Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
He hands it to me, and I read the card once. Then again.
“When this is over, you’re going to be mine.” Signed with only a V.
Silence fills the room.
I stare down at the card, and rage simmers inside me.
“Paul.”
He steps toward me immediately. “Yes, sir.”
“Get every camera feed from that apartment building.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want names of everyone that has been in that building today. I want someone to go to the florist and find out who bought the flowers and who delivered them. I want to know everything.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And find out where Victor Sterling is and put a detail on him. I want to know where he is every second of every day, and I’m going to handle him when he least expects it. He will never have my wife. Never.”
The room goes completely still. I’m pissed, and I can feel my heart racing and anger rising until I can barely stand here.
Eleanor leans into me. “Bobby.”
I look at her and can now place the emotion on her face. She’s afraid, and I think it’s the first time in thirty-five years that I’ve seen her look that way.
I take a deep breath. In the past, I would have raged. I would have sent her to our room, gotten a meeting together, and come up with a plan. Then I would have left, ready to take on whoever and whatever. But looking at her and knowing all I know now, I can’t just walk out.
I wrap my hand around Eleanor’s and look over at Paul. “Handle it.”
Surprise flashes across his face briefly, but he nods quickly.
I gesture to Luna. “Make sure Luna gets home safe.” I turn to my daughter-in-law. “If Cole is working tonight, you can stay here in his old room.”
Luna nods, and I release Eleanor just enough for her to hug Luna.
I then put an arm around Ellie’s waist. “Come upstairs with me.”
Her eyebrows lift slightly. “What?”
I grab her suitcase with one hand and pull her to the stairs with the other. “Come on, baby.”
She comes with me, and I lead her upstairs. This is a first for me, but right now, I don’t give a damn about Victor Sterling.
I care about my wife.
The second we step inside our bedroom, Eleanor stops.
I watch emotion move across her face as she looks around the room she hasn’t slept in for months.
Everything is exactly like she left it. I’ve told the cleaning lady to leave everything where it was and clean around it. I couldn’t make myself change a damn thing. Her makeup still sits on the bathroom counter, and her books still rest on the shelf beside the bed.
I set her suitcase down quietly.
“You kept everything the same,” she whispers.
I pull her to me. “I wanted everything the same when you came back.”
Her eyes immediately fill with tears, and fuck if that doesn’t wreck me.
I cup her face gently. “Hey. Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry.” She laughs shakily. “I don’t know why I’m emotional.” She shakes her head. “Yeah, I do. It’s been a hell of a day.”
“I should’ve never let you stay there alone.”
Her forehead creases. “Bobby—”
“I mean it,” I say roughly. “You needed space, I understand that now. But not at the cost of your safety.”
She searches my face carefully. “You really mean that?”
“Yes.” I sigh and lean my forehead against hers. “I’ve spent so many years trying to protect you from this life that I forgot you were supposed to be living it beside me.”
Emotion flashes across her face again, then softly she whispers, “I missed you.”
Something inside me snaps.
I kiss her instantly. My hands slide into her hair, and I hold her to me like I’m afraid she’ll disappear again.
She melts against me, and relief crashes through my body so hard it nearly drops me to my knees. My wife has come home, and she’s going to be sleeping in our bed next to me. I won’t screw this up again now that she’s back where she belongs.
I walk her backward slowly until the backs of her legs hit the mattress. She looks up at me with flushed cheeks and swollen lips, and I swear to God I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.
I kneel in front of her and slowly slip her heels off one at a time.
Her fingers slide through my hair. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
I toss the shoes aside and slide my hands up her calves slowly. “You know what I kept thinking about while you were gone?”
“What?”
“This,” I murmur. “Taking care of you.”
Her breath catches.
I stand and unzip her dress slowly, pushing the material down her shoulders. My gaze drifts over every inch of her bare skin.
“I missed looking at you.”
She shivers under my hands.
I kiss her shoulder gently. “Victor Sterling sends you roses like he knows you.”