Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Pulling back, I shake my head. “I can’t, Carter. Della needs you. Danny and Christopher need you. Y’all have to go back to New York.”
I glance down at the bandage around my arm. I can barely look at the cut whenever I have to clean it.
“Some creep drugged me multiple times. He was in my suite, and I’m sure the cameras were planted by him. He has already tried to kill me once.” Bringing my eyes back to Carter, I shake my head as hopelessness threatens to engulf me. “He’s never going to stop. It feels like a shadow is following me around.”
“All the more reason for you to stay here,” Carter argues. “Hayden and Max will be here soon. With them helping, I’m sure we’ll catch the guy in no time.”
“I’m glad they’re coming, but do you think I’ll be able to live with myself if something happened to you, or to Julian, or to Mr. Reyes? What if something happens to Della because she came out here? You need to tell her to stay in New York.”
I can see my words are starting to get through to Carter, and it makes me push harder. “Tristan can not grow up never having known his father. Your family should come first, Carter.”
“You are my family!” Turning away from me, he rubs a hand over his face. “Fuck!” When he turns back to me, his eyes are shimmering with unshed tears, and it kills me to see him so upset. “I can’t just leave you behind, Jamie. Now more than ever, we need to stand together.”
“What if he kills you?” I shout, my emotions overwhelming me. My legs give way, and I sink to the floor as a cry rips through me. “What if he kills me?”
Carter drops to his knees in front of me and frames my face. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You don’t know that.” I gasp for air, and wrapping my arms around his neck, I beg, “Please go home. I need you to be safe in New York with Della and the kids. I’m going to lose my mind with worry if you stay here.”
Carter holds me so tightly it’s bordering on painful. His voice is hoarse as he says, “Don’t ask me to leave, Jamie.”
Julian
The last couple of hours have been an emotional rollercoaster. Carter managed to calm Jamie down and talked her into staying at the mansion until Sunday.
Leaning against the pillar where I’m standing on the porch, I watch Jamie sitting on a bench in the garden.
“You should go talk with her,” Dad says as he comes outside with two cups of coffee. “Take one to Miss Truman.”
Taking the cups from him, I smile. “Thanks, Dad.”
I walk down the stairs, and when I reach the bench, Jamie doesn’t even look up.
“My dad sends coffee,” I say, holding a cup to her.
She takes the coffee, then stares down at it.
“You’re really not going to talk to me?” I ask before I take a sip of the warm liquid.
“What do you want me to say?” she asks, her voice sounding empty of all emotion.
“Whatever’s on your mind.”
Her head snaps up, and she gives me an angry look. “Really? Do you really want me to tell you what I’m thinking?”
Taking the cup from her, I place it on the ground, along with my own. “Yes, I want you to really tell me exactly what you’re thinking.”
She gets up and walks a couple of steps away, then turning back to me, she shouts, “I’m terrified out of my mind.”
I get up and walk two steps closer. “Should I get more security?”
“No, Julian! I’m scared for Della, and Danny and Christopher, and Carter.” She fists her hands at her sides as her breaths speed up. “I’m scared for you.” Her shoulders slump under the fear. “What if the person comes after someone I care about?”
I stare at her as her words sink in. She just placed me in the same bracket as her family.
Does that mean…?
I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her.
How do you comfort someone when there is no certainty that none of their fears won't come true?
You lie.
“We’re going to get through this. We have more security than the president.”
Jamie pulls back, and I can see my words have done nothing to ease her fears.
Framing her face, I press my forehead to hers. “We’re going to get through this, and then we’re going to go on a date. When we agree the time is right, we’ll spend a night together, and you’ll still be there when I wake up. We’ll learn each other's faults. We’re going to get through this together because we both have something to lose.”
Jamie closes her eyes as tears roll down her cheeks. “I can’t do that to you, Julian.”