Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
My stomach drops into my knees. I have to lean against the counter as my breath comes fast. I realize just how stupid I’ve been up to this point.
I keep forgetting what she is.
That woman might be my mother, but she’s also a ruthless, brutal murderer.
She sent me Alex’s head in a box.
Now she’s sending more body parts.
“She texted me,” I whisper.
He goes very still. “What did you say?”
“Last night. Just one message. She said, Have you figured out who I am yet? And nothing else.”
“Let me see.”
I take out my phone, but I don’t hand it over. “And you should know…” I trail off, feeling so sick I might throw up on the floor.
He lets out a long sigh. “You responded.”
“I just said, You’re my mother. Like ten minutes ago.”
“Oh, Alina.”
“I know. I know! It was stupid.”
“Show me.”
I unlock my phone and turn it to him. He scrutinizes the message and types the number into his device before sending it off to someone. “I’ll see what my people can find out about this number.”
“You think it’ll lead to her?”
“I doubt it. She’s good at this. But we have to try.”
“I’m sorry, Seamus. It was stupid. I don’t know why I sent that message. I just thought—”
He pulls me against him. His arms wrap around me protectively. “You shouldn’t have replied, you’re right, but you didn’t cause her to send me that hand.”
I look up at him, heart quickly pattering up into my throat. “How can you be sure?”
“The timing doesn’t work. When you replied, I was already on my way here, and she’d dropped the hand off already. The hand isn’t your fault.”
That makes me feel somewhat better. The guilt’s been there, heavy and thick in my guts, threatening to choke me. Even though I know it isn’t my fault. My mother’s the one causing these deaths. But somehow, they’re linked back to me through her sick, twisted brain.
“What are we going to do?”
“First, you’re going to close the shop. Where’s Kira?”
“On her lunch break.”
“Call her. Tell her to go home. Don’t scare her, but tell her the shop’s staying closed for a bit.”
“Okay, I can do that.” I follow his instructions. Kira answers and sounds pretty confused, but I do my best to make her understand that it’s not urgent, but we can’t open for a bit.
“You sure you’re okay?” she asks, sounding really nervous. “This is weird.”
“Everything’s fine. It’s just a precaution, okay?”
“I trust you, but please don’t disappear on me.”
Once that’s done, I move to delete the text from my mother, but Seamus stops me.
“I was thinking, since you already replied…” He frowns slightly, fingers brushing over mine.
“You want to draw her out?”
“At least I don’t want to close this off. Are you good with that?”
“I’m not good with any of this, honestly, but if it’ll help, we can try.”
“This is hard. I know you want to help. I know you’re scared too. But we’ll be okay.” He kisses me lightly. “I promise you, Alina. We’ll be okay.”
I believe him. I just worry that it isn’t enough.
Chapter 35
Alina
Ipress myself up against Seamus’s side. His breathing is steady and slow. “I can’t sleep,” I whisper, so quiet that it won’t wake him if he’s already out. He stirs slightly, shifting his body toward mine and drawing me closer.
“Close your eyes, princess.”
“I don’t want to. I’m afraid I might dream.”
“Bad dreams?”
“Nightmares.”
“We can’t have that.” He turns toward me and his lips press against mine gently. “We’ll have to replace those bad thoughts with good ones.”
I don’t know if that’s possible. My head’s been running in circles since I found out Molchanie is definitely my mother. But the more I think about what she’s been doing, the more repulsed I feel.
How did I come from a woman like that?
And is there a part of me that’s just like she is?
Broken in some unimaginable way.
Seamus’s hands stroke down my side. “Hey. Hey. You’re here with me.”
I stare up at him and only just realize there are tears in my eyes. “She sent you a hand, Seamus.”
“I know, baby.”
“My mother did that.”
“None of this is your fault.”
I tilt my chin up and kiss him. I know he’s right, but I keep wondering. If I hadn’t married him, would she have done any of this? Would Alex still be alive? Would those Whelan clan members still be around?
His hands explore me. He touches my skin like he has to feel every inch. I pull my shirt off and straddle him, pushing my hips down as he starts to get hard under me. I kiss him fiercely, wanting to drown out the bad thoughts. I’m thinking maybe, if I’m lucky, Seamus is enough to quiet all the pain, at least for a little while.
His mouth kisses my neck, my collarbone. He sits up, kissing my chest, my breasts, hands gripping my ass. I grind into him. I love how hard he gets. I love the hammering in his chest, the way his heart races when we’re touching, and I focus on that.