Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Well, I do now.”
“Right.” If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought Tommy’s lips twitched in amusement. “Well, we went and got her. Nobody should be livin’ like that, especially not pregnant. She’s livin’ with Otto now. Married.”
“That doesn’t explain why my parents think she’s dead,” Noel replied flatly. “That they’ve thought she was dead for almost two weeks.”
“Can’t help you with that, sweetheart,” Tommy said, shrugging. “As you can see, she’s just fine. Livin’ with her husband and gettin’ ready for the baby.”
It was impressive how neatly he’d dodged and given just enough information for the situation to seem plausible.
“Why didn’t you call them?” Noel asked, looking at me. “You haven’t even told them you’re married.”
“I—” Clearing my throat, I glanced at Otto. “They left me, Noel. I didn’t think they’d care.”
The lie felt like dirt in my mouth, but I didn’t want my little sister caught up in whatever Otto’s club was doing. She didn’t need to know any of the details, not when she was going to have to go right back to my parents.
“Where do they think you are?” I asked, my heart pounding. There was no way they knew she’d gone somewhere with Titus, and if they found out, she would be in so much trouble. The memory of my dad’s fists made my stomach clench.
“The library.” She checked her watch. “For another hour.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“We’d really appreciate—” Tommy began.
“No need,” I murmured, cutting him off as realization hit. “There’s no way she can tell them that I’m fine, because she was never here.”
Noel swallowed and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m right,” I said flatly.
She nodded. “You have to tell them, Esther,” she said, her jaw clenched. “Mom was—you just have to tell them, okay?”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“We need to get you back to the library,” Titus interrupted. “You don’t want to be late.”
Without a word, Noel shot toward me, wrapping her arms around my torso, her forehead pressed against my neck. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered.
“I missed you,” I replied, my eyes watering as I kissed her hair.
There was a good chance that I wouldn’t see her again for a very long time. Even after my parents found out I was still alive, there was no way they’d let her visit me, not when I was married to Otto. She was sixteen. She wouldn’t even be a legal adult for two more years and who knew if she’d be brave enough to try then.
“I’ll come back,” she whispered, reading my mind. “I promise. Titus will bring me.”
She seemed very sure of that and suddenly I was very sure that this wasn’t the first time she’d snuck off with Otto’s little brother.
“You need to be careful,” I warned, pulling away from her.
I’d been deliberately refusing to believe that my dad would try to blow me up. I couldn’t accept it. But as I stared at my little sister, the truth hit me in the face like a bucket of cold water. He had planted those explosives and if he’d done that to me, she wasn’t safe.
“Don’t do anything that’ll get you into trouble.”
Noel rolled her eyes.
“Promise, Noel,” I said sharply, my hands digging into her shoulders. “Promise.”
“I promise,” she gasped, yanking away from me.
I looked at Titus, rage simmering under my skin. “Stay away from her.”
Titus’s eyes widened.
“Get her back to the library, son,” Tommy ordered.
“I love you.” Noel threw her arms around me again and hugged tightly before letting go almost as quickly.
“I love you, too.”
“Name your baby after me, okay?” She grinned, even though her eyes were filling with tears.
“I will.”
“I love you,” she called again over her shoulder as she and Titus passed through the front door.
As soon as the door closed behind them a gut-wrenching sob escaped my mouth.
“Esther?” Otto called, stepping toward me.
“She’s alright, bud,” Tommy murmured, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I gasped, struggling to control my breathing.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Otto shot back.
“She just had to send her sister back to that nest of vipers,” Tommy replied, rubbing my back. “And I think that’s sinkin’ in. Give her a minute.”
“They tried to blow me up,” I said, straightening as I glanced up at my father-in-law. “They actually tried to kill me.”
“Glad to see you’ve caught up.” Tommy grimaced. “Sorta.”
“It’s not safe for them to know you’re okay,” Otto said, sitting down with a sigh. “You get that now?”
“You think they’ll come after me?” Why? “I was just collateral damage, right? To make sure you couldn’t get your stuff back.”
“That’s what we’re thinkin’, yeah,” Tommy replied, giving me a little shove toward Otto, who was looking a bit worse for wear. “But better safe than sorry.”
“She won’t say anything,” I choked out, sitting next to Otto. His arm shot out instantly and jerked me against his side.