Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
The temptation to send for him was nearly overwhelming. The only reason she didn’t was because she loved him. She truly loved him, and she wanted him to have a life. If she kept calling him and forcing him to drop everything and rush to save her sanity, he would never be able to find happiness for himself. Above all else, even her own happiness, she wanted that for him.
She could barely stand. Her body felt so painful, as if she’d been beaten mercilessly, and there wasn’t an inch of her that had been spared. She didn’t dare look at her left thigh, which she covered with her palm. The fabric separating her hand from her leg felt slick with blood. There was so much that she knew if she looked at the wounds inflicted in one of the many fits of rage Scorpion had, her thigh muscle would be gaping open. She’d lived with that, with the infection that followed for weeks. That had been one of the worst times. The beatings, the skin flayed from her back, her thigh stabbed numerous times to make a point. When something triggered flashbacks, she felt every one of those wounds and hallucinated that they were open all over again.
Shabina had wanted him to kill her, but Iyad had intervened and reminded Scorpion she would die. She’d lost too much blood. Shabina could see the sadistic insanity in Scorpion’s eyes. His men could see it too. Most turned away to protect themselves, knowing he was quite capable of turning his wrath on them. She couldn’t believe Iyad had risked his life by interceding on her behalf. She didn’t want him to, but she was too far gone to say so. She couldn’t speak, going in and out of consciousness.
Malik and Sharif returned, pulling her partially out of the dark abyss threatening to swallow her. Both dogs were relaxed, which meant there had been no intruder in her home. Stepping inside, she quickly closed the door and sagged against it, making another deliberate attempt to slow her pounding heart.
She slid down the doorframe to the floor, drawing up her knees and resting her forehead on the tops. The flashbacks were becoming more vivid. More intense. That was a bad, bad sign. She rubbed her pounding forehead back and forth over the tops of her knees as she hugged her legs tightly, folding in on herself, making herself as small as possible.
The pain in her body made her feel physically ill, but she refused to give in to her lurching stomach. She’d been having trouble eating for the last week, and once she started being sick, she wouldn’t be able to even look at or smell food—not a good thing when she owned and operated a café.
Just the idea of facing her staff and customers was daunting. She couldn’t bear the idea of seeing anyone, especially when she was certain one of her staff had betrayed her. The spices had to have been stolen from the café’s kitchen. She considered calling Vaughn and telling him they would need to close the café for a few days, but that would mean her staff wouldn’t be paid. She couldn’t afford to pay them if she didn’t have the café open.
Malik rushed to the window and gave a short bark, jerking her out of her internal monologue. It wasn’t his alarm bark, or a challenge, but more a greeting. She pulled out her phone and looked at the camera with a little sigh.
The trouble with having friends was they just showed up when you absolutely didn’t want to see a single soul. What happened to the call-ahead policy? Hadn’t they always done that? She couldn’t remember. They all had the code to her gate, and no one thought a thing about using it.
Her back was to the door. They were just going to push their way right in, sweeping her against the wall. Maybe they wouldn’t see her behind the open door. There was no way to hide the state she was in. It wasn’t as if she could pull herself together and go whip up a meal for everyone in the next half hour. She scooted on her butt away from the door but just stayed on the floor.
Zahra shoved open the door, and Daisy bounded in. The little Jack Russell leapt at Shabina’s raised knees in an attempt to get into her nonexistent lap, giving her location away immediately. Zahra hesitated but turned back to help Raine into the house. As usual, Raine had her computer bag with her. Zahra had Misty on a leash and brought her crate in after she helped Raine to one of Shabina’s comfortable chairs.
“Have the dogs been fed?” Zahra asked, all business. She put Misty in the crate and pulled the dogs’ beds from the closet where she knew Shabina kept them stored.