Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
I know he doesn’t love me.
But he already loves this baby.
And he is never going to see either of us again.
22
LEV
It’s late as I sit at my desk and stare at the crumpled note before me.
The only sound comes from the flames in the fireplace. It’s not cold, but I find the sound of flames licking and snapping soothing, so I indulged and lit one despite the warm temperatures outside. But whatever comfort I thought they would bring tonight, they are failing. Same with the three vodkas I’ve downed. Nothing can ease the ache I feel. The feeling of loss. The crushing ache I feel because she left.
I pick up the diamond engagement ring from the desk and hold it up. In the light of the flames, the diamond blazes with a thousand different golds and reds. She just left it behind like it meant nothing.
I remain calm. Only because inside, my pain and anger are simmering and building and waiting for more information before reacting.
But it’s getting harder to hold them back.
She left.
The thought is on repeat, and I loathe the tight stab I feel in my gut every time I think of it.
I twist the diamond ring around my finger, hypnotized by the spangles of light as I sink deeper and deeper into my thoughts.
Why didn’t she talk to me about her fears?
Why didn’t I tell her how I feel about her?
Would she have stayed?
A knock on my door pulls me out of my trance, but I keep twisting the engagement ring around my pinkie finger as Feliks walks in carrying a folder.
“Courtesy of my contact at the surveillance division of the police department.”
He places the folder in front of me on the desk, and I open it.
Street cam photos.
The first one is of Joe’s truck parked out the front of a restaurant. It’s taken from a distance, so the image is grainy and blurred, but it’s easy to make out Brooke climbing out the back. The next is of her standing at an intersection, waiting for the lights to change. The third is from a different camera facing a different part of the intersection, and it shows Brooke walking toward the Merriweather Motel.
“Do we have eyes on the motel?”
“There was no record of a Brooke Masters checking in.”
“But?”
“But an Ivy Aimes checked in, and the room was paid over the phone by one Henry Aimes.”
“Her friend back in Chicago.”
I remember the name from the dossier I had Feliks compile about her all those months ago. Back when I was lying to myself that my instant interest in her was solely because I was hunting her fiancé and not because I was slowly becoming obsessed with her.
Feliks brings up an image on his phone and shows me. It’s Brooke at the reception counter, signing in. No doubt Feliks had one of our tech wizards hack into the motel CCTV once he’d found the street cam footage.
“They didn’t want ID?” I ask, unable to take my eyes off the photo of her.
“Let’s just say the clientele turnover is high. Hourly in some cases.”
“Do you have a room number?”
“Yes, I have put a couple of men in the parking lot. They’ll keep watch until we get there. Want me to drive?”
“I’m not going.”
Feliks lifts his brow. “You don’t want to see her.”
She left.
“Not yet.”
“You want the men to bring her in?”
“No one goes near her,” I growl, taking Feliks by surprise.
He looks confused. “You want to leave her there?”
No, I want her here with me in my bed with this ring on her finger.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Feliks clearly doesn’t agree with my plan but knows better than to argue. “You’re going to let her leave?”
Not while there is breath in these lungs.
“No, let me sit on it. Tell the men I want a pair of eyes on her at all times. If she leaves, they follow. And I want to know who she talks to and where she goes.”
Feliks nods. “I’ll make sure that happens.”
He turns to leave but stops before he reaches the door and turns around. But he hesitates before opening his mouth.
“What?” I snap, my mood darkening with every twist of the ring around my pinkie finger.
“She’s just scared, you know.”
But I don’t reply. I know she’s scared. She should be. This world I’ve pulled her into is full of danger at every turn. But she should know I can protect her. Will protect her.
And she will.
Very soon when I make my next move.
Feliks leaves. He knows I’m better off left alone when I’m like this.
The reason I’m not going after Brooke is because she ran away from me, which means she doesn’t want to be with me.
And until I figure out what this pain in my chest really means whenever I think about it, then I’m not making a move until I’m sure it’s the right one.