Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
"Aspen. Aspen! ASPEN!"
I don't know whose voice it is, but blackness coats the outer rim of my vision and I can't see a damn thing with my eyes wide open.
"Peach! You have to breathe, baby. Deep breath in, slow breath out."
My entire body trembles, but somehow I'm warm. To keep from floating, I cling to whatever I can manage to grip in my hands. I hold tightly, my mind counting along with whoever is counting near me.
"That's it, baby. Deep breath in. Slow breath out."
My vision begins to return, but the tears don't stop. I don't know that they ever will so long as my son is at the mercy of that evil bastard.
"He's going to kill him if I don't go to him," I manage. "I have to go."
"We already have a team gearing up. He gave us twenty-four hours, Peach."
I look up realizing that not only am I in Nolan's arms, but he's sitting at the conference table and all but fully wrapped around me.
"The summer house, that's the one in Virginia, right? Peach?"
I look up at him, his eyes filled with as much fear as I feel.
"The summer house, Peach?" he asks. "It's the one in Virginia, right?"
I have a huge decision to make. It's not that I don't trust that these men will do their damnedest. I honestly think they'd lay down their lives to protect a child, but that sacrifice might not even be possible because Damien doesn't lose.
I can tell by the rage in his eyes that no one walks away from this alive.
It's possible that I can distract Damien long enough, taking enough of his anger onto my own shoulders, for Eli to slip away. It's the only shot I have.
"Virginia," I say, nodding.
I knew the second Damien mentioned the summer house, he was talking about the place we planned to buy after we first got married. We stayed there twice as a rental property before I went into labor with Eli. We visited when he didn't hate me as much as he does now, and he was still trying to impress my father. We had long conversations about staying there in the summer because it was less crowded than Boston.
The house he's speaking of isn't in Virginia. It's in Connecticut, in a sleepy little town near Bridgeport. I didn't realize until he mentioned it in the video that he must've bought it at some point, although we've never been back since. He never told me he bought it, and I wonder why he'd bother adding it to his holdings to begin with. The man doesn't do anything for others, ever. It's possible he bought it this damn week just so he can taunt me with it.
As I cling to Nolan, the men talk, making it even more obvious that they don't realize Damien is speaking in code. He had to have known they would be listening and telling me to go to one place and expecting me to arrive in a different place is purposeful. It also makes it very clear that the expectation is to arrive alone, and there will be hell to pay if they even know about the alternate location.
When I begin to tremble harder, Nolan holds me tighter, but it doesn't bring the same relief as it once did. It feels smothering, and I'm already having a hard enough time barely keeping it together.
I press against his chest, ignoring the disappointed look on his face from the distance I've created.
"You okay?" he asks, his voice full of sadness.
"I just need a minute," I tell him as I climb out of his lap.
How can he ask such a question? I'm not okay. How could I ever be okay in a situation like this?
Maybe things are different for moms than dads. Maybe he doesn't have the same connection with Eli as I do because he's never met him. Does that make the need to save him less?
I can't imagine it does for him, but I can't take that chance. I know if they go and storm the place where Damien is, it will only end in tragedy. Going to him alone is the only shot I have at keeping my son safe.
"I'm going to go back up to my room," I whisper when there's a break in the conversation.
Nolan locks his eyes on me, and I swear he can read my mind and knows what I'm planning, but I can't let that suspicion stop me.
"We're going to bring him home," he assures me. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he truly believes he's capable of that, but he doesn't know Damien the way I do.
My husband is sadistic, and he can never be wrong. His pride won't allow it. I think Damien would be more willing to kill a hundred people than have people think someone got the better of him. There's a very real chance he has things in place to do ultimate damage to who knows how many people if someone had the ability to take him down.