Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Mr. Adams.” A man I don’t recognize approaches us. “The police have a few questions,” he says, looking at Braxton, and then his gaze comes to me. “I’m sorry, Ms. Newton.”
“Thank you.”
“Tell them I’ll be a few minutes, Jimmy. I want to take Dakota upstairs and get her settled in my place,” Braxton tells him, and he nods before turning and walking away.
I turn to face Braxton, and his eyes come to me. “I’m not leaving.”
“Dakota.”
“Braxton.” I use his same frustrated tone. “I’m not leaving. This is my home. I want to talk to the cops.”
“You need to tell her.”
At that comment, my spine stiffens. I turn and watch Hanna come toward us.
“Tell me what?” I glance between her and Braxton, trying to understand the silent conversation they’re so obviously having. “Tell me what?” I repeat when neither of them speaks.
Braxton lets out an annoyed breath then looks down at me. “The first time you were on air, the call center got a call from a man who made some unusual comments, and per protocol, they made a note and passed it along. It’s not unusual for that kind of thing to happen from time to time in this industry, but each time you were on air, we were notified that the man would call back, and he seemed to be escalating.” He turns me to face him and takes my other hand. “On Thursday, a package addressed to you was intercepted.”
“And?” I whisper, unsure if I want to know.
“The items inside were disturbing, and the package was passed along to the police.”
“You think whoever sent that package did this?” I ask.
He glances around my destroyed apartment. “I don’t know, but with the calls and the package, it seems to fit.”
“You never told me.”
His eyes come to me, and I know the instant his warm gaze meets mine that he didn’t tell me, because he didn’t want me to worry. Like Jamie, he wants to protect me. The puzzle pieces begin to fall into place—all the times he’s tried to convince me to move to the marketing department, his overbearing protectiveness. It’s all been because he wanted me off air; he wanted to tuck me away in hopes that it would keep me safe.
God, this crazy, crazy man.
I hold his gaze and whisper, “Let’s go talk to the cops.”
Without a word, he leads me across the room to one of the officers, and then for the next hour, I try to make sense of what is happening.
But quickly, I realize I might never understand, yet it’s time I trust the man who has stolen my heart.
Chapter 13
Dakota
I SIT ON the floor in the living room in the dark and look out at the city below me, watching my breath fog up the glass as my forehead rests against it. I should be exhausted after the day I’ve had, but I can’t sleep, which is why I carefully untangled myself from Braxton’s hold and escaped to his living room to think. No matter what I do, I can’t make sense of what happened to my apartment, and I can’t even comprehend someone being so infatuated with me that they would go to such an extreme to get my attention.
The cops asked me tonight if I had anyone in my life or in my past who I would consider a suspect, and I honestly couldn’t think of one person. Troy would be an obvious suspect, but I know he wouldn’t risk tarnishing his family’s name by being so devious, and there is no one else in my past who I can think of who would want to hurt me or given me a reason to believe they are even the slightest bit obsessed with me.
I close my eyes. Neither the police nor Braxton told me what was said on the phone calls or what was in the package they received, but by the looks that were passed around, I know whatever it was, it was bad. I also know Braxton well enough to understand he’s not going to let me go about my life as usual, and I’m not sure I want to. For the first time in a long time, I feel vulnerable, the same kind of unease I felt as a kid when things in life were up in the air.
I open my eyes when I hear movement behind me then moments later, Braxton settles on the ground at my back and wraps his arms around me. Once I’m resting against his chest, encircled in the safety of his hold, I turn to my side to rest on my hip with my ear over his heart and listen to the steady beat.
“This is why I didn’t want you to know what’s been happening.” His words cut through the silence, and I open my eyes.