Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
In the end, that was for the best. The longer I stayed there fuming with anger and hate, the clearer my mind seemed to be. I didn’t see how flustered I had become or how my emotions ran the gamut from one extreme to the next.
One moment, the anger was enough to strangle me, and the next, I was smiling from my heart. I knew just how to wipe that smile off her stupid face. Let’s see how Miss. Goody Two Shoes come back from this.
Chapter 97
*Ryder*
“Ryder, what the hell is this?” I was rudely awakened from a sex coma to find her kneeling in the middle of the bed, white as a sheet and close to tears, with her phone held out to me. I was still half asleep when I took it, but what I read there had me fully awake in seconds.
I reached for my phone to call Lyon. “Yeah, I think I know where the last girl might be.”
“Really, where? And where did you get the information?”
“My ex just sent some kind of rambling text to my girl. She mentions a lot of the people and places on the list we found, but there’s a new one in her text and she specifically mentioned the girl.”
“Good job. Where is she?” I gave him the particulars, all the while watching the changes that crossed Elena’s face. “I gotta go. Of course, she framed it as if I was involved, and now my girl is freaking out.”
“Damn, I overlooked that part. Does that mean she knows everything?”
“Pretty much.”
Because I had Lyon on speaker, she’d heard everything, so now her look was one of confusion. “What is going on?” That was her first question after I hung up. This is exactly why I didn’t want her to know about this. She looked like she was about to pass the hell out.
She did all the things I imagined she’d do when I told her the whole story. She was worried for the kids who’d been taken, then she wondered if her shows were being used for the same thing, and then she got mad at me for not telling her sooner. It was a roller coaster ride.
I was pissed at myself as well because I’d forgotten to block Janie on her phone after I did it with mine. We spent the next few hours going over everything I knew about the trafficking situation. So much for keeping her out of it; I’d failed at that as well.
If I hated Janie before, I detested her even more now. There’s no doubt from the wording of her text that she meant to inflict harm. She’s made it seem like I was in on it, that I knew and was on board with my team kidnapping and trafficking my young fans.
Even if she hated me, that was a very low thing to do. I’ve had moments here and there in the last few weeks when I thought that maybe I was being too hard on her, that maybe she was too young when this all started, and her mind had been controlled by her dad, whose only concern was being in the spotlight. But then she goes and does something like this, and I’m reminded that she’s a snake in her own right.
I was doing my best not to show my anger in front of Elena; she’s never been good with shit like that, and I didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was, but I was pissed as hell. If I saw Janie right now, I think I’d maim her or some shit.
“So, the concert is about this.”
“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before; I wanted to protect you.”
“Ryder, our whole lives got derailed because you didn’t talk to me, remember? I can understand you wanting to protect me, but there are some things you just shouldn’t hide.”
I knew she was right to a point, but I also agree with Lyon. Not because I think men are better equipped to handle certain things, but it’s like he said: when you love the female in your life, you will do anything to protect her. Okay, what he said was, your woman is going to be a nosy fuck; that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to just open the door and let her walk through it. Some things just aren’t for females to be a part of.
I think he said something about their delicate nature, but since he said it with a sneer and cursed his wife’s name under his breath, I’m not too sure if he meant that part.
It’s a bit confusing when you think about it. He hides shit from his grown-ass wife, but his ten-year-old daughter, who, according to him, started her shit when she was about five, is knee-deep in everything he does. It’s very perplexing to an outsider like me.