Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 74022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
And he’s right.
I fall to my knees and just stare at the mess.
He’s probably taken things, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I have expensive stuff in here, things that he could sell for money.
But this, the mess in front of me, is an act of cruelty.
An act I did not deserve.
I don’t know how long it takes Boston to arrive. I can’t bring myself to get up off my knees. I hear Malakai’s horrified voice first. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ.”
Then Boston is beside me, squatting down, hand on my chin turning my face up so he can study me. His eyes scan my face, then my body. He’s checking to see if I’m hurt. God dammit, that means so damned much to me. When he’s sure I’m okay, he murmurs, “Who did this?”
“I don’t ... I don’t know,” I croak. “But I can guess.”
“Fuck!” he barks, looking around. “God dammit.”
“It’s all ruined, Boston,” I sob, losing it again. Tears roll down my cheeks in waves. “Everything I’ve worked for. Everything I love. It’s all ruined. Every single piece of it. Even my cushions are slashed.”
Big strong arms wrap around me, and I’m grateful. So damned grateful. I let him hang onto me for a while, because I need it. When he lets me go, Malakai walks over and kneels down, too. “Is anything missing?”
I swipe at my eyes. I need to get it together. I need to be strong. For now. “I don’t know,” I whisper. “I haven’t gone any further than this.”
Malakai stands and waves a hand at Mason and Koda. “Go check the rooms. The house. Make sure no fucker is still here.”
The two men disappear quickly, and Malakai turns back to me. “You got it in you to look around, see if anything is gone? If not, that’s okay. We can lock up and come back.”
“No,” I say, standing and taking a shaky breath. “No, I can do that.”
Boston follows me as I start moving through the house. I have a list of items as long as my arm before I even reach my bedroom. Everything expensive I own has been taken. It’s the money I had in my safe, that I’m most concerned about. Now, it seems like such a stupid idea to put anything special in a safe, especially money, but I thought it would be safer with me than in a bank.
I can be a little strange like that.
The moment I step into my room, I can see the safe is gone. The whole damned thing. I make a pained sound, and Boston stops beside me. “What’s gone?”
“My safe.”
“What was in it?”
“A good amount of money, jewelry, some expensive watches, special things.”
“Fuck,” he growls, and grabs my shoulders, spinning me to face him. “Give me anything you can about that piece of shit you once called a husband. We’re goin’ to pay him a little visit.”
“No,” I cry out quickly. “No, Boston, that’ll just make it worse.”
He grabs my chin, tipping my head back. “Worse than this?”
My bottom lip shakes. “You’ll hurt him ...”
“You’re damn fuckin’ right I’ll hurt him. I’ll make him wish to fuckin’ God he never came anywhere near you. That’s what he deserves. Either tell me, Penelope, or I’ll go and find him without your help.”
I exhale, because I know he will.
“Do as he’s askin’, sweetheart,” Malakai says, tucking his phone into his pocket. “Not only does this fucker need to be taught a lesson, but we might be able to salvage some of your things if we get to him in time.”
Those things are special.
I want them back.
So I give them what they need to know.
We finish up going through the house, and by the time we get back downstairs, Amalie and Scarlett are just walking through the front door. Malakai called them. I can’t say I’m not grateful. I am so incredibly grateful. Amalie rushes over and throws her arms around me. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”
“If you don’t find that asshole,” Scarlett fumes, glaring around the room, “I will.”
I love her fighting spirit.
“You didn’t have to come,” I say to them both, stepping back.
“Oh, hell yes we did,” Scarlett says, hugging me. “We’ve got your back, Penny. You’re one of us now.”
“I have nowhere else to go,” I whisper, the sudden realization that my house is utterly trashed and I have no more furniture becoming a harsh reality.
Sure, the structure itself is fine, but to replace all of this will cost me more than I would have if I worked two years straight. Insurance can take months.
“Stay at my house,” Boston says, stepping forward. “You can care full time for Cassie, live in.”
I open my mouth to argue, but Amalie nods. “Wonderful plan. Let’s go and pack whatever we can salvage, and you’ll do that.”
“I can’t intrude ...” I whisper.
Boston stares at me. “Not even close to intrudin’, and Cassie loves you. She’ll be more than thrilled, and it’ll mean she always has someone around. Best fuckin’ idea I’ve had.”