Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 160042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Nope, he was nowhere to be seen at dinner.
Marsden wasn’t there either, but I was glad about that. Marsden Grayson is scary, and the more I get to know Haven, the more I wonder how in the hell they ended up together. Ax did show up, though, and even though he kept his distance from me, saying only a couple of words, I could feel him watching me with a glint in his eyes.
In any case, I excused myself as soon as I could. Ax escorted me back to my room because Haven had to clean up—where are the maids, though? Turners wouldn’t survive without them even a day—and when he closed the door behind me, I knew it was locked. Again, I understood. It’d be stupid of them to not do that. I could do any number of things if left unsupervised, like make a phone call to the Turners, to warn Brecken of what’s coming and make sure Peyton remains safe in the Bahamas.
Although I’m losing patience now. It’s the next morning and they still haven’t said anything about what their plan is. What do they intend to do with me? I’m not of any use and they know that, so what happens now?
Also, where is he? Why didn’t he show up for dinner last night? What was he doing? Where did he sleep? Did he sleep?
“Don’t come near me, you filthy Grayson asshole!”
The scream echoes through the space and my heart drops. I wish I could pretend it was all in my head, that screeching voice, but I’m in the kitchen with Haven, who’s at the stove sautéing veggies for a Mexican casserole, but at the shout, she stops right alongside me. Meaning that she heard it too.
Meaning, it’s real.
I start running before I know what I’m doing. I dash through the kitchen, turn the corner, and zip through the hallway leading to the living room where the voice came from, and the sight that greets me knocks the breath out of me. Somehow it’s worse than looking a deadly bear in the eye. Probably because back then, as scared as I was, I knew I could go to him. I knew he’d come save me. But I don’t have that luxury now. In fact, he’s the one responsible for this.
For bringing my best friend here.
An enraged Peyton stands in the middle of the living room, looking around frantically. I know she’s searching for me, because as soon as she sees me standing at the mouth of the hallway, her eyes, which are a color similar to mine, widen. And she breaks into action, heading toward me.
I go to her as well. We both meet in the middle somewhere, our arms instantly going around each other and holding tight. I’m aware of the noises coming out of us, too, the screams and squeals, the exclaims all filled with a variety of emotions—shock, surprise, utter fucking relief. But most of all, our embrace is filled with joy that we finally have each other. It’s always been us against the world, and I really, truly thought I’d never see her again.
She’s the first to break the hug but keeps her arms around me. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God, you’re okay. You’re”—she roves her teary eyes over my face—“alive. You’re… God, I was so worried, Riri. I was…”
She trails off to give me another tight hug. Which I return, but this time I’m the one to break it. “What are you doing here? What… Why aren’t you in the Bahamas?”
She pulls a face. “Because I didn’t go.”
“Why not?”
“Because that doofus broke up with me.”
“What… Ben?”
“Yuh-huh.” She’s enraged. “With me. Can you believe it? With me.”
I’m so confused right now. “But I thought you were going to break up with him and—”
“Yes.” She cuts me off in turn as if we’re in a race to get all our questions answered, and frankly, we are. “But he got there first. He left me stranded at the airport, Riri. Like, the motherfucker didn’t even call. I had to call him and he didn’t pick up. And then he had the fucking audacity to send me a text and say that it was over and that’s it. God, I was so mad. I went back to the apartment to find you so I could vent but you weren’t there and…” She shakes her head, swallowing. “At first, I thought you went to the library but then you didn’t come home and God, Riri, I was so scared. I was so freaking scared. I kept calling and calling but your phone kept going to voice mail and… I looked everywhere for you. Everywhere. I knew it had something to do with Bo so I went to that café where you said you were going to meet him. I went to the cops. I told them about this guy you were going to meet. I told them he just got out on parole but they wouldn’t listen to me. They said you must’ve run away. No one would take me seriously. No one. I was this close to calling my brother. This close and I—”