Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“Whittman isn’t your real last name, is it?”
I shook my head and held tighter to him.
“I’m going to need all of his information.”
I heard the pledge that was carved into that demand.
He was going to hunt him down and do the same thing to him that he’d done to Alicia’s husband.
Fear clamored through my being.
Is that what I wanted him to do? Put himself in the ultimate line of fire for me?
For my son and my grandmother?
My thoughts moved to the sheriff who’d shown up last night. Could he help? Guilt urged me to just come clean, but what would happen to Finn?
“I will give this to you, Theo. I promise. But I need to figure out a couple of things first. This is all so new, and I’ve been carrying it for so long.”
Violence tightened Theo’s face in brutality. “I’ll end him, Piper. Put him in the ground for hurting you.”
“I know.” I paused, contemplating before I continued, “The first several days after we got here, I had the sense that maybe I was being watched…that someone was out there. That same sense when I realized Justin found us in Kansas. But I realize now it was related to Alicia. I think someone had been watching her.”
“Yeah…that black SUV, plus there were a couple times I felt someone lurking on the grounds, too. Guessing he sent his guard here first to scout around to make sure she was here.”
“I feel safe, Theo. Safe here with you.”
“That’s because it’s you and me now. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“And Finn?” I needed to hear him say it again.
For him to claim this.
Us.
Old wounds flashed through his expression, ones I couldn’t quite place, and he swallowed hard. “Think that kid broke me wide open the first time I looked at him.”
My nod was tremorous. “I do need your help with something,” I told him.
“Anything.”
“Your uncle…Dr. Reynolds?”
Theo gave me a guilty smirk. “Not really my uncle.”
A soft puff of laughter rolled out of me. “I know. Emery told me about the day she found out about Kane after he’d been shot, and Dr. Reynolds took care of him.”
“He’s a good man. Risks his practice, license, and likely his freedom to help the women and children we protect.”
“Would he see Finn?”
Worry ripped through Theo. “Is something wrong with him?”
I shook my head. “No. He’s just…the only medical care he’s ever received is from different urgent cares where I paid cash. He’s never had someone really take care of him.”
Nelly had helped deliver him in a motel room. He didn’t have a birth certificate or a social security number. No real record of his existence except for the things I made up when I’d gone into different urgent cares.
God, it was all such a mess, and I didn’t know how I’d ever truly dig us out of it.
Theo cupped my jaw with his palm, his thumb stroking the apple of my cheek as he stared at me. The reflection of the flames lapped in his moonlit eyes. “This is his home now, Piper. Your home. Nelly’s home. And I’m going to see to it that you’re taken care of. In every single way.”
“How did I find this place, Theo? In all the places we’ve gone through the years? How did I end up here with you?” The awe flooded out of me as I traced my fingers over his plush lips.
He wrapped his hand around my wrist, and he swept the gentlest kisses over the tips of my fingers. “Because it’s where you belong. With me. You don’t have to be afraid. Not anymore. Not ever again. Because I’m always going to be with you.”
He brought my hand to the thunder of his heart. “You’re safe now.”
FORTY-FOUR
THEO
I always thought the view of the lake from my balcony was the paragon of beauty. Whether summer or winter, nothing could compete with the vast, shimmering lake and dense forest that surrounded it. Backed by the gorgeous mountains with their summits and peaks that stood proud in the sky, tucking the endless blue waters in this breathtaking valley.
I was wrong.
Completely fucking wrong because there was no contest when it came to Piper.
And now that beauty was her backdrop. The woman sitting curled and wrapped in a blanket on my lap with the flickering flames dancing around her.
The warmth reflected against the contours and shape of her unforgettable face.
Stunning.
Rip the breath from my lungs and bring me to my knees stunning.
Stand on one of those summits with my arms outstretched and shout it to the world stunning.
I sat there swimming in that beauty for the longest time, holding her as we rested in the silence. Satisfied in the promises that had been made and secrets that had been shared.
I wished she’d given them all to me, but I got it.