Lone eagle — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

Now she was trapped, and she realized that Andy would never let her out. She had lost her chance to be with Joe. And she wouldn't give up her son, even for him.

“I didn't give you much choice. I was a damn fool to let you walk out on me three years ago, and tell you you'd never be as important as my planes.” He still remembered the speech he'd made. Three years later, he knew how wrong he'd been, but for the moment at least, it appeared to be too late. “Do you want me to talk to him, Kate? That might put the fear of God into him.

What about buying him off?” It was a crass idea, but Joe was willing to do whatever would work, but Kate shook her head.

“He doesn't need your money, Joe. He has his own. This isn't about money. It's about love.”

“Owning someone isn't love, Kate. That's all he's got. He owns you right now because of your son. It's the only hold on you he's got.” But it was a powerful one. He had checked it out with an attorney that day. If she left the boy, she ran the risk of losing him.

And if she took him, Andy could force her to bring Reed back, unless she kidnapped him and disappeared. But that was impossible for either of them. She could hardly go into hiding as Joe's wife.

“I'm trapped, Joe. I can't get out,” she said miserably. She had felt so sorry for Andy for the past four months, and now he was squeezing the life out of them. He had their future in his hands and he was turning it to dust.

“Just wait awhile. You can't live like this forever.

You're too young, and so is he. He'll give up eventually. He's got to want something more than this in his life.” He was fighting for his family, his wife, his son, and he wasn't willing to give any of it up, nor lose Kate.

Joe kissed her before she left, and she went home. And when Andy came home that night, she tried to talk to him again, to no avail. He lost his temper this time, and threw a porcelain candy dish at the wall. It had been a wedding gift from one of her friends and it smashed to smithereens, while Kate cried.

She had expected Andy to be hurt but reasonable. She had never expected him to do any of this. There was no way out.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she sobbed, as he sat down across from her with a look of despair.

“I'm doing it to protect our family, since you won't,” he said, looking distraught. “Years from now, you'll be grateful I did.” But in the meantime, it was a nightmarish time.