Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
She reached over the table and squeezed my hand.
“You two can find that freedom together. In truth and honesty. You don’t have to hide. I promise, just like I would promise Theo that he doesn’t have to hide from you. Don’t let walls ruin what you two have. Otto and I wasted so much time hiding behind them, and I don’t want that for you. Offer yourself to him, Piper. Wholly. Then ask him to do the same for you.”
Tears streamed down my face, and I sniffled as I processed through what she was saying. Then I was nodding frantically as I came to swift awareness.
Slammed with a determination unlike anything I’d felt before.
I swiped away the tears as I stood and set my half drank wine onto the table. Joy rushed as I wheezed, “I need to go.”
Hope was in full bloom, and it was time I ran with it.
Charleigh frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. More than okay. Because of all of you. Because of this place. Because of Theo. And he needs to know. He needs to know all of me.”
Raven squealed. “Yes, girl! Give it to him! All of it, Piper Poo!”
An excited laugh bubbled out through the chaos. “I plan to.”
I dug into my purse so I could grab some cash.
Emery shooed me away. “Don’t even think about it. We have this covered. Go.”
I nodded again, and I slung into my coat before I rushed around the table and hugged each of them. “Thank you so much,” I told them as I went.
They all nodded and smiled those gleaming smiles, hope and joy radiating from them as I tossed the strap of my purse over my shoulder and started to scramble across the bar for the door.
“Then be sure to get yourself some of that good dick afterward!” Raven shouted behind me.
I barely fumbled a step, choking over a laugh, before I rushed out into the winter cold, whispering under my breath as I stepped onto the sidewalk, “I plan to.”
Night had fallen, and holiday lights glowed from the buildings.
People bustled about as they dodged and weaved.
A buoyant vibe clung to the chilled air.
Christmas was right around the corner, and I couldn’t wait to experience it here.
The heels of my boots clunked against the wooden planks as I hurried to where I parked about half a block up on a little side street that cut between two buildings.
Vapor puffed from my mouth as I nearly ran, relief and joy pressing at my heart as I thought of what I was about to do.
A full giving of myself.
Succumbing in a way I thought would be disastrous, but now I knew, it was the only thing I could do.
The only thing I wanted to do.
It was the only way to give my son the life he deserved.
The only way to give us a chance at joy.
A real existence.
It was the only way to fully give into this love.
I ducked around the corner, and a rush of bitter cold swarmed me. I hunkered down against the bite of the wind, and I lifted my shoulders to my ears as if it could keep the chill away.
But it only intensified.
It took me a moment to process the sensation. The eerie clawing that slicked like ice down my spine.
That sickening sense of dread that slithered across my flesh and lifted the fine hairs at the base of my neck.
I whipped my attention around, searching into the shadows of the street and along the buildings.
Nothing.
I was only being paranoid.
Sucking it down, I hurried toward my car that was about a hundred feet away, parked at the curb with the front facing in my direction.
The running lights flashed as I approached.
I was right there.
So close.
It was fine.
It was fine.
I was just letting old fears creep in.
I finally made it to the door, and I reached for the handle and whipped it open.
A punch of relief pilfered from my nose as I hopped into the driver’s seat. I slammed the door and clicked the locks.
See.
It was nothing.
Only those chills scattered when the dark presence rose up from the backseat.
Terror drenched me all the way through when a gun cocked, and the barrel was placed at my temple. Justin’s horrible, disgusting voice oozed against my ear. “Did you miss me, baby?”
FIFTY
PIPER
NINETEEN YEARS OLD
Piper couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t process what had happened almost a week ago.
She’d seen what had happened on the news.
The old man whose wife had died six months earlier killed in a robbery.
Jewelry and a significant amount of cash had reportedly been stolen.
She’d been sick.
Horrified.
Repulsed and appalled that she’d been the one to go to his door, unwittingly a diversion for Justin to break inside.
She was even more appalled at herself that she hadn’t gathered the courage to go to the police. To pick up the phone and report who had so clearly committed the atrocious crime.