Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 174623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 698(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
"Seatbelt," he says after I climb into the passenger seat.
He doesn't close the door until he hears the click of it locking into place.
Time seems to skip, my mind missing beats because one minute he's standing outside the door looking toward the house, and the next he's behind the wheel holding the strap to my purse.
"Denise got this for you," he says, holding it in my direction. "Is there anything else you need from inside before we leave?"
I shake my head, having turned off and removed my earpiece when Denise arrived for her shift.
He pulls away from Juniper House, the SUV gliding easily over the asphalt, but the ride still somehow feels bumpy and unpleasant.
I know it's the thoughts racing through my head, the plans I'm trying to make that I can't seem to focus on.
I haven't even taken the time to figure out where I'm meant to go next. I've only been in New Mexico for a short while.
Fear, involving more than just Graham, tangles with itself. I don't even have the means to leave. I always knew there was a chance I'd have to leave one place long before I was ready. I knew I might end up in a shelter again, and I was okay with the idea so long as I was safe, but now that it may actually happen, I hate the idea of it.
Tears burn my eyes, and I know I have no hope of stopping them, so I don't even try.
Chapter 25
Nyx
I'm pretty sure I drove all of them crazy on the flight back from Denver. I paced the length of the plane the entire time, rageful and feeling helpless.
No one said a word to me.
They didn't try to calm me down.
They didn't try to placate me and tell me everything would be okay.
The only thing that was said came from Shadow.
"We have extra security on the house," he assured me.
"They need more," I growled, barely keeping from saying that she needed me.
He made a call to Max and had more guys sent to Juniper House.
We were assured that there were no issues at the house. Juliet was inside and safe.
Kincaid sat in his seat, a weird smile on his face, eyes watching me track the floor back and forth over and over. It was as if he was privy to some fucking secret he wasn't sharing with everyone else. By the time I got annoyed enough with him staring at me to finally speak up, we were instructed to take our seats and put on our seatbelts.
We went from the airport to the house, a ride that seemed to take forever even though it was only about fifteen minutes. I cussed this chapter of Cerberus for not taking a fucking helicopter the entire way.
The way my blood calmed, my heart rate slowly getting back to normal at the sight of her, was something I really needed to sit with and try to understand, but then the fucking flower delivery showed up.
I don't know that I've ever watched the blood drain from someone's face so quickly, and that's saying a lot because I've witnessed death more times than I can count.
We knew we were going to get back to Farmington before Graham ever could, considering how far the parole office was. There was no way he could get there before us, but that didn't stop him from sending those fucking flowers.
The songs. The flowers.
He's using the most inconspicuous ways to torture her, and it makes me wonder if he has someone watching her or recording her reactions just so he can get off on the trauma she still holds from their marriage.
Her tears shred me, each sniffle coming from the passenger seat, peeling parts of me away until I feel bare and helpless by the time I pull up outside her apartment.
I stay behind the wheel until I see a second Cerberus SUV pull up beside us. I wasn't joking when I told Shadow the house needed more men, and I'm grateful that it translated the way it did.
I'm not too proud to know that more help is always better than being alone. I feel like I can keep her safe, but if the option is to have more eyes on the situation and backup if needed, I'd never let pride get in the way and turn down the help.
I shift in my seat, turning to look at her.
It's the first time I've seen her not looking all around, which tells me just how upset she is. You'd think she'd be incapable of keeping her head still, her eyes working double time to locate a threat, but her mind just can't handle all of it right now.
"Juliet," I say, hating the way she jolts at the sound of my voice.
Her eyes shift from the side window to the front, a look of shock in them as if she were so lost in thought she hadn't even realized where we were.