did.

“Sit.” His voice is still cloaked in darkness.

I listen. Sitting down in the chair, waiting for his next move.

“Here.” He places my mom in my arms, settling her until I’m cradling her like a baby. “Now, hold your mom and talk to her.”

I swear there are tears forming in Katch’s eyes. And the man thinks he has a black soul. He couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I peer down into my mom’s eyes. They’re a mirror image of mine, but hers used to sparkle, unlike the gloomy color they are today.

“I think I’m taller than you, Mom.” I smile down at her and then bend over and gently kiss her cheek.

My assumption was correct. She feels like I could snap her in a second.

“You’re beautiful, Caitlin.” Her voice is barely audible. “So beautiful.”

“Do you want some water, Mom?”

She nods, and Katch is already on it without me having to ask. The sound streaming from her throat is similar to crunching glass under a wheel. I can’t imagine the pain she must be in.

“Here.” Katch hands me a mug with a lid and flexible straw.

I look up at him. My tears are long dried up. “I don’t care anymore, Katch. We have to keep her safe. Do anything you have to do.”

He nods solemnly, knowing exactly what I mean. I’ll give up my career to make sure she’s safe. Katch nods then gives us privacy as he joins Curtis and the crew in the kitchen.

“Here, Mom.” I lower the mug down with my free hand and bend the straw until it’s between her cracked lips.

She takes several long pulls from the water before pushing away.

“Is he really dead?” she whispers. If she only knew how I wish he weren’t so I could carve his heart out of his chest.

“Yes, Dad is dead, Mom. We are safe here. I promise.” My words are heavy with so much meaning behind them.

I believe in Katch with everything I have.

“We will never be safe, Lillybug.”

My heart clenches when I hear her call me by my childhood nickname. I called ladybugs lillybugs for years. My mom always told me it was too precious of a memory to lose, so she started to call me by it.

“I promise you we are,” I whisper.

Her eyelids grow heavy. I begin rocking her in my arms, stroking her long salt-and-pepper hair. I’m home. I am so home at this moment with her. No one will ever know how much.

“Need anything, baby?” I feel a large palm on my shoulder.

I look up to see Katch with concerned eyes. It melts me. The next words fall from my lips without thought, but there are no truer words ever spoken.

“I love you, Katch.”

His eyes go wide, and I know I’ve caught him off-guard. I’m not saying it because he’s my savior. It’s the truth.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say it back. I just needed you to know it.” I reach up and cover his hand. “One day, I’ll make you believe that you deserve to be loved.”

He reaches down and kisses my forehead. It’s the best reply I could ask for.

“Can you get us some lip balm?” I ask.

He returns in seconds with a large container of Vaseline. The old me would laugh at applying this on my mom’s dry, cracked lips. The new me, the one who will never replace love with money or power, relishes in it.