Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“Where is it?”
“Haven, Texas. Have you heard of it?”
“Sounds like it could be an interesting place to visit.”
She would love to be able to visit Clem, but she was pretty certain that she wouldn’t be welcome.
Harvey picked up the piece of sandwich again and held it to her mouth. “Seems like I am going to have to feed you after all.”
Oops, she hadn’t realized that she’d put it back down. She had a bad habit of letting her emotions affect her appetite. Whenever she was upset, sad, or worried, she just couldn’t eat.
“Come on, open wide.”
“Give that back to me,” she told him.
“Nope, you had your chance. Now I’m going to feed you.”
So she ended up taking a bite of the sandwich while he held it. It felt weirdly intimate. A bit strange.
But a part of her kind of liked it.
She ate the whole sandwich. Which was surprising. “I ate it all!”
“Yeah, baby,” he said as he cleaned up.
“My mother liked to say that a lady should never finish her meal. That men don’t like greedy women.”
“Well, I like my woman to be healthy and well-fed.”
“Yeah, Clem once replied that men didn’t like starving women who were mean bitches. My mother gasped in horror at that and sent her out. I think Clem ate in the kitchen with James.”
“I didn’t see James at the house. Just a woman, a bit younger than your mother with dark hair.”
“That’s Selena. She’s not very nice. I always had to be careful what I said or did around her, because I knew she would report anything back to my mother.”
“Yes, she seemed the type to do that.”
“Do you think the break-in at your house was random?” she asked.
It had playing on her mind. Had it been a coincidence that his place had been broken into? Maybe it was due to his work, or perhaps it was due to her. But she couldn’t imagine her mother ever breaking into his house looking for her.
“No. There was something very odd about it. Nothing was really taken. The camera footage showed a person dressed in black, but I couldn’t see their face. It could be somebody who was disgruntled with me over something else, or it could have just been random.”
“Do you have many people disgruntled with you?” she asked as he led her into the living room and they sat on the sofa. He sat in the corner and slid around so his back was against the armrest. Then he pulled her between his open legs and drew a blanket over the two of them.
For a moment, she was stiff, unable to relax, but he started to lightly massage her shoulders.
A moan of enjoyment escaped her.
That felt amazing.
“Baby, you’re all tense. Do you want a proper massage?”
“A proper massage? With a stranger? No, I don’t think so.”
“No, I meant with me. I’ll lie you down on the bed and give you a good massage.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said. “You already do so much. You’re doing all the cooking. Every time I go to clean, you’ve already done it. I don’t even know what to do.”
And she realized in that moment that she was feeling a bit lost.
“Hey, you don’t have to do anything.” He lifted her, turning around so she straddled his waist. “All you need to do is concentrate on getting stronger.”
“I am getting stronger, though,” she said with frustration. “I don’t want to be seen as weak and delicate. I can do things. I can help find out what Mother and Dr. Wallace are doing. Yes, that’s exactly what I can do. You can use me to find out what’s going on. If anyone has any chance of getting them to talk, it will be me. Take me to the clinic.”
“What?”
“You said that Dr. Wallace wants me to come in, right?”
“Yes, he did. In fact, he even called me just before and sounded even more desperate to get his hands on you.”
“Which is why you should give me to him.”
“I’m not following your logic, baby. Why would I give you to the man that probably drugged you?”
“Because I’ll be bait. He’s desperate, and he’ll slip up. He’ll talk and I’ll be able to find out what’s going on. You could even monitor me with a camera or a microphone or something.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I’m completely serious. I don’t think confronting my mother would work. She’s not likely to tell me what is going on. And even if I can’t get Dr. Wallace to talk, maybe I’ll see something while I’m there.”
“Baby, that’s not happening.” He cupped her face between his hands. “Pay attention to what I am saying. You will not be used as bait.”
She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Why not?”
“Because you are far too precious to me to ever risk you like that. I won’t hear of it. Don’t say it again.”