Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
While he’s not a poet, those are words that I’m sure he never thought he would say. I believe him when he says he loves me. I believe Dragon is capable of so much love. He has a big heart. He’s the only one who didn’t understand that.
“I can’t believe he’s here in Taos.” He shakes his head. “The address is only a couple of miles away from my mother’s trailer park.”
I drop my jaw. “So if it’s truly the person who had Griffin all these years…”
“Exactly.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Then he’s been within a couple of miles of my mother and father this whole time. Unbelievable.”
Really unbelievable.
I don’t say anything, but a thought pops into my head.
What if Dragon’s parents…
No.
It’s just too horrible to contemplate.
“Okay. May I take the car?”
“Of course.”
He gets dressed quickly. “Are you hungry? I can bring you back some food.”
It is nearly dinnertime. “No, don’t worry about that. I’ll order something. But don’t you want to wait until after you eat something?”
“No, Diana. I need to hop on this right away. Before he decides to skip out. He may already be gone because he has the money.”
He’s right. I hadn’t thought of that.
“All right,” I say. “Go. But keep me posted, okay? If I don’t hear from you in a couple of hours, I’m going to start assuming the worst.”
“You’re going to worry about me?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms. “That’s what people who love each other do.”
He simply shrugs into his jeans and then pulls his T-shirt over his head.
He doesn’t answer, but I see it in his eyes.
This is all new to him.
But I’ll show him he’s worthy of every bit of it.
Once he’s dressed, he sits next to me on the bed and pulls me into a hug. I’m still naked, and my body reacts.
He kisses me, and I part my lips, letting him in. We kiss frantically for a few moments, our tongues dueling and tangling. But then he pulls back.
“I have to do this.”
“I know. Just be safe.”
“I will.” He looks me up and down. “Because for the first time in my life, I have someone to come back to.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Dragon
I drive to a small rural neighborhood on the outskirts of Taos.
It’s farther outside the city limits than my mother’s trailer park, which is technically still in Taos.
I drive to the address, up a gravel driveway.
The house is a one-story ranch. Painted light green. The paint is peeling, and the garage door is missing.
No cars in the garage. Even without a door, Diana’s BMW is safer inside this garage than just sitting out in this neighborhood. So I pull in.
Then I go to the front of the house and knock on the door.
No response.
“Damn,” I yell.
Then a yelp. A dog.
And then a small voice.
“Who is it?”
It’s a young voice. The voice of a young teenage girl. Surprise jolts through me. Oh my God… Could this be my niece?
“Are your parents home?” I ask.
“Is your name Dragon?”
Well, that confirms it. I am talking to my niece. The daughter of my long-lost sister. A well of emotions builds up in me, but I can’t process them right now. I’ve got to play it cool, make sure I don’t scare this little girl.
“Are you expecting someone named Dragon?” I ask.
“He said you’d come for me.”
“Then yes, I’m Dragon.”
The deadbolt clicks, and the door cracks open just a bit.
The dog—he looks like some kind of pit bull mix—peeks his nose out the door.
So much trust this little girl has. I could just be saying I’m Dragon.
“Bridget?” I ask.
“Yes,” the small voice says.
“Is your mother named Griffin?”
“Yes. My father called her Angel, but she told me her real name is Griffin.” She bites her lip, looks at her feet. “I never told him that I knew.”
“Where’s your father now?”
“He went away. He left me here with Eddie.” She scratches the dog behind the ear. “He said you would be coming.”
“Eddie?”
“My dog.”
“Bridget, I need you to open the door the rest of the way and let me come in.”
“Okay. He said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“I would never hurt anyone.”
Funny, the words you say. They’re very true. They weren’t always true, but they are now. I won’t be taking another life. Not Mack’s, and not anybody else who has Griffin. Not unless I’m forced to in self-defense or in defense of Griffin, Bridget, Diana, or someone else.
She opens the door and—
I force myself to hold back my gasp.
She looks so much like Griffin. She’s older, of course. Mack said she was thirteen. But the blond hair and blue eyes, the shape of her face, the full pink lips.
This must be what Griffin looked like at thirteen.
I swallow back the nausea. This is what Griffin looked like when Bridget was conceived.
I swallow again. A lump is lodged in my throat, and my stomach feels like lead.