Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Like I’d found my people.
All because I’d found my person.
By the time we were all caffeinated and hydrated, the girls were cleaning up and saying their goodbyes.
All except Scotti and Fiona, and I got the distinct feeling they were under instructions not to leave me alone until Atlas came home.
I was out in the back, refilling the bird feeders, when I finally heard his car door slam, making my heart swell, knowing he was home, and safe.
My gaze moved over him, looking for any signs of injury, but finding none. If anything, he just looked tired.
When I made my way back inside, Atlas was already talking to his sister and Fiona, who looked ready to head home as well.
So we said our goodbyes to them before, finally, we were alone again.
“How’s Joss?” I asked, watching as Atlas jerked back, caught.
“Did they—“
“No,” I cut him off. “They did try to find your porn stash,” I told him, watching as he snorted and shook his head. “But, no. I knew before you left what you were up to. You’re not a very good liar, you know.”
“Well, I guess I can call that a good thing,” he said, exhaling hard. “Sorry I tried to lie to you,” he said.
“I kind of get why,” I admitted. “The girls… talk when they’re drunk. About how it’s important for the guys to keep them separate from some of the things they do. For legal-type reasons,” I added. “So, did you and your brothers put the fear of God into Joss?” I asked, a dark little part of me delighted by the idea.
Atlas took a deep breath, immediately putting me on edge.
“Joss is dead, AJ.”
“What?” I asked, voice choked, sure I must have misheard him.
“He’s dead.”
“You killed him?” I asked, finding it hard to imagine that.
“No. I mean, I’m going to be honest with you here, sweetheart. That was my plan. That was why I tracked him down. To put an end to this once and for all. But… I didn’t need to. I just… needed to give it time.”
“What do you mean, give it time?”
“The wound on his arm from the bite got infected. And I guess he didn’t seek treatment because he didn’t want to answer questions. He went septic. And… died.”
“Oh,” I said, my breath whooshing out of me so fast, I felt dizzy. I took a step to the side, lowering myself down onto the couch. “Oh, wow.”
“It’s not your fault,” he was quick to say, coming closer, his boot stomping a bit across the floor, something that happened more when he was tired. And he’d likely been up all night. “You know that, right? It’s not your fault he’s dead.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s his fault,” I added, looking up at him. “He attacked me. Samson did what he had to do to defend me.”
“Exactly. This was all his doing. I just… I don’t want you to feel any guilt about it.”
“I don’t.”
“Good,” he said, reaching for my hands as he sat next to me. “Do you have any questions?”
“Um…” Did I? Was there anything left to wonder about? “Do you know how he found me?” I asked, since that had been what was niggling at me, the fact that I thought I’d been so darn careful.
“It seems like he called every fucking vet in a several state radius, poking for information. We figured maybe he asked for vaccine records, then asked to confirm the phone number on the account once he finally found Samson’s vet.”
It was so simple.
I guess I figured it was some super computer hacker type thing.
Nope.
Just my dog’s records.
And a madman determined to find me.
If I’d named Samson anything more generic—Charlie, Max, Buddy, Cooper—maybe he never would have found me at all.
But, then again, maybe it was better this way.
I didn’t want to feel relief at someone’s death.
The thing was, I knew that so long as Joss was breathing, he was never going to stop coming for me.
Not even if I was with another man.
This was the only kind of permanent closure that could be found for the situation.
And I was going to let myself feel relieved about that.
“You okay?” Atlas asked, head tipped to the side as he watched me.
“I was just thinking…”
“About?”
“Two weeks from now,” I said.
“New Years?” he asked.
“Around there, yeah.”
“What about it?”
“Maybe we could go somewhere,” I said.
“Go where?” he asked, his eyes bright.
“I don’t know. We can spin a globe and point for all I care.”
“We’re not exactly in great shape right now,” he said, touching my wrist, then waving toward his boot.
“We don’t have to go sky diving. Maybe just… sit on a beach somewhere for a weekend.”
“You know what?” he asked.
“What?”
“I like the way you think,” he said, reaching for his laptop, and bringing up all the options for a fun new adventure.