Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
“No,” I shout. “No, I have to save her.”
The next thing I remember, I’m sitting on the back of an EMS vehicle with a blanket around me and I’m staring at the blood drenching my shirt. Kelly is dead. I killed her. I repeat this in my mind over and over and somehow I’m dialing my father. “Something happened,” I say when he answers.
“What happened?”
“The store I was in was robbed. My girlfriend threw herself in front of me to save me from a bullet. She’s dead.”
“Go home. Stay there until I get there and tell no one.”
“What? Why? I don’t understand.”
“You’re going to look like the weak asshole who let a woman take a bullet for him. That’s unacceptable. You’re changing schools. You’re leaving tonight. I’ll call you back.” He hangs up.
“Fuck you, dad,” I growl, not about to leave before Kelly’s funeral. I’m staying. I killed her. I am the weak asshole who let her die. I’m facing the hate that comes with that because I deserve it.
Carrie
Present day, thirty minutes before she showed up at Gabe’s door with Reid’s father…
I’m pacing the living room, worried about what Reid is doing right now. I dial Cat because I need to talk, but then I realize she’s pregnant. I can’t worry her and what if this sets her up for danger, too? Oh God. What if she’s already in danger? I want to call Reid. I can’t stop myself. I dial his number but he doesn’t answer. I press my hand to my head. Where would he go if not to Elijah’s place? The office? Gabe’s? Yes. Gabe’s. I think he went to Gabe’s. I rush to the bedroom, grab my purse and pull on a coat with the intent of going to Gabe’s place when my phone rings.
I answer without checking the number. “Carrie.”
“Dad?”
“Yes, why do you sound so stressed? Did Reid upset you?”
“No. Yes. No.” I press my hand to my face. “He’s trying to protect me at all costs. I’m worried about him. I need—”
“Protect you from what?”
“It’s a long story. Someone who hates him came after me today.”
“Elijah?”
My eyes go wide. “What do you know about Elijah?”
“He came to me when Reid took over the company. He wanted me to partner with him to destroy Reid and hand me the reins for the company again, but you already know that’s not what I wanted. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have partnered with Elijah. Personal vendettas like ‘he fucked my wife’ are dangerous and I had enough of that with Reid’s father.”
“He didn’t know who she was. She used him to rattle Elijah, and don’t tell me I’m a fool to believe that. It’s true.”
“I’m not going to debate the right and wrong of Reid Maxwell. That aside, Elijah struck me as erratic. His own board questions his stability. And what do you mean he came after you?”
“Followed me and confronted me about Reid’s action. He even grabbed me. Reid’s losing his mind. He wanted to go to him and hurt him but Walker Security, the team we use for investigative work, stopped him. They’re trying to figure out what triggered this sudden anger. They think he’s perhaps unstable, which means nothing Reid would do to him professionally to shut him down will work.”
“If Reid feels his hands are tied, that worries me. Let me make some calls.”
“Don’t do anything. Don’t set anything in motion.”
“I won’t. I’ll call you and Reid to coordinate. You have my word.”
“You’d call Reid?”
“To protect my daughter, yes. I love you, honey. I hate I’ve made you think differently. I’ll call you soon.” He hangs up and I don’t give myself time to analyze the emotion balling in my chest at his offer of support. I head for the door and dial Royce. “I’m going out. Is someone coming with me or just following me or what?”
“Savage will meet you at the door.”
“I’m going to Gabe’s,” I say. “Is Reid there?”
“Yes, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Thank you because I really think he needs me to ground him right now.”
“Agreed,” Royce says, “and it was all I could do not to call you, but he would have killed me.” We disconnect and I step into the elevator. I want to feel relief that he’s with Gabe, but Gabe is just as fucked up as Reid. I’ve seen that in his eyes. For all I know, he’ll push him to take destructive actions.
I arrive in the lobby and Savage steps to my side the minute I’m outside the building in the cold. “He’s going to do something he regrets later,” I say. “I feel it in my bones.” He meets my stare and nods and that’s all we say. We start jogging our way to Gabe’s place, the cold biting to my skin, but I don’t care. I need to be with Reid. He needs me to be with him for the very reason that he wants me to stay away: he can’t make a decision on Elijah driven by the past. He wants to throw himself or Elijah in front of a bullet so I won’t take it. I know he does.