Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Juniper nods absently, her gaze pointed out the window. Her hand is lax in mine and I can tell she’s a million miles away.
I squeeze her fingers. “What did the lawyer say?”
“That I’ll be a wealthy woman when she’s done with Joshua. But I don’t care about that.”
“You should,” I point out. “You want to take care of your dad. The divorce settlement will allow you to do that.”
Juniper sighs and rolls her head my way. I spare her a short glance as she says, “I know. But I just wish it was all over. I’d walk away with nothing if I knew that he’d just forget about me.”
“He won’t, so we have to fight.”
“We?” she asks, a tiny smile on her face. “When did this become a group sport?”
“The minute I saw that bruise on your head, Juni.” The reminder is potent and she blushes. “And I’m on your team until you’re free of him.”
“You know I’ll never be able to repay you or thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you. I’d still be sitting in that house, waiting for his next attack.”
“I know. And I hate that this has been going on for years. I also understand why you didn’t tell me.”
“So, what’s the new game plan?” she asks.
“Let’s go visit my mom and see what the doctors are saying. I want you to call your attorney right now and let her know about the confrontation with Joshua and the threats. See if it’s enough for a restraining order, but I’m guessing it’s not. She still needs to know about it. Then you and I are changing hotels. Joshua followed us this morning. We’ll get something in Reno to put distance between us.”
“Okay.”
“And you’re staying in my room. I’ll get a suite with two bedrooms but I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“I have to work tomorrow. I can’t take another day off.”
I don’t think she understands the danger she’s in. “You can’t go back to work, Juni. You can’t go anywhere that I can’t, and you can’t go anywhere that Joshua can find you without me. Call your boss and explain what’s going on. See if you can do remote work, but if you can’t, then you need to quit.”
“I can’t just quit on them,” she says, aghast.
“Juniper.” My tone is hard but I rub my thumb over the back of her hand. “This life is done. That includes your career here. You saw what Joshua did back there. He’s going to come after you and the best way to avoid that is to avoid him. It’s time to make changes now.”
She doesn’t say anything and when I’m able to take my eyes off the road for a second, I see tears welling.
I swallow a curse and find a spot to pull over. Turning in my seat, I slide my fingers behind her neck and force her to look at me. One tear trickles from the corner of her eye and she dashes it away.
“I’m with you,” I assure her. “I’ve got your back. I’ll protect you. I know this is scary, but you and your dad will be safe. You’ll be happy again, I promise.”
She nods as another tear dribbles out. She angrily rubs it away, taking a deep breath. “Okay… yes. I know. I’m just… this is all I’ve known. This is my home and I’ll be leaving.”
I can’t fucking help myself. I lean forward to press a soft kiss on her forehead. “I know. It’s hard to leave that comfort zone. But you’ll have me and while I know we don’t know each other all that well anymore, you know me at my core. Know me better than anyone, for that matter. You know I’ll lead you to happiness. I promise.”
Juniper shakes her head, pulling back from me. “Don’t promise me that.”
I’m duly chagrined as my hand falls away because that’s a direct reference to the promises I made to her about commitment and happiness—the ones I didn’t fulfill.
“Okay, I won’t promise you that. I’ll just promise myself.”
CHAPTER 10
Juniper
I’m sitting in the back of Callum’s rental, his mother having the honor of the front seat as we drive her home from the hospital.
Five days after her surgery, Lila has been discharged. She had a routine recovery and met all her milestones, so the neurosurgeon felt comfortable letting her go. Preston has hired a full-time nurse to look after Lila, which is overkill given she’s had a remarkable recovery. She doesn’t need that level of care, but I am grateful someone will be there with her because I won’t.
After we drop her off and get her settled in, Callum and I will head to the airport where I’ll be traveling with him to Pittsburgh.
It’s hard to believe just four short days ago, my world turned upside down. I can pinpoint it to the very second… when Callum’s eyes landed on my bruised temple and he knew what that meant. My life changed because he decided it was to be so.