Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
My heart lobbed in my throat. I didn’t wish what I’d been through on my worst enemy—well, except for Rocket. There was a time I hoped to forget every moment of it too.
I glanced at the couple across from us, now pulling out food. Reaching over, the man gave Rebel a hotdog.
“Thank you,” Jamie said.
“If we had more …” The woman with him glanced at me, mouth forming a grimace of apology.
“No, it’s alright,” I replied. “Our girl has lost lots of blood.”
The white noise of traffic above us added a buffer to help conceal our private conversation from the one the other couple returned to. “But I still don’t understand why your parents are to blame.” Except for, well, the obvious. Their decision not to mention the other children they left behind while saving their son. Still, I couldn’t beat a dead dog by mentioning that again.
“You don’t get it, Jordyn. I blame them for always trying to make me forget. One of them succeeded! Made me forget you. I’m sure of it. So, while I’ve forgiven them, I want nothing to do with them.”
The way he spoke, I didn’t believe he had forgiven his family. If I knew my mom … that she’d sold me, and she came to me with tears in her eyes. Apologized. How would I approach the situation? I couldn’t answer that. “I’m sorry, Jamie, but I don’t believe you forgave them.”
“Okay, full disclosure: I’m starting the process over again.”
“Why?”
“The hit on my life! Those cops. Walsh tried to shoot me in the back.” Though he held Rebel closely, the comfort I suspected she usually gave as an emotional support animal didn’t penetrate. “Walsh wasn’t on the take from Aleksandr Chelomey. My mention of Chelomey elicited only shock from him.”
“Then who?”
“My father. He engages in illegal activities and has corrupt cops in his pocket. Plenty of them. So, I’m certain that beat cop felt comfortable lying about me having a weapon.”
I shook my head. This made zero sense. “You think your dad would try to kill us? Kill you”—at the rollercoaster of emotions and volume of my voice, I glanced across the fire and whispered—“his own son?”
Doubt threaded Jamie’s brows. He rested his elbows on his muscular thighs and dropped his head into his hands. “Jordyn, while I don’t level accusations, the facts point to him. My father doesn’t allow his emotions to reign, not like my mom.”
I could tell he struggled with the titles while his knee jittered.
“I broke her heart on Independence Day … before I rescued you. Probably broke it in the seven years I hadn’t said a word to them. Anyway, they found me. Initiated some sort of intervention. They thought I was still codependent on my medication. I dunno what they thought.”
“You ghosted them for years. When they finally caught up with you and reached out, you destroyed her last shred of hope?
“Yep. She couldn’t stop crying, and I couldn’t turn around. Hug her. Or any of the sort. I broke her. Now Big Brody will break me.” He lifted a shoulder. “He’ll try.”
This man had cut off parents who wished to be part of his life. How did I pick a side when my loyalty belonged to the man who saved me? Should I console him now, and we discuss how ridiculous he sounded later?
I could only console him in one way. A way he’d already rejected.
He doesn’t want me. Sure, the kisses we shared were to die for. But there was a line I’d jump over; he wouldn’t.
My hands scrubbed through my hair. What a stupid thought? An invasive thought. A lie. It contradicted every action Jamie had taken to get me out of sexual bondage. Let’s face it. I still equate love with sex.
Before I could speak, Jamie’s cell phone rang. Contrary to my expectations of him ignoring it, he rose to his feet and answered. “Mack.”
A sigh ran through me as I exited the city bus. Bone tired. We were in south Los Angeles. Dominguez Hills. Still hadn’t made it to Long Beach. I wilted against the bench at the bus stop.
“No. We gotta keep moving.”
“Nobody’s chasing us. We don’t have to hide inside a nasty fast-food place while waiting for the next bus to come.” I’d thrown away my clothes after taking a birdbath in a graffiti sink. Now, I was down to three sweatsuits. “It’s late. If the bus doesn’t see us or have a drop-off, it might not stop.”
“Jordyn, it’s just a short walk.” Jamie stood behind a stroller that we’d bought at a swap meet. Rebel lay hidden beneath a baby blanket, snoring softly.
“This isn’t Long Beach. Who’s gonna help us if not your parents?”
“We’ll help ourselves,” he grumbled. I sensed his frustration that I’d given his family a pass. If he could go back in time, see the conviction on his face when saying Clan MacKenzie would save us.