Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 19570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
And I brace myself for that pain all over again.
Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he shrugs off his coat. Then he tosses something to Gunnar.
“Excuse me and Miss Jane, please,” he says, waiting for him to walk away.
Ryder stays where he is, just staring at me.
He doesn’t move closer.
“So?” I ask.
“So what?”
“I finished my job with Kylie.”
“I’m aware.”
“Did you finish yours?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to let me in on what you had to do to finish it?”
He doesn’t answer.
Instead, he crosses the room, closes the distance in three strides, and pulls me into his arms like he’s afraid I might disappear.
My back slams gently against the wall as his mouth finds mine—hungry, forceful.
He kisses me like he’s making up for lost time, like he’s trying to memorize every part of me again.
His hand slips under my shirt, palm searing against bare skin, while his other arm braces beside my head.
His lips drag along my jaw, down my neck—biting, tasting—before crashing back to my mouth.
When he finally breaks the kiss, his breath is ragged.
He rests his forehead to mine, chest heaving, fingers still gripping my hips like I might vanish.
“It’s over,” he whispers, his voice hoarse. “It’s finally fucking over…”
End of Episode 14
Decisions
14.1
Ryder
The Following Morning
“Miss Jane, ride in the back with me!” Adeline holds the back door to my car open.
She’s earlier than she’s ever been for getting ready for school.
“She can ride in the back when you get picked up,” I say. “She needs to be in the front with me today.”
“Okay, fine…”
Autumn adjusts the collar of her shirt, hiding the mark I left on her hours ago, then slides into the seat beside me.
I cover her hand on the gear shift as we pull away, and for a moment, everything settles.
Her presence. Adeline’s quiet hum in the back seat. The slow rhythm of a normal morning.
This could be my life.
And hell—I could get used to it.
“Are you still my nanny, Miss Jane?” Adeline asks from the back. “Or just Dad’s girlfriend this time?”
Jesus, Adeline…
I shoot her a pointed look through the rearview mirror. She shoots one right back at me.
“I’m just here,” Autumn says, glancing back at her. “We don’t have to put titles on anything.”
“But you’re not leaving me again?”
“No, Adele,” she says. “I’m not.”
“Good. Can you find the time to talk to my dad about us going to the mall? Or just—out someplace on weekends from time to time?”
She asks her that as if I’m not sitting right fucking here.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Autumn holds back a laugh as Adeline pulls out her violin.
For whatever reason, I don’t have to force her to practice anymore. She does it on her own and often—like now—she just plays until we get to wherever we’re going.
The morning light slants through the windshield, golden and quiet. Adeline’s music swells through the car, mingling with the faint scent of Autumn’s perfume—something soft and heady that still clings to my skin from hours ago.
“About that,” Autumn says over notes of Symphony No. 7. “Will leaving be different now, or is that still impossible?”
“I’ll always have someone following or protecting you,” I say.
“But we can go places?”
I nod, feeling a weight off my chest.
When we pull into the school’s entryway, Adeline snaps her violin back into her case and gives me a kiss on the cheek. Then she gives Autumn one.
“See you later.” She beams before rushing away.
“What made you change your mind about letting her stay in Seattle?” Autumn asks.
“You.”
“What?” She looks at me. “How so?”
“I’d already let you walk away,” I say, cupping her face in my hands. “When she cried on the plane before takeoff, I realized I couldn’t afford to let anyone do that.”
“You’re starting to scare me.” She smiles. “I’m not sure I appreciate seeing so much of your sentimental side.”
“It’ll be gone by the time we get home,” I say. “We have lots of lost time to make up for.”
“Conversations?”
“If you’d like to talk while I’m fucking you, that’s your choice.”
I kiss her like I’ve been starving for it, like this morning—this life—is something I’ll do everything to protect.
And maybe it is.
“You won’t have the energy for it, though…”
End of Episode 14.1
Cut to the Chase
EPISODE 15
Autumn
Several Months Later
Living at the estate is the true fresh start I was hoping for. I’m not working for Ryder or anyone. I’m flitting between passions—music, luthier work solely for our own instruments, and writing—and for the first time in a long while, I have the freedom to figure out what comes next.
I spend countless hours with Adeline, nights with Ryder, and I fly home every other weekend to see my parents—to keep mending the threads I left unraveled.
I was hoping to spend tonight with Adeline, so I could show her how to finally fix a string she keeps breaking, but when I arrived home from the store, there was a note waiting for me.