Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“What about Riley?” She sniffles.
Another gut punch. “She’s strong. She’s tough. She’ll be okay. Now, hide, honey. I love you and I’ll be there soon.”
“Love you too.”
The line goes dead, and I slam my fist on the steering wheel, nearly swerving into the guardrail. I right myself in the lane, but instead of slowing down, I go faster.
What the ever-loving fuck is going on?
“Call Cole,” I tell my car. While it rings, I clench my jaw so hard my teeth crack.
“What?”
I don’t wait for anything else. It doesn’t feel like there’s time. “Something’s wrong at home. Grace said some guy is there and Riley’s acting weird. She told Grace to call you and tell you she has a friend there so she can’t babysit. Does that mean something to you?”
“Here, take him,” I hear Cole say, and there’s shuffling like he’s handing Emmett off to Janey, who I hear in the background. “A friend? That’s what she said? Riley doesn’t have any friends.”
“I know. What does that mean?” I snap.
I hear clicking through the line like he’s typing. “Hold on one second. I’m looking at your doorbell camera feed for the last few minutes.”
“You’re what?”
“Shit,” he hisses, obviously seeing something in the video, and any qualms I have about the invasion of privacy disappear. “That’s not a friend. That’s Austin. Call the police and have them meet us there.”
My heart, which had been racing, stutters to a stop. “The police? Who’s Austin?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” I ask slowly. Or it feels slow. It feels like slow-motion, but I think it’s just me because the scenery outside is whooshing past in a blur with how fast I’m going.
“Fuck, Cam. Are you on your way there? How far out are you?” He doesn’t give me time to answer. I’m not sure it matters since I’m not there already, which is what I want to be. “I’m getting in my car now, but I’m probably ten minutes out. He won’t hurt her. Or I don’t think he will, but I also wouldn’t have thought he’d bust into your house like that. It’s not his style.”
“Whose style? He busted in?” I repeat, not sure which question I want answered first.
“Austin Collins, Riley’s dad. Well, her legal one.”
“Her what?”
“Never mind. I’ll call the police so I can give them the rundown. Just get there, and don’t kill him. Not even Dad’s money can get you off if the police walk in to see his blood on your hands.”
With that graphic advice, the line goes dead. That’s when I get a text from Riley. The single letter X has me panicking more than anything else.
I bust into the mudroom, the door hitting the wall behind it. “Riley!” I shout.
“In here,” she answers, and I run toward her voice.
She’s still in the formal living room, and a quick scan tells me she’s uninjured, but her eyes are wild and she’s breathing too fast. She should look scared. I expected her to be panicked. But she looks furious. Whatever’s going on hasn’t made her shrink in fear. She’s in warrior mode, standing tall and sure. Still, I ask, “You okay?”
She nods once, saying yes, but I’m not fully sure I believe her, given the circumstances.
“Hey, man. I was just leaving,” a voice rough from decades of cigarette smoke says, and I look past Riley to see a blond man in baggy jeans, a dirty T-shirt, and worn boots. I’d estimate him to be in his late fifties, maybe early sixties, and he was probably handsome at some point, but those years have been rough and show in the craggy lines on his face. He’s broad-chested, with a belly that looks hard as stone and speaks to time spent with a beer in his hand, and I bet he’s one of those guys who packs a power punch you don’t expect. But what I see most is the shit-eating grin on his face. “Just came by to talk to Rye about old times, you know. But I’m going.”
“You’re not going anywhere until the police get here.”
I’d love to say that’s me ordering this guy around like a badass, but those words came from Riley. She cuts her eyes to me quickly, like she doesn’t want to take them off the other guy for long. “You or Cole called them, right?”
I nod. “I’d like some answers as well.”
“Sounds like you have a lot to talk about, so I’ll, uh… get out of your hair.” He tries to bypass Riley, but I step in his way, leveling him with a cold, hard glare.
This man busted into my home uninvited. He scared my daughter. He did something to Riley—I don’t know what, but there’s obviously bad blood between them.
I want to punch him. I want to go off on him until he’s bloody and broken. I can feel the violence building in me, my hands clenching at my sides as the need to protect my family overwhelms me. Cole knew I’d feel this way. It’s why he warned me not to kill this asshole. But the urge is strong.