Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
He’s staring at the box. “There’s no label.”
“Could be on the other side.”
“And we don’t get packages that size delivered right to the door. The front desk handles larger mail.”
I frown because that’s true, normally we get a slip and we have to go down to collect the big stuff. “Then who the hell—”
Julien grabs me by the wrist and yanks me into the apartment. The package beeps once, twice, three times, and he’s throwing me deeper down the hall and shouting “Get the fuck down!” as he covers me with his body.
The world shatters into a nightmare of heat, light, and broken glass. We’re thrown off our feet, but his arms stay wrapped tightly around me, holding on tight, and it feels like we were just hit by an invisible fist. All the air’s knocked from the lungs.
The hallway erupts.
Flames tear down the hall and the ground shakes as the world explodes around us.
The sound makes my skull rattle and I can feel it deep inside my bones.
I hit the ground hard and my head bounces off the hardwood floor.
I suck in a painful gasp like fire’s rolling down my throat and try to scream as Julien’s body covers mine. There’s wood and glass and shards everywhere, but my skull’s swimming and the noise keeps hammering over and over or maybe that’s my heart pounding, and the last thing I hear before everything goes dark is Julien’s groan of pain as he curls tighter around me.
Chapter 23
Brianne
In the dream, Mom’s still alive. She’s sitting at the kitchen table smiling at me and Cormac, and she’s telling us how much she loves us. Except Mom’s gone, she’s never been there, and Cormac’s pulling my hair, and Dad’s hitting me in the stomach with a sock filled with quarters, and the whole Hayes Group is gathered around to laugh while I curl around myself and sob until my ribs crack into pieces.
I wake slowly. I see lights first and my ears are ringing. I’m confused as I come to, blinking up at a ceiling with fancy molding recessed light fixtures. My room back home doesn’t look like this. My room in Julien’s apartment doesn’t either. I turn to turn my head, my skull’s aching like someone kicked me right in the face, and all I can do is groan.
“Doc, she’s awake.” There’s a voice next to me. It takes a second before I recognize Julien. His hands hold mine, his big, warm palms squeezing tight. “Brianne? Baby, can you hear me?”
“Where are we?” I mumble.
“Here, drink some water.” He helps me to sit up slightly and presses a glass to my lips. I drink greedily as the room resolves around me.
We’re in a large bedroom. The furniture is expensive and modern, and there’s light coming in through a couple big windows. An older man with graying hair appears on my other side and he starts checking me over, flashing a light in my eyes, asking me questions about how I feel. I answer as honestly as I can, and slowly the explosion comes back to me.
The package. The beeping. Julien throwing himself on top of me as the explosion tore itself into the apartment.
“You have a concussion,” the doctor says as he roots around inside a medical bag. “We’ll have to keep you awake for a while and I want to do some tests at the hospital.”
“Not yet,” Julien growls.
“When it’s safe.” The doctor sounds soothing and like he’s been through this already. “I don’t think you have any other major injuries. Just some cuts and bruises.”
“I think I’m okay,” I say, sitting up better now. Nothing hurts so bad that I can’t stand it, except for my head, and I guess that makes sense. “I’m feeling better already.”
“That’s good.” The doctor pats my knee and glances quickly at Julien as he pulls his hand away. “I’m going to leave some pain medicine. I want you to take it as soon as you feel like you need something.”
I hold a hand out. “Yes, please.”
He laughs lightly. “Wait a little while first. Just to make sure we’re not masking anything.” He stands and walks off. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to consult with Julien for a moment, and I’ll be back to check on you soon, okay?”
The two men leave the room. I hear them speaking quietly in the hall while I try to get my bearings. There’s a closet, an en suite bathroom, a big dresser and some drawers. I recognize my suitcase on the floor in the corner—it seems Julien must’ve packed some things before we left.
He comes back a few seconds later.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asks, sitting beside me. The bed creaks under his weight.
“I’m good, I think. I mean, aside from my head. That feels like it exploded.” I give him a weak smile.