Page 36 of My Addiction
“You’re safe now,” I tell him carefully, making sure he hears every word. “And you will never be without what you need again.”
Ollie hiccups one last time before reaching for Colton. The second Colton takes him, Ollie presses his face into his shoulder and starts sucking his thumb again, his little body finally relaxing. Colton steps closer to me until his shoulder brushes mine, then leans into me too, resting the weight of his head against me like he needs the contact just as much as Ollie does. I slide my hand to the back of his neck automatically, holding him there. Anchoring him to me.
Ollie lifts his head after a moment and shifts in Colton’s arms until he’s pressed between us, one side of his face against Colton’s chest and the other against mine. I can feel both of them breathing. Feel the warmth of them.
And standing there with both of them pressed against me, it settles inside me with complete certainty. This is where they belong.
Chapter 18
Colton
I’ve never been the reason Ollie was afraid before. I’m supposed to be the person who protects him. The safe place. And now he’s crying because of me while Ronan is the one calming him down. The thought cuts so deep it makes it hard to breathe. I’m failing him. Failing the promise I made to keep him safe. God, I’m falling apart. But Ronan’s hand stays at the back of my neck, warm and steady, keeping me from completely unraveling.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly, my voice rough. “It just hurts.”
“We are going to stop them,” Alessia says softly. “It won’t change the past, but it will help the others.”
I nod because I understand what she means. I always knew they were taking money from people. I knew everyone in the cult was suffering. But seeing the actual numbers, seeing exactly how much had been stolen while people starved and lived in fear, makes me feel sick. Ronan guides us back to our chairs.
“You want to put Ollie back in his highchair?” he asks.
I automatically tighten my hold on Ollie.
“No,” I say. “I want to hold him for a while.”
Ronan only nods. We settle back into our seats, and Declan starts explaining how the money was moved through offshoreaccounts and shell companies, but I can’t stop the uneasy feeling sitting low in my stomach.
Something still doesn’t feel right.
“There is no way that member contributions add up to that amount. Even with the business contributing a portion. That means the majority of it comes from the selling of the kids.” I try to do the math in my head.
“The majority of it comes from that source. I’m tracking the transfers that I’ve found so far.” Declan replies.
“Yeah, but I would have known if babies were going missing. Plus, I don’t remember that many women in the membership being pregnant. There were only two. One stillborn and one case of SIDS.”
“It’s more than members’ kids,” Alessia states.
“Oh dear God.” Xavier slaps his hand over his mouth.
“Kieran, contact Leo. We need a missing child list. It needs to be under 3 years old. Ronan, the members that you have backgrounds on now, check travel around the time of the abductions within a two-hundred-mile radius and work out from there.”
“Who’s Leo?” I ask. Not really sure why it matters.
“A contact with the FBI who works on missing and exploited children cases. He’s an old…” she hesitates, “friend of ours.”
“Why don’t we just turn everything over to them?” I ask. If they have a contact, wouldn’t that be the thing to do?
“There is too much red tape, and it would take too long. We need to get this handled now.” She replies sternly.
“But that’s what they are there for, to stop people like this.” I’m trying to understand.
“And they will when we have everything in place.”
I glance at each person in the room. No one seems shocked by this. Declan is already typing on his laptop again. Kieran is speaking into his phone in the hallway. I inhale sharply when it hits me.
“You’re planning to take them down yourselves,” I breathe out.
“Yes,” Ronan says.
