Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Gus nodded.
“Motherf—” Gus cut himself off as he glanced in the rearview mirror at Chloe. “Dude is going down.”
The drive to the tattoo shop felt like it went by in a blink, my head feeling spacey and heavy. My eyes shifted to the rearview mirror to watch Chloe. She was jarringly quiet as tears continued to roll down her cheek, her bottom lip trembling. It was like she was too exhausted to sob, swept up in the traumatic feelings that were probably hitting her now that she had a moment to process what had just happened.
I kept thinking about the moment I watched that man take off running with my crying daughter over his shoulder. I thought it was over. That I wouldn’t ever see her again. That feeling made my stomach twist and my heart sink. I never wanted to experience it again.
When Gus shut off his truck, he and Marcus stayed right by my side, knowing I’d want to keep Chloe in my arms right now. She was visibly exhausted with dried tear trails on her cheeks, being quieter than usual. Her eyelids drooped slightly as she rested her head on my shoulder.
“Hey, look who it is,” Bryce called out from his table as the others either did work at the front desk or tidied up their stations.
The guys started to perk up until they noticed the grave looks on Marcus’s and Gus’s faces and the traumatized look on mine as I held my daughter protectively.
“What happened?” Marlo asked as he strode over, his authoritative presence seeming to take over the entire shop.
“Someone attacked Madison and Chloe and tried to take Chloe,” Marcus said in a quiet voice once everyone gathered around.
“What?” Marlo nearly hissed the word as his eyes narrowed. His jaw visibly tensed, his nose flaring as pure rage filled his face.
“Let me take her,” Taj offered as he stepped closer to me, sensing that things were about to get intense.
I tensed at first, but when I saw Taj’s gentle expression and felt his hand on my arm, I relented and handed Chloe over to him. My eyes trailed them all the way to Taj’s station until Taj set Chloe on his table and pulled some washable markers out of his drawer to entertain her with. I released a shaky breath, trying to relax now that Chloe was extra safe.
“I don’t understand what’s going on. This person… I don’t know why he’s doing this to me and my daughter,” I said as more tears filled my eyes.
Marlo stepped away for a moment, running his hand over his shaved hand. He shook his head, anger still radiating off him. He then took in a breath and walked back over to me, tilting my chin up to press a lingering kiss against my lips that took me by surprise.
However, it didn’t take me long to melt into the comforting touch. When we broke apart, I gave him a grateful look.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of this. You and Chloe will be safe,” he promised me.
With every fiber of my being, I believed him. I nodded and let the other guys come forward and embrace me, telling me comforting things and making promises only lovers would make. I was grateful for every single one of them.
“There’s an attic right above the shop. It’s been cleaned out and renovated as an extra room in case any of us need to crash here. I think you and Chloe should stay there until we figure out who’s after you,” Marlo suggested once I pulled away from Baker.
It would be a big change, but it was temporary, and I could be comforted by the fact that the guys would be around a lot. Chloe would be safer here, and that sold me.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely before looking over at Chloe, my fear clashing with my hope. Maybe we could get this all figured out soon. Hopefully.
While Taj stayed with Chloe, Marlo, Gus, and the twins left the tattoo shop to grab some things at my house, leaving me with Marcus and Ti, who showed me up to the attic.
“Woah,” I gasped once my foot left the last slightly creak step on the stairs leading up to the attic. My eyes swept around the cozy, little haven with its soft, golden lighting, vintage furniture, and quirky art pieces plastered on the light gray walls. A fuzzy, black, circular rug occupied the middle of the room between the queen-sized bed covered with blue-gray sheets, a wooden writing desk, a velvet loveseat, and an old armoire. It felt like I was transported to another time period, separating me from reality for a second. “This is… unexpected.”
“Marlo likes collecting vintage stuff. Furniture, records, you name it. He’ll spend an hour or two at thrift stores or flea markets trying to hunt down this kind of stuff that people just want to get rid of for newer things,” Ti explained.