Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I coughed around a laugh, and Elliott chuckled.
“Your mom says a lot of things,” he drawled.
She sure fucking did.
Four hours into the flight, Elliott and I finally got a quick moment of privacy.
Maybe privacy was a stretch; we remained seated, me with Blake’s head in my lap, him with a sleeping Julian in his arms, and we had Reese dozing on and off across the aisle.
“I hope you’re not changing your mind about me staying at your place for a while,” I murmured.
“Of course not. I’ll need you there.” He kissed my cheek and rested our foreheads together. “This one isn’t housebroken yet. A nurse gave me a handful of Pull-Ups, but I gotta buy more.”
Housebroken—for chrissakes.
I killed my laugh and just shook my head. “It’s a person, you clown. Not a dog.”
“See? I’m hopeless.” He smiled tiredly.
He was anything but. A bit rough around the edges, maybe. Something I happened to find dangerously attractive.
The humor faded, and he just looked at me for a second.
I stared right back. I couldn’t wait for things to settle down. To be in one place for longer than a night or two. To be home.
“Did you and Piper decide anything?” he murmured.
I shook my head. “We didn’t really talk.” It’d been her moment with Blake. I’d texted Piper about the extent of Blake’s injuries—or what we knew so far—because Piper had obviously feared the worst, just as I had, when it came to sexual abuse. But that was one thing we didn’t have to worry about. “We should probably brace ourselves for a confrontation, though. Piper will wanna bring Blake with her for a few days, and I’m not sure I can do that yet. I don’t think Blake can either.”
He smirked ruefully. “So the solution is that both you and Piper stay at my place in the beginning?”
“Well, we’re sure as fuck not going to my depressing little apartment—or Piper’s place, for that matter.”
He chuckled quietly. “It’s fine. She can stay for as long as she wants. But—”
“We’re not hiding,” I said quickly. I had to. I had to get that out there. “You better not suggest we hide anything.”
Something softened in his gaze. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Good. We’d hidden our feelings long enough. No more of that.
We landed in Long Beach at two in the afternoon local time, and I was only mildly dead on my feet.
We were shown to a private hangar, where we’d been told family would be waiting—along with Feds who were taking over the case, with Mercier staying on as a chief consultant. Apparently, he was planning to retire, but the case wasn’t closed until the last report had been submitted.
So in about seventy-two years.
Blake was back to being glued to me, arms and legs wrapped around my body, and she showed no signs of wanting to walk on her own when the shuttle stopped in front of the hangar.
“Fuck me right in the time zone,” Reese groaned and walked off the bus.
Blake scrunched her nose. “What does that mean?”
“Shit.” Reese turned around. “I guess you heard that.”
“Blake! Oh my God, Blake!”
All conversation was put on hold as Piper rushed out of the hangar.
I swallowed hard, and now Blake wanted down. She untangled herself from me, and then she was running toward Piper.
“Mom!”
I ran a hand through my hair, the afternoon sun beaming brightly, and I wished I had my old ball cap. I’d gone without it for weeks now.
“Holy fuck,” Gray blurted out behind me. Before I knew it, more people hurried out of the hangar, three kids leading the way. “Darius?”
Darius smiled and threw an arm around Gray. “I couldn’t help myself—and your mom had airplane vouchers she wanted to use.”
Gray let out a tearful laugh, then jogged toward whom I assumed were their kids.
Then it was evidently Ryan’s turn. He looked surprised as hell to see a woman and a few kids—and another man? Oh right, he was in one of those triads too, like the Tenleys.
“Get the fuck out, is this Christmas or what?” Ryan swooped up his wife or girlfriend and kissed her hard.
“Hi, Daddy! We flewed the plane to see you!” One of the boys threw himself against Ryan’s legs. Definitely twin boys. They had another little one too, and an older girl.
Emotions swirled around like a tornado in my chest, and I had to clear my throat. It was reunion mayhem, and throw in a handful of FBI agents and medical personnel, and I wanted to hide somewhere. Christ. And where was Elliott? There. He was talking to a woman, and it had to be about the boys. The woman was holding a car seat, presumably for Julian.
I wanted to walk over there, but I’d postponed talking to Piper for too long already.
I shuffled over to where they were hugging, tears streaming down their faces.