Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Jesus, what a fucking moron.
“He was just sitting there in the dark,” she mumbled, looking at me in confusion. “How did he even know where you live?”
“I don’t know, sugar.”
“He wasn’t even nervous.” She shook her head. “Like he knew that you weren’t with me. And he kept telling me to give his five thousand dollars back. Michael, I didn’t even take that money.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“Why does he think I took it?” she asked desperately, her eyes filling with tears. “I don’t—”
“Come here, baby,” I ordered, moving the last few steps that separated us.
As soon as I’d gotten my arms around her, she clawed at me, pulling me as close as she could. I found myself helping her as she wrapped her legs around my waist and clung. She shuddered silently once. Then again a few seconds later.
“You’re alright,” I whispered, pressing my lips to her ear. “Thank fuck. You’re alright.”
The first sob didn’t even surprise me. Honestly, I was impressed at how well she’d held it together until that moment.
“I thought he was going to shoot us,” she gasped, the words garbled against my neck. “I thought he was going to shoot Rhett.”
My nose burned as I held her tighter.
“I just kept thinking if I could shield him somehow,” she sobbed. “He might be okay even if I wasn’t.”
I knew she needed to get that shit out, that she needed to talk about it and process it, but the words nearly brought me to my knees. I could barely wrap my head around how badly I’d fucked up sending them home without me.
My hands moved over her restlessly instinctively searching for wounds, making sure that she was okay even as she talked about how Otto had knocked Parker out with a frying pan.
“He was so scared, Michael,” she cried harder. “The look on his face.”
“He protected you.”
“I thought he hated me,” she choked out.
“He never hated you,” I replied, not even sure if she was hearing me. “He was pissed at you.”
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said with a shudder, her body finally relaxing into mine. “I was so scared.”
I sat down on the couch as my legs began to ache and held Emilia on my lap as her breathing slowed and her arms loosened.
“I fucked up,” I murmured, kissing her head. She didn’t argue with me.
We sat there in silence until Rhett’s voice carried down the stairs, calling for Emilia. She was off my lap in less than a second, and I was right behind her as she jogged up the stairs and into my room.
“Mama,” Rhett whined, sitting in the middle of my bed.
“Hey, why are you awake?” Emilia asked gently, crawling onto the bed. She laid down next to him, and Rhett toppled over like a freshly cut tree, his head landing on her arm.
“Mama,” he murmured around his thumb, rolling toward her.
Emilia closed her eyes and pulled her knees up until Rhett was curled up in the curve of her body. They looked so small in the middle of my bed that I felt my stomach lurch. I’d just found them and I’d already almost lost them again. If I hadn’t sent Otto home with her. If Otto hadn’t come inside when he did. Jesus. I should’ve been there.
I kicked off my boots and climbed in on the opposite side of Rhett, laying close to his back on my side, my arm folded under my head. Tears were silently leaking from under Emilia’s closed eyelids as she gently rubbed Rhett’s back. I’d seen her happy and sad and angry and every emotion in between, but I don’t think I’d ever seen this expression before. It was a mixture of devastation and relief—I was pretty sure that my own was a mirror of hers. When Rhett had fallen back asleep, without opening her eyes, Emilia reached out and set her hand on my side.
I’d been afraid to touch them and break the spell, but the moment she reached for me, I was scooting closer, wrapping my arm around them both. Rhett was tiny between us. His little butt pressed against my sternum as he flung one arm above his head and then settled again.
“I know I messed up,” I whispered. “But I swear to God, I won’t ever let anything happen to you again.”
I was pretty sure neither of them heard me since they’d both passed out.
Hours later, I silently climbed out of bed and walked downstairs to find my phone. My dad answered on the first ring.
“How they doin’?”
“They’re sleepin’,” I said with a sigh, dropping my ass to the stairs.
“Good.”
“You know why I’m callin’,” I muttered, glancing behind me.
“Know you wanted to take care of it,” my dad said cautiously. “But—”
“He attacked my family,” I ground out. Arguing about whether or not I got the chance to fucking end that asshole was not something I was willing to do.