Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Riley strides out of the bathroom, her long auburn hair damp as she brushes it through with her fingers. “There’s an old mattress in the bedroom,” she tells me. “It’s probably infested with all kinds of DNA, but if we put a blanket down, it might not be so bad.”
My face scrunches at the thought. I’ve slept on worse, but I can’t stand the idea of Aria having to lower herself to a filthy mattress, especially after living such an incredible life over these past seven years. She deserves the best.
She ambles closer and steps over my legs, ready to drop down onto my lap, when her stomach rumbles so loud it all but echoes. “Hungry?”
“Starved,” she admits, dropping down anyway and fixing me with a concerned stare as her arms hook around my neck. “I know you’re not going to love this, but I was thinking that I could go down to that corner store and get us a decent meal. Maybe—”
“No.”
“Don’t you no me, Stone Blackthorne. You need energy. You can’t keep going like this. I’m fine just eating snacks and shitty food, but you’re on the run. You need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice and have your wits about you. You can’t do that when you haven’t eaten and barely slept in a week. I’m not about to let you get caught because you’re too stubborn to let yourself eat and sleep.”
“Aria—”
“Don’t make me beat your ass, Stone Blackthorne.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I can handle myself,” she tells me. “Besides, it’s not your call. I’m doing it with or without your approval, and you’re going to be grateful. Otherwise, I’m going to find someone who deals in horse tranquilizers and nail you in the ass with one.”
I arch a brow. “A horse tranquilizer?”
“Get it?” she laughs. “Because you’re so damn big.”
I let out a huff, but as her stomach rumbles again, I realize I really don’t have a choice. I can’t make her starve because I’m too fucking stubborn to let her walk down to the corner store. Fact is, I can’t go. I have to keep myself locked away in this shitty apartment, and to be able to do that, I need to learn to lean on Aria from time to time. I’m so used to being the one who cares for her. She was always my responsibility, but now it’s time for her to do the same.
“Okay,” I finally say. “But I’ll be watching you from the window, and if you’re gone for more than fifteen minutes, I’m coming after you. Understood?”
“Oh, thank fuck,” she breathes, throwing herself to her feet and scampering over to our survival bag. She pulls out some cash and shoves it into her pocket before turning back and grinning at me. “You and me, we’re living the high life tonight.”
I roll my eyes, and she nearly dances toward the door, only as she pulls it open, she pauses and glances back at me. “Also, after we eat, I’m heading down to the basement. There’s bound to be a washer and dryer down there, and we need clean clothes. So it’s best you start getting used to the idea now.”
A smug grin stretches across her lips, and after blowing me a quick kiss, Aria disappears out the door, and I’m instantly flooded with deep regret. It’s the first time she’s been out of my sight all week, and the idea of something happening to her makes me sick.
She’s tried to run twice already, but this is different. Our dynamics have shifted. She’s no longer a hostage being dragged along for an insane ride. She’s in it with me, desperate to get to the finish line so we can try and build some kind of life together at the other end.
The seconds turn into minutes, and I lean into the window, watching her walk with her head down, cutting across the street and to the corner store. Men glance her way, some intrigued, but I can’t fault them. She’s fucking stunning, but just as I suspected, they mind their business. They don’t bother her, and I’m grateful for that. I’m not exactly in the mood to cut out tongues today, but I would do it to protect my girl.
Aria slips inside the store, and the ten minutes it takes before she emerges again almost drive me to my breaking point. It’s becoming more than clear to me that I never stopped loving her, not even when I put her at the top of my kill list. Sure, I wanted to teach her a lesson, but could I really have ended her life? I don’t know, but I’m glad that’s a lesson I’ll never have to learn.
She trails back toward our apartment complex but pauses by the group of men who had checked her out.