Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Huck wouldn’t know where to find me back here. I didn’t want to go back to the other party alone, but I was torn. What if he returned and I wasn’t there?
“As much fun as this seems, I should probably go back to the other party. Huck went inside with your father, but when he returns and can’t find me …” I shrugged.
Trev smirked. “Teach his ass right to leave you to the likes of Jasper fucking Dillard.”
“Maybe, but your dad is his boss,” I pointed out.
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. I’ll go back with you if you want me to. Protect you from the Jaspers until Huck returns.”
He had at least fifty guests back here. It would be selfish of me to ask that of him, although it would make it so much easier on me.
I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll be fine. Thank you though. I wish I could stay.”
Trev leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll check on you later,” he assured me.
I turned and headed back toward the path we’d taken. For a moment, I was alone and could prepare myself to walk back into the intimidating crowd. Hopefully, Huck was back, and I wouldn’t be expected to mingle alone. Maybe Maddy had arrived by now. That would make this enjoyable.
Turning the corner back into the world of twinkling lights and live music, I scanned the crowd for a familiar face. My champagne glass was empty, and I started for the bar when a server walked by with a tray of filled flutes. I exchanged my empty one for a new one, then took a sip while watching the intimidating strangers.
“It is you. When I saw you earlier, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Now, tell me how the fuck you managed to get invited to a party like this one?”
There were moments in life that surprised you. Some were good. Some were painful. Then, there were others that reached inside you and twisted until you couldn’t breathe. It was a level of horror that was hard to put into words.
The latter was one of those moments. Bile rose in my throat, and I had to grip the flute in my hands to keep from dropping it. I was unable to move. If I turned my head even slightly, I’d see him. I was afraid of my reaction if I had to look at that face. For six months, I’d lived in that house, and he’d never come around. My father’s death and Hayes’s death, I’d escaped his return. Tabitha loved to tell people he was unable to be there because he was currently in Guatemala or Honduras with a medical mission’s team. When, in truth, Roy Hayley had never once done anything for someone else out of the goodness of his heart. Vile people didn’t go on mission trips.
“What? No hello for your brother?” he asked.
“Why are you here?” I asked through clenched teeth, refusing to look at the monster in my nightmares.
The evil in his laugh made me cringe. “Because I know the right people. Make the connections. With a face like mine, you can work your way into anywhere.”
I wanted to throw up all the champagne in my stomach. Preferably on his feet.
“The real question is, how did you get into an event such as this? I can’t imagine after the death of your minister fiancé that you stepped up in the world.”
I looked around, needing to find someone. Anyone to get me out of here. I should have stayed with Trev. Why was he here? Roy wasn’t wealthy. He had barely finished college.
His fingers wrapped around my arm, and panic began to claw at me with talons I knew would eventually pull me under. I had to escape. I had to get away. I felt my throat closing, as if he were literally choking me as I stood here.
I moved quickly, jerking my arm from his hold, and then turned and ran for the entrance into the house. I didn’t care if anyone saw me. Nothing mattered but finding somewhere safe to hide. The glass in my hand slipped, and I heard it shatter, but I didn’t stop. I ran inside the Hugheses’ mansion, and without knowing where I was going, I turned down a hallway, hoping a bathroom appeared—or any room I could lock myself in.
I turned into the first room on my left and closed the door, locking it behind me. Books surrounded me. Ceiling to floor on all four walls. A library. I tried to find a focal point and focus on it. I couldn’t let the panic take me. I had to stay alert. I heard myself gasping and felt the burning in my lungs as I fought the phantom hands around my throat.