Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
I was in the middle of packing some things to take with me when I found the blanket I’d stolen when she was in the hospital. I smiled and brought it to my nose and felt a sensation of peace overcome me. It felt like half a lifetime since I’d sat at the side of her hospital bed, wishing that things could go back to the way they were. Now here we are, and things are really coming together, though better than ever before.
I’d been so worried that to keep the others from knowing what I was doing with these guys or from knowing that I’d found out the truth about their filthy doings, that I might have to move back in here with Janie for a while to keep up appearances.
I’d been worried about what that would do to Elena, knowing that I didn’t have the guts or the right to ask her to be that understanding again. I didn’t want to have to betray her or let her down again, and it seemed it was no longer going to be an issue. Right now, being apart from her for any length of time makes me edgy. We’d already lost so much time, and I didn’t want to lose another second to this, especially if it meant being around the very people she’d asked me to leave behind as part of her agreeing to take me back.
From what had been shared with me about Janie’s situation, I have no doubt the nieces plan to keep her in that hospital bed for as long as it takes, a month, they’d said. My only question was whether or not the doctors were in on it or had they really poisoned her with something that it was going to take a whole month to get rid of. From what I’d heard while at Saunders’ place, it would take a while for anyone to figure out what had been used, and that was the reason for the quarantine, I guess.
I have no idea what had been done or what she looks like, but from the sounds of it; it’s not good. Zak and Tyler had been the ones to call the ambulance, and from what they described, she’d looked nothing like herself when they went to rescue her after hearing her screams. The men all seem to get nervous when it’s brought up, and the fact that Lyon’s daughter has access to their conversations kept talk about that part of it to a bare minimum.
It had been funny watching these men, who I’d come to see as the real deal, get nervous each time that little girl had spoken up while they were brainstorming some idea or the other. I’d asked only once why we didn’t just move away from the computer if they didn’t want them listening in, and the look Lyon gave me had been enough to have my nuts going into hiding.
“How did she get the tracker into the scanner they put in your watch?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” I was genuinely perplexed.
“He’s trying to say they don’t know where I’ll show up.” That had been her answer, along with a cynical laugh that had sent her dad into one of his fits. He seems to have those a lot from the looks of it.
Those two had some arguments that made me forget she was a ten-year-old little girl; the way he spoke to her as if she were someone three times her age and the way she was always able to answer intelligently while still sounding like a schoolgirl in pigtails was pretty freaky. Now I really wanted to meet this kid and her friends, but with Lyon as their guard dog, I was sure that was something else I was going to have to earn.
I don’t think I would mind that, though, come to think of it. Earning the respect of someone like him. It was obvious that everyone took direction from him, and for men like Tyler and Zak to look up to anyone, that person must be damn near perfect because those two are just about the best men I’ve ever met. The fact that none of them seem to give a fig about my money or fame could be the reason for my respect for them.
Even the nieces who are supposed to be fans don’t seem too impressed with me if the way I’d been threatened was an indication. It’s all good as long as they like me, girl, which they seem to; I’ll take that.
*Elena*
I shouldn’t have, but I was watching the news while scrolling through social media for any news about Janie. I knew that Ryder’s house was going to be surrounded by cameras, and since he and his new friends were being so secretive, I figured I might learn something by keeping my eye on things myself.