Total pages in book: 238
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Of course, they just needed to swoop in and save me.
Emmy stared at me—maybe waiting to see if I stopped her, or hoping I would—and I didn’t want this confrontation with Aydin. Not yet.
Because she wasn’t leaving, even if I had to fight them all and suffer every bone in my body breaking.
Something crossed her eyes, and she looked like she did that morning in the movie theater so long ago. Like she wanted to melt into my arms.
Like she didn’t really want to go, because she wanted to stay with me.
But before I could take her hand, slam the door, and figure out how I was going to fight Aydin and Taylor for both of these women, he leaned into her ear and appeared to whisper something as she held my eyes.
She listened as his jaw moved, and three seconds stretched into ten, and then finally…she dropped her gaze as if processing and nodded to him.
He closed the door, removed her jacket, hanging it up, and took the food bag from her before flashing me a look bearing the ghost of a smile.
I straightened.
Walking past me, he left the room, Taylor following, and I stood there glaring as Emory remained silent.
She was running from me. She fought Alex in order to leave.
And now she was staying?
Because he had more control over her than I did.
“Get your shit,” I told Alex, my gaze never leaving Em. “You’re bunking with me.”
“Will—”
“Now!” I barked as Alex protested.
Fuck it. She could grab her stuff anytime. Taking her hand, I pulled her up the stairs, leaving Emory in the foyer as I disappeared down the hallway, through the last door, and up the stairs to the third floor.
Emory was safe. She was under his protection now.
I slammed my hand into a wall as we traipsed down the hallway.
“Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on,” Alex said, pulling her hand out of mine, “but when we leave, she’s coming with us. You can sort your shit out back in civilization. When I run, you and her are both coming.”
I locked my door and turned on the lights, debating about grabbing my laptop and having my contact intercept Michael and the crew and stop them. But they needed to come now in order to take Emory and Alex to safety.
“When are they arriving?” I asked.
“Any day now.”
I pulled on a shirt and walked over to the window, closing the curtains.
“You want to go home, don’t you?” Alex asked.
I shot her a look.
“Will…”
I paced the room, feeling like I was about to jump out of my skin.
“Your parents…” she said, her voice softening. “The way you always talked about them. They love you. Given everything, they adore you.” She approached me. “Why are you still here? Would they really have kept you away so long? It doesn’t make any sense.”
I should tell her. I just wasn’t sure I wasn’t going to fail, and I needed to do this on my own. I’d put in too much time and work.
I had to go home ten times the man. I needed to see this through.
She took my chin and tipped it toward her, stopping me. “Damon, Winter, Michael, Rika, Misha, Kai, Banks…” she said their names as if I’d forgotten them. “You belong home. Don’t you want to leave?”
Of course, I did.
Why would she think I didn’t want to leave?
• • •
Kai and Banks.
Winter and Damon.
Michael…
I knew what I needed to do when I came here, but Alex’s words kept drifting through my head—especially now. Especially when faced with the decision I was going to have to make sooner than I thought.
Maybe I was scared.
Maybe…just maybe a small part of me didn’t want to ever leave here. There were no drugs here. No women. I’d stayed away from the alcohol fairly easily. I didn’t have to prove my worth with a career, plans, or relationships.
I just had to survive. There were no opportunities to face, so nothing to screw up.
We were all in the same boat.
And maybe I liked that. With sobriety came clarity, and I’d had time to think about my past, and I was embarrassed. I wanted everyone to trust me. To depend on me.
But that meant risking failure, and for a few minutes here and there I was content to just stay here forever.
Believe it or not, it was easier.
I headed back up the stairs to my room, carrying a bowl of stew for Alex. Micah had saved it for me, but not enough for Alex, and I wasn’t about to beg Aydin for extra food. She told me she had some stuff in the tunnels, but I’d let her eat her first solid meal in days and just grab one of her granola bars for myself.
I stepped up into my room, hearing water splash on the other side of the privacy screen. I halted and watched her shadow through the cream-colored fabric.