Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Ellis,” I whimper, wishing like hell I could crawl into a deep, dark hole and never come out.
“I've got you.” He runs his hand up and down my arms.
“What do I do?” I cry, shaking out of his hold and glancing around the room.
The only thing untouched is Fefe's cage. She pops her head up at the sound of my voice, juking happily when she sees me. “It's okay, pretty girl.” I lift the hem of my shirt and wipe my tears, only for fresh ones to take their place. “We’ll figure this out.”
I want nothing more than to take her out and hold her, but my hands are shaking so hard, I worry I’ll drop her. I’ve had Fefe about a year or so—I bought her in the aftermath of everything that happened with Nora—and while obviously a ferret can’t be an official emotional support animal, she soothes me in a way nothing else does.
“You're goddamn right we are,” Ellis agrees. “But for now, try not to touch anything. The cops will want to catalog everything.”
“What am I going to do?” My voice sounds frantic even to my own ears. “Where am I going to stay? My mom's out of town and—”
Ellis spins me to face him and thumps his fist against his chest. “You’ll stay with me.”
“I can't.” I’m sure he’s only offering to be nice or out of some misguided sense of chivalry. “I can't impose on you like that.”
“You're not imposing.” He’s trying to hide it, but I can hear the exasperation in his voice and see it in the tight line of his mouth.
“We’ll kill each other.”
He narrows his eyes in annoyance, but I don’t miss the way his lips twitch in amusement. “You're staying with me, and that’s final.” I try to argue but he presses his index finger to my lips. “You staying with anyone else puts them at risk. Staying at a hotel is not safe enough. The way I see it is, I’m your only option.”
“How do you figure?” I put my hands on my hips as I glower at him.
“Simple, because if this motherfucker steps a foot on my property, it will be the last thing he ever does. I will end him. With zero hesitation.”
I sniffle again, and he reaches out and tugs me into him lightning fast. Without even a second thought, I lay my head against his chest, readily and greedily accepting the comfort he’s so freely giving.
“It’s all gonna be okay,” he murmurs as he wraps his hands rub up and down my back.
I've never hugged Ellis. I've never particularly thought about hugging Ellis. But somehow, in this moment, it's exactly what I need.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my tears running free and soaking his shirt.
“Shhhh, Princess. I've got you.”
“Well, this looks cozy,” Atlas says, joining us. My bedroom feels impossibly small with both men standing in it.
“Maybe we can wait in the living room?” I ask, stepping out of Ellis’s embrace.
Both men turn and file out of the room.
“Cops will be here soon.” Atlas crosses his arms. “Why don't y'all get me up to speed while we wait?”
“I don’t even know where to start,” I groan, covering my face with my hands.
“The beginning is usually a good place,” Atlas deadpans.
I shoot Ellis a pleading look, silently begging him to take over. Thankfully, he does. “Things with Scarlet’s stalker are worse than we let on.”
“I can see that.” He nods. “So, let’s backtrack a little further so I can understand when you two became a we.”
“When we babysat,” Ellis says, somehow remaining calm and cool.
Meanwhile, I’m shaking like a geyser about to blow.
Atlas, too, if his beet red face and the pulsing vein in his forehead are anything to go by. “That was a week ago!”
I shrink back as the sound of his booming voice fills the space.
“You need to chill, man.” Ellis trails his fingertips over my upper arm—a move Atlas clocks and catalogs.
“And you need to actually fucking explain. Because so far, neither of you have actually told me anything.”
“Long story short… I took the trash out the night we stayed over and thought I heard something. I did a perimeter search, but it was all clear.”
I step in and take over. “The next morning, I went out to my car to get something and found a note on my windshield.”
Ellis glances down at me before jumping back in. “The note implied he watched us through the window as we slept. He threatened to break my hands if I ever touched Scarlet again.”
We trade off again, strangely in sync. “Ellis convinced me I needed to file a police report and even helped me do it.”
“I asked her to let me know if he reached out again or left any more notes.”
“Last night, I was getting ready to go out, but when I left...” The memory of finding the bag of food on my porch slams into me with the force of a wrecking ball, knocking my breath from my chest.