Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
And my phone started to ring in my pocket.
I ignored the first two, thinking maybe it was Smush, annoyed that I hadn’t responded to her texts.
But the third one had my stomach twisting, and I reached for it with clumsy fingers, seeing Claire’s name on the screen.
My stomach fucking bottomed out as I answered, and heard the panicked voice on the other end of the phone.
“He’s here. He’s here. He’s coming for us,” she choked out, her voice tight and small.
“Fuck,” I called out, putting my phone down for a second, making all the eyes turn in my direction, faces tight, some immediately rising out of their chairs. “Warren is at my house, coming for Claire and Judah,” I said.
Then I was turning and running.
“I’m coming, angel. Just hold on.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Claire
“Let’s see what is going on out—“ I started to say to Judah as I pulled back the curtain, forgetting all about how the windows were only mirrored during the day, protecting us, and that at night, anyone could see right in.
Not that I was thinking about that the first thing.
Because I was straining to see in the dark, hearing several voices.
Then, like in slow motion, I saw the guard that was usually sitting in his car come rushing up toward the house, the front porch light shining off the gun in his hand.
As he raised it.
Then shot.
Once.
Twice.
I didn’t see who or what he was shooting at.
And I seemed frozen in the spot, my mind and body not quite registering what was going on.
Until more shadows moved out of the darkness.
And the porch light lit on someone’s face.
Someone I was starting to think I would never see again.
Warren.
Panic, familiar, but having gotten buried beneath the newer sensation of safety, sprang up.
It was the swirling in my stomach and the tightening of my throat. The hammering of my heartbeat, and the cold sweat that broke out across my skin, making a chill work its way up my spine.
Everything felt like it was unfolding in slow motion.
I saw Warren reach into his jacket, coming back out with a gun, his arm lifting, aiming, then squeezing the trigger.
Once.
Twice.
Then I watched as Aurelio’s man’s body jolted hard twice, then fell backward to the ground.
Unmoving.
I wasn’t even aware of the thought forming before the strangled cry of “No!” escaped my lips.
It was right then that I remembered about the mirrored windows. And how windows weren’t exactly soundproof, either.
Because Warren heard me.
Then his head whipped over.
And he could see me.
Standing there.
With the son he wanted to rip from my arms settled on my hip.
No.
No no no no no.
A helpless cry broke from my throat as I rushed away from the window, reaching for the phone in my pocket as my mind raced.
Aurelio.
I had to call him.
If he was at a meeting, he was likely still in Navesink Bank somewhere.
Not far.
Close enough to get to me.
To help me.
Save us.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I tried to swipe at my screen, run, and hold Judah at the same time.
My mind was trying to run through all the potential hiding spots in the house, where I could stick Judah to keep him safe, even if I had to face up his father to buy us a couple more minutes until reinforcements arrived.
Kitchen cabinets were a no, since he could rattle inside of them and draw attention to him.
The closets upstairs were mostly empty and he couldn’t escape them, but he would also be way too easy to find.
“Come on. Come on,” I cried at the phone as it went to voicemail once. Then twice.
I ran down the basement steps, thinking it would be the quietest place I could stick him, even if there weren’t a lot of great areas to actually hide him.
“Please, for the love of God,” I whimpered as I dialed his number again as Judah began to squirm and cry, likely picking up on my panic, on my desperation.
No, he might not have had any fondness toward Warren. But he also had no actual fear, either.
So if Warren found him, he wouldn’t raise a stink if he got taken.
But that would only happen if I was dead.
No way in hell was he getting my son otherwise.
A sick feeling swirled in my stomach as I tried to make my way down the steep, narrow basement steps without my hands to grab the rail.
I had to believe that, should I not make it through this, that Aurelio would still fight to save my son, to get him away from the monster that fathered him.
I could be at peace with that.
Judah being raised by Aurelio.
He would be in good hands.
With a ton of people to protect him.
“Hello?”
His voice surprised me enough that I almost dropped the phone as I stood at the lower landing, looking around helplessly, seeing nowhere truly safe to keep Judah from doing something stupid like climbing the stairs.