Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 89228 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89228 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
She shrugged. “She has something you want.”
His pulse raced. “You think she’ll—?”
“Go find out.”
Ten minutes later, his racing heart neared detonation as he stood outside a spare bedroom in Liv’s house. He squeezed Amber’s hand and strained his eyes to make out the shadowed shapes within the room.
“She’s just staying the night,” Liv whispered. “If you wake her, I’ll kill you.”
He was already moving through the dark room, his mouth dry and adrenaline surging through his blood. Amber lingered in the doorway, her supportive smile holding him upright.
Stunned and hypnotized, he reached the bed and soaked in the shaded blur of Livana’s dark eyelashes and dainty features. Her tiny fingers curled around the pillow, her slender frame cocooned in bedding. Christ, she was even more precious in person.
Reaching down, he ran trembling fingers over a wisp of her hair. The soft texture seeped through his touch, vividly bright and so damned real.
He could stand there all night, and he did for a long time, breathless and overcome. A cleared throat in the hallway jerked him into awareness, and slowly, reluctantly, he stepped away.
Liv waited outside the bedroom with Amber and Joshua, rigid in her statue-like posture as she watched him approach. When he reached her, her eyes flickered, right before he yanked her into an embrace.
Her arms hung at her sides, her body stiff and unyielding. Beside her, Joshua leaned against the wall, his gaze soft and thoughtful and fixed on Liv.
Van lowered his forehead to her shoulder. “I’m sorry. For keeping her from you. For taking you from your mother. It’s too late for apologies. Fuck, I know this, but I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you.”
Tense seconds passed, then her arms rose and folded around his back. She squeezed tighter, her voice thick. “This is a good start.”
He raised his head and shared a look with Amber over Liv’s shoulder, one that promised new memories. Joyful memories. She pressed a knuckle to her mouth and gave him a tearful smile.
He released Liv and moved to her side, where he belonged, surrounded by the radiance of her presence. As he stared into the brown eyes of the woman who embodied impossible dreams, he felt the future in every cell of his body. It felt crazy and beautiful and decisively unbreakable.
Four years later...
Amber was outrunning him, fucking running circles around him. But really, how could he complain? Watching her ass flex in those painted-on athletic pants took his mind off his burning muscles and overworked lungs.
As the sun disappeared behind the skyline of downtown Austin, the city's towers glinted with the lingering rays of yellow and gold. Too bad the humidity didn't vanish with it. He wiped his forehead with the sweatband on his wrist and quickened his pace to catch up with that gorgeous ass.
Maybe fifty paces ahead of him, she pivoted, running backwards and grinning at him like a goon. “What's the hold up, old man?”
Old man? He was still a year younger than she was, even if she hadn’t broken a sweat. Fucking show-off.
Pedestrians and fellow runners scurried out of their way. A dozen teen-aged boys paused their soccer game to watch her run by. He gave the fuckers a threatening glare, and they snapped from their gawking and returned to their scrimmage.
He and Amber could’ve easily jogged in the woods at the cabin, but the social surroundings were good for her. And there was another reason he’d chosen this park.
In an hour, he would be meeting with one of his former slaves, Camila, on the south side of the pond. He’d learned she was attempting to bring down a new slave ring in Austin and was in over her head. Even with her cartel connections, it had been too ambitious and risky as hell. She needed help, and fuck him, but being a husband and a father fueled him with a crazy amount of protective drive, which included a bloodthirsty need to wipe the city of sex trafficking.
Amber was skittish about his involvement, but she would come around. He wouldn’t give her a choice.
Up ahead, an old lady and her Boston Terrier stepped into Amber’s backward running path. If Amber didn't turn back around soon, she was going to collide with them.
“Amber.” He panted for air. “Watch yourself.”
As she spun around, he glimpsed the tightening of her fist and the flinch of her shoulders. No one around her would notice the traces of her anxiety, the way she cracked her knuckles too often, the tiny hiccups in her breathing, and the trickle of sweat between her breasts. They would only see the confident woman she was with a knockout body and face so ethereal it compelled longing glances.
Every day she left the house was a workout for her. The agoraphobia would always be there, but she made it her bitch with an inspiring amount of courage.