Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 145231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 726(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Her mouth almost hits the floor.
It would be hilarious if we weren’t standing here on a rundown staircase, arguing about Patton, a man I may never see again.
“You’re lying!” she yells back. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Are you? Let’s see. Think about it, Kay, just for a second. I got pregnant from your little party on the casino riverboat. Guess who was there? And you showed zero interest in him then.” I tick off the points on my fingers as I go. “And now he’s my boss and mentor. We’re working together, so thick as thieves you had to come here to find out where he is.”
“You—you—oh my God.”
“Yeah. Baby daddy. You get it now.” I’m growling, my fingers balling up into fists. “Thankfully, he’s a way better person than you’ll ever be.”
It’s pure venom, this anger ripping through me now.
I want to hurt her.
To make her feel a sliver of the agony I’ve lived for the past week.
“But even if that wasn’t true, and even if he didn’t have a kid with me, and even if you were his equal as a human being… even if you were someone who didn’t prey on people’s misery…” I take a deep breath, ready for the kill shot. “He told me he’d never date you. He said that himself. In fact, he thinks you’re pretty fucking rude.”
Her eyes widen, hate and hurt bouncing in her pupils.
Not because of my betrayal, of course—I’m sure she’s plenty livid about that—but because she knows I’m telling the truth. We’ve been friends long enough for her to know when I lie.
“I wasn’t going to tell you, not like this… but since you came here trying to capitalize on my grief, why not? You deserve to know everything.” She backs up another step as I walk toward her. “I don’t want to see you here again, Kayla. Not now, not ever. Life’s too short for the kind of friend you pretend to be.”
After all, just think about what happened to Delly. And she trusted Evelyn Hibbing with her life, her family, until that screwy woman backstabbed her brutally.
The thought makes me sick.
Kayla looks ash-white now, her eyes heavy with tears of humiliation.
I’m surprised she doesn’t snap a heel as she turns and flees, the door echoing behind her as she slams it shut.
I stand there, breathing raggedly until I can feel my own body again.
This isn’t my home anymore, I realize.
Not since Patton Rory invited me into his life.
I need him back. I need to make this right. I need him reunited with Arlo and his family, and this time with everybody knowing what I just told Kayla.
‘Baby daddy’ doesn’t scratch the surface of what Patton Rory truly means to me.
He’s my home.
He’s something to fight for, a man who’s given me more courage than I knew.
Now, I just have to hope it isn’t too late to show him how brave I can be.
26
LUCK BE MY LADY (PATTON)
It takes me five damn days to hunt down Evelyn Hibbing.
Three days of trekking through Miami and then the Bahamas, talking with police and tracing her steps, following every crumb of information, until I finally stumble across her in Nassau.
The sun feels sickly warm on the back of my neck as I watch the hell-witch who could’ve murdered my son.
She’s perched at a small café overlooking the sea, reading peacefully. It’s a near idyllic scene, just an old woman with a book basking in the afternoon shade. You’d never guess there’s a thieving, child-poisoning monster underneath.
Just like how you’d never guess she spent all night gambling away thousands of dollars at a casino down the street.
Probably old habits kicking in. A little tip from Archer he heard from Mom reminded me that Evelyn used to come back from Vegas joking bitterly about going broke.
Hell, maybe she’s even lost her mind completely, desperately trying to double down on stupid and grow her money before she jets off to another continent.
At least I know where her husband’s money went now.
I lean back in my chair and take a long pull from the beer I ordered. She hasn’t even thought to look up or check her surroundings. Guess when you’re so practiced at scamming, you get cocky.
And it’s that arrogance—like giving a slight variation of her real name at the hotel—that told me exactly where she’s staying. That’s how I found her today, curled up with her book and her coffee, hiding in plain sight and only looking up every so often to smile at the waves as she breathes in the cool ocean breeze.
Salem would love it here. I can just see Arlo running along the beach, too, turning over rocks for shells and tiny crabs.
For a man determined not to think about home, I’m goddamned stuck on it—especially her.
I watch Evelyn flip another page in her book.