Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“What do I do?” I asked quietly.
How did I go on in this world without my sister? The other half of my soul?
“You go to your parents’ house. Tell them,” he instructed. “We’ll get you everything we can. I’ll contact Quaid with everything, though.”
Meaning, he was preserving his marriage by not talking to me anymore.
That made me so freakin’ angry.
“Fine,” I said, “but when you know it, please let us know. Don’t wait. I don’t care what time it is.”
“Quaid might,” Tobin drawled.
“Quaid won’t care. Day or night. Call,” I urged.
He agreed and hung up, and I was left feeling numb, unsure what to do next.
“What’s wrong?” Shayne.
“I…” Before I could get anything out, I burst out crying.
The sobs were horrible and gut wrenching.
There wasn’t a single part of my body that didn’t join in on the crying.
By the time I’d gained even a semblance of control, I’d gotten most of the story out, and Shayne was gaping at me.
“What do I do?” I cried.
I was under contract.
I couldn’t just leave.
“You let me handle that from here,” Shayne said. “Pack your bags up.”
So, I did.
Shayne was gone for a full two hours before she came back, and by that time, every single thing of mine was packed.
“Got it all figured out,” she said as she burst into the room. “I have to pack my things, but I already booked you a flight. I’ll drop you off at the airport, then come back and pack my things, and I’ll be there by this afternoon. Are you ready?”
I nodded.
“Let’s go.”
• • •
I didn’t remember any of the plane ride.
I didn’t get scared of the turbulence.
I didn’t have much reaction to anything, really.
I got off the plane and headed straight to my parents’ house, texting all of my brothers on the way there.
By the time I’d arrived thirty minutes later, all of them but Gable were there, looking worried.
“What’s going on?” Mom asked the moment I got to her.
I felt my chin wobble and my eyes fill with tears, and then I drew in a deep breath, and explained.
My mom hit the floor before anyone could react.
I wasn’t far behind, collapsing right in front of her and pulling her into my arms.
I felt my father’s arms encircle both of us and pick us up off the floor, his superior size and strength doing it easily.
I was carried in by one of my brothers, and I watched as Dad carried Mom inside bridal style.
Dad’s face was… broken.
His face was ashen, his eyes were filled with tears, and he looked like I’d just taken him out with a two-by-four.
We all sat in the living room as Quaid called Tobin to see if anything more had been found.
Nothing.
“So, what now?” Mom asked. “Can we go get her?”
“We’re going there.” Dad stood up. “I’m going to book a flight.”
They left within the hour.
Everyone left, one by one, angry and hurt, leaving me at my parents’ place, alone.
I fell over sideways on the couch, then stared at the floral pattern so long that I finally gave up the ghost and fell asleep.
The next thing I remembered was the doorbell waking me up.
CHAPTER 10
I made a mistake.
-Ande to Keene after eating an entire cake
KEENE
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I looked up at Autry and grinned. “Hand-knitting a blanket.”
“Hand-knitting a blanket,” he repeated, looking at me like I’d lost my marbles. “Why?”
I thought about telling him about Ande, then decided against it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t think he’d understand—he would—I just wanted to keep her to myself for a little bit longer.
Ande was special, and I wanted to continue enjoying her by myself until my sisters and the rest of my extended family started to insert themselves into our lives.
“It’s cathartic,” I lied.
“It’s something.” He shook his head. “It looks soft, though.”
It was soft.
Soft as fuck.
I made sure to find the softest material I could find, which also ended up costing a fuckin’ arm and a leg.
“I spent enough money on this yarn, it better be fuckin’ soft,” I murmured. “It’s chenille.”
“I don’t know what chenille is,” he admitted. “But it looks like I’ll be buying a blanket in it.”
I chuckled, then stopped when I reached the end of the row and looked up at him. “What’s up?”
He looked disgusted. “That girl we saved died.”
My heart sank. “They couldn’t get rid of the infection?”
He shook his head, looking sick. “It’d just gone on too long. The doctors did everything they could, but it wasn’t enough this time. Winston said the parents were overjoyed to have her back for that short amount of time, though. And they have closure. Something they didn’t have before we found her.”
This world was absolutely disgusting.
The fact that there were people out there right now, willing to hurt a young child, all for their sick pleasure, was heartbreaking.