Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
I set it down outside the bathroom door.
“I have a tray of food out here for you, Kylie. You don’t have to talk to me,” I say quietly. “But please, eat something.”
I’m only met with the sounds of her soft breaths. They’re no longer tight and stifling like before, and I only hope that means she’s no longer crying. I pray that means she’s not crying anymore.
Eventually, the door does open, but any hope I have is deflated when she shoves the tray away with her foot and shuts it again.
Outright refusal, that’s what Kylie Moon is giving me right now. And while I wish that weren’t the case, I can’t blame her. I can’t fucking blame her at all.
I’ve made a real mess of this entire situation.
I leave the tray there anyway. Just in case she changes her mind.
Thirty minutes or so later, Kane knocks at the door. Cal’s with him. Both of them look like they’ve been running. Their jackets are half-zipped, eyes sharp, scanning the hallway out of habit.
“How is she?” Kane asks, keeping his voice low.
“In the bathroom,” I say. “Still.”
“Well, shit.” Cal grimaces. “That’s not great.”
“She asked for space,” I reply. “She gets it. Pretty sure she deserves at least that much from me after all this shit.”
Kane studies me. “And you?”
I shrug. “I’m still pretending to breathe.”
That earns me a snort.
“Have you told her everything?” Kane asks, and I shake my head.
“Not yet.”
Cal purses his lips. “Not trying to play back-seat quarterback, but I’m pretty sure she deserves the truth.”
“I know.” I sigh. “Trust me, I know.” But fuck me, it’s not easy telling someone everything they thought they knew about this world is a lie. It’s not easy telling the woman who’s your destiny that you’re something she probably fears.
“We probably shouldn’t stay here much longer,” Kane comments. “Things are calm. They already cleaned up the mess in her driveway, but they’re looking for us. They know.” I can read between the lines—they know, and they want us dead.
“And the mess?” I question, and he knows exactly what I’m asking.
“Six feet under.”
Yeah. I’m not surprised we killed them. When I saw that fuck trying to take Kylie, I lost it. I had too much rage pulsing through my body to do anything but end him. I’m also not naïve to the fact that taking out three of their gofers has only made us more of a target.
“We’ll head out in the morning.” I nod and look back at the bathroom door. “I just want to give her a little more time before we move.”
They exchange a glance.
“You’re sure you want to give her more time?” Kane asks. “She’s not exactly…thrilled anyway.”
I almost laugh. “She doesn’t have to be thrilled,” I say. “She just has to feel like she isn’t being hunted every second.”
“And you?” Cal asks.
“I can handle it.”
They nod, accepting that answer for what it is. I mean, it’s certainly not reassurance, but it’s resolve.
“We’ll be back,” Kane says. “Text if anything changes.”
They disappear toward the elevator, footsteps fading across the carpet of the hall, and I shut the door behind me.
The room settles again, and I lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling and replaying everything I shouldn’t have done and everything I still will.
I don’t know how long I lie there before the bathroom door opens.
Soft footsteps pad across the carpet of the hotel room, and when they stop, I feel the bed dip.
I turn my head, and I find Kylie sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a hotel towel. Her eyes are red and her face is blotchy. Her hair is still damp from the third shower she took, and the strands curl softly near her shoulders.
She removes the towel and tosses it onto the chair near the window without ceremony. And I honestly don’t even know if she realizes she’s only in her bra and panties. It’s as if she doesn’t have the energy to care.
But she shocks the hell out of me when she climbs onto the bed beside me and curls her small body up beside mine.
“Rook,” she says quietly.
“Yeah, Kylie?”
She hesitates, then shifts closer, pressing her forehead against my chest. “Just…hold me.”
That’s all she says, but right now, it feels like everything.
I slide an arm around her carefully, like she might shatter if I grip too tight. She fits against me instinctively, her breath evening out as soon as she’s there, like her body’s been waiting for this permission longer than she realizes.
I don’t move.
I don’t speak.
I just hold her.
Her fingers curl into my shirt, and her legs tuck against mine. The tension drains out of her shoulders and chest in slow increments. And eventually, her shuddering breaths give way to something that is deeper and softer.
She’s asleep within minutes.
And I just lie there. Holding her and relishing the feeling of having her in my arms. Watching the door. Listening to the hallway. Counting the seconds until I have to tear us out of this fragile bubble and put her back into a world that wants to break her.