Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
How did I get my daughter, Mom, and Porter safe and get to Oakley in time? FUCK! This could not be happening to me. I hadn’t touched the bastard. I had just been there.
“Jones.” Blaise’s deep voice came over the phone.
How the hell did he know it was me? I was on a damn burner.
“Boss, I have a problem,” I said as I jumped into my truck.
“The same one that Sebastian and King have, I imagine. Who are they threatening?”
They’d called Sebastian and King? Dammit! I had planned to call one of them to go get Oakley. They would be racing to save their own families now.
“My daughter, mom, stepdad, and Oakley Watson. My deceased ex-wife’s—”
“I know who Oakley is. I keep close tabs on the people who get close to the family. Get your daughter. I’ll send Huck to get your mom and stepdad. Meet him back at your house. He’ll stay there as a guard outside. You leave Sarah with them, then get to the airstrip. I’ll have the jet waiting to get you to Georgia. You need to get Oakley safe so they have no leverage over us.”
“But they have a bomb on Oakley’s car. If she starts it—”
“Then, call her and make sure she doesn’t start her goddamn car,” he barked before ending the call.
How was I supposed to tell Oakley anything? She wouldn’t listen to me. After I had sent her home, she probably wouldn’t answer my call.
“FUCK!!!” I roared, gripping the steering wheel as I sped to my daughter’s school.
Twenty-Three
Oakley
I finished drying my hair and plugged in the straightener just as my cell phone rang in the other room. Setting down my brush, I walked into the bedroom to get it. Hamilton’s name lit up the screen. I’d managed to avoid him since Thanksgiving, but I was starting to feel guilty about it. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He was nice to me. He liked me. He wasn’t Wilder, and that counted for a lot since Wilder was a jackass.
I answered my phone.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Hey, stranger,” he replied. “You’ve been hard to get in touch with.”
Yeah, no kidding. “Thanksgiving ended up being busier than I’d thought, and then I had work to catch up on. How have you been?”
“Good, but I thought I’d see if you were available tonight. Dinner and a movie?”
I stared straight ahead, looking out the window. There was no future in this, but did I never see a future because I measured everyone up to Wilder? The Wilder I’d once known. Not the jerk he had become. I had to find a way to move on and let go of the past. Hamilton wasn’t that guy, but was it wrong to enjoy dating? It wasn’t a promise for a future. Just dinner and a movie.
“Yeah, that sounds nice. What time?” I replied.
There was a brief pause. I started to check to see if he was on the line.
“Let’s say, six? I can pick you up.”
“That sounds perfect,” I told him.
He let out a soft chuckle. “If you only knew how those three words have changed my mood.”
At least someone was happy about being near me.
“I’m glad I could help,” I said, smiling.
“What are you doing now?” he asked me then.
“I just finished drying my hair, and I’m about to get ready to go buy some groceries.”
“Why don’t you finish catching up on all your work, and I’ll pick you up at five instead? We can go get your groceries together.”
I frowned. That was a weird suggestion. Why would he want to go grocery shopping with me?
“Uh, okay, if that’s what you want to do,” I replied.
“It is. Besides, it gives me an excuse to be with you longer,” he said.
That was … sweet. Possibly. Or just odd. But whatever.
“I’ll finish up the orders I had come in last night, and then I’ll see you at five.”
“Promise?”
Okay, so Hamilton was starting to get a little clingy.
“Uh, yeah, I promise.”
“Good. See you soon, beautiful.”
When the call ended, I stared down at my phone, confused by that entire conversation. I should call Daphne and ask her about Hamilton’s relationship history. She wouldn’t have set me up with a stalker type.
I started to set my phone down when I saw five missed calls and five text messages. What in the world? This had to have happened when I was in the shower or drying my hair. Opening my phone back up, I saw they were all from an unknown number.
I clicked the voice mails first.
“Oakley, it’s Wilder. I’m going to call back. Please answer your phone.”
The next one.
“Dammit, Oakley, answer! I need to talk to you. It’s important!”
My heart started to race. Was Sarah okay? Oh God, what was wrong?
“Oakley, listen to me. Stay in your house. Do not leave. Do not open your door to anyone. Do not walk outside. And please, I am begging you, DO NOT get in your car.”