Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Fuck fuck fuck,” Joss cried.
Then, finally, the locks disengaged, and he was running outside.
With Samson in ruthless pursuit.
Alone, I scooted back toward the front of the building, cradling my hand to my chest, then curling up and letting out the sob I’d been holding in.
I wasn’t aware of anything but my fear and pain and relief for a long moment.
Until I heard a voice.
But this one, so, so welcome.
“AJ!”
Atlas.
He must have gotten my text.
And rushed to try to save me.
Another sob escaped me, but this time, arms wrapped me up.
And I curled into him, knowing everything would be okay now that he was here.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Atlas
I hated her night shifts.
Not because of any fears or shit like that. But because of pure selfishness.
I just wanted her in the bed with me at night, her long hair tickling over my chest, her breath warm on my skin, her leg cocked over my waist.
I wondered if, one day, I could ask her if she could give up the night shifts.
But it didn’t seem like that was an option yet.
So I busied myself with tasks around the house when she was gone.
I’d been buying a lot of shit lately. And the boxes were piling up in the living room. Most of them required at least a little bit of building.
So after AJ left for her shift, I opened up a lamp, put it together, found the box with warm bulbs, stuck it in, then placed it where I heard AJ say it would look nice.
Once that was done, I opened several boxes of Christmas ornaments and lights, stacking them up in the corner next to the naked tree I’d opened and assembled earlier that day.
We were going to decorate the next day. Followed by some cookie baking. Then maybe some riding around and looking at Christmas lights.
We had a tentative date to do the outside decorations the next day. With AJ going up on the ladder, and me on the ground, making sure she didn’t fall. She was anxious about it. But when I’d asked if she wanted me to have one of my brothers over to do the ladder work, she’d been firm about wanting to try it herself.
And, hey, I had to respect that.
Besides, she had nothing to worry about if I was standing under her.
I’d sent AJ the picture of the moose I’d put together, then set down my phone to go and put on a pot of coffee, knowing that I likely wasn’t going to sleep when she wasn’t home.
It wasn’t until I came back with my cup of coffee, sitting down on the couch, that I reached for my phone again.
And there were two missed texts from AJ.
I figured they were just gushing about the moose.
When I saw the words that made my fucking heart stop.
HELP
911
I was on my feet and running before I could even fully wrap my head around the text.
I dropped the keys in my rush to get out of the door, cursing myself as I stooped to grab them, then running as fast as the blasted boot would allow me along the front path, and toward the driveway.
I didn’t dare call AJ for clarification. If she was hiding, it would give away her location.
I still reached for my phone as I jumped in the car and turned over the engine, cursing the frost on the windows as I listened to the ring of my phone that I set to speaker as I put the heat on full blast.
“Hey, man, what’s—“ Kingston started.
“AJ’s in trouble,” I cut him off.
“What ar—“
“I can’t explain. But she’s at the daycare for her overnight shift, and she sent me a Help and 911 texts. I’m trying to pull out now,” I said, wondering if the small semicircle of clear glass would be enough to see.
Fuck it.
It would have to do.
I threw it into reverse and peeled out of my driveway.
“She’s got an ex. He wants to hurt her,” I added.
“I’m on my way,” Kingston said. “I’m hanging up, so I can call Rush and Nixon,” he added.
The line went dead, and I tossed my phone onto the passenger seat, my fingers curling around the steering wheel until they went white as I cursed the fog, cursed the traffic lights, cursed the fact that I didn’t see the messages the second they came in.
The doggy daycare wasn’t far from home, just maybe twelve minutes without traffic.
It felt like a goddamn lifetime.
So many terrible things could happen in mere seconds, let alone moments.
Especially when trapped with an abusive ex and stalker.
I mean, no, she didn’t tell me it was Joss. But considering the phone call she’d gotten recently, it seemed likely that he’d been closing in somehow.
I’d been too distracted falling in love with the woman to really track down leads and figure out how the fuck he’d gotten that number.