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)
I press my ear to the door, and when I hear nothing, I slowly open it, doing my best not to make a sound. I didn't exactly sneak around my father's house in Boston, but it was always better to not draw attention to yourself, so I became an expert in staying in the shadows and going unnoticed.
Somehow, fate works out for me and I manage to make it down the stairs and out the front door without anyone noticing me. A part of my mind whispers that it's a trap, but then I have to remind myself that Nolan and Damien are nothing alike. Nolan would prefer I stay in the bedroom, warm and safe. Damien is the one who would let me get frostbite before tracking me down and hurting me more.
I pull the cords of the hooded jacket I swiped from Nolan's closet tighter, but the bite of the frigid air still manages to seep inside my clothes.
The sound of a car coming draws all my attention, but I know I can't just stand out here and pray that someone who saw a woman struggling to walk along the snow-covered shoulder of the road won't stop. This is the South, and manners dictate that they must help a person in need. But also, there's the off chance that someone is out looking for trouble, and I don't want to be on the receiving end of that attention either. I know that anyone I come in contact with could easily end up on the wrong side of Damien. He wants me there in twenty-four hours or less, but he also wants me to struggle in every way possible to make that happen.
Instead of waiting to see what the people in the vehicle might do upon seeing me, I duck into the gully beside the road, clinging to ice-covered rocks, my head just below the road line. Darkness crept in so quickly. Sunset isn't until later, but it's already dipped behind the ridge of the mountains the property is situated between, leaving me in a hazy, frigid darkness that makes me wonder if leaving was the right choice.
The car drives by, every rotation of the tires keeping me fearful that they'll slip off the road and run me over. That would be my freaking luck to be taken out that way.
Chapter 29
Jericho
I knew she had something planned the second she pushed away from me.
It was in her eyes.
It might've been years since I saw her face, but I committed every damn nuance to memory. I knew when she was going to kiss me. I knew when she would look at my hands that she was thinking about them on her body.
I knew by the glint in her eyes that she wanted to do something that could get her in trouble.
Most all the looks I knew from back then had something to do with us spending time together. I knew the regret that showed through now that she was planning something she knew I wouldn't approve of.
She doesn't trust that I can keep her safe, and I know a lot of that has to do with the fact that I've stayed gone for all these years while she suffered at the hands of Damien Gaines. She might never admit it out loud, but there's a part of her that hates me for the sacrifices she had to make for our son where her husband is concerned, and I don't have to scratch my own surface too deep to feel the same about myself either.
We have so much shit to work through, but I won't get the chance if she gets eaten by a fucking hungry bear or abducted by some asshole who thinks she's easy prey.
Knowing she was going to pull some stupid shit and going up and finding the room empty after less than half an hour are two very different things. It proves she doesn't trust us, and I have to wonder if that's more about the systematic abuse she has suffered at Damien's hands or if the time and distance between the two of us are insurmountable.
I fire off a text before leaving the bedroom, and Hemlock meets me at the bottom of the stairs. He doesn't seem surprised that she took off either.
"She couldn't have gotten far," he says. I know he's trying to be helpful, but he'd be just as fucked in the head right now if Zara took off in the dark, down the side of a fucking mountain.
"If someone else hasn't gotten to her," I mutter as we head to the front door.
We both pause, looking down at the footsteps in the snow that lead all the way down the long driveway and turn left at the end.
We climb into one of the SUVs.