Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
I flop down on the bed, wondering what in the world I’m going to do about Lake. He’s becoming important to me and it’s happened in the span of just a few days. What do I even do with that?
I need to get up and shower, but I’m just too tired. I peel off my clothes and put on one of Bear’s T-shirts. After doing a quick version of my nightly self-care routine, I climb into bed. I’m just too worn out from worrying about everything. I take one of the meds my therapist prescribed that help me sleep. Then, I close my eyes and wait for memories of Bear to surround me and take me back to a time when I wasn’t alone. As for everything else? I’m going to manifest my inner Scarlett O’Hara and think about everything tomorrow. The thought makes me smile as I yawn and curl into my spare pillow, wishing—like I always do—that I was holding onto Bear instead.
20
SHE SAID MY NAME
BEAR
Son of a bitch. I guess my woman is even smarter than me. I thought the security on this ranch was laughable. It took all of my skill to break into her house tonight. I look around the A-frame cabin. It’s at least a three-bedroom, a large great room with cathedral ceilings, that has an open kitchen and dining area toward the back of the house. The front of the room is large enough for two big sectionals that face one another, a huge fireplace takes up a large section of the wall facing the sofas. This wall is comprised of tinted glass that flows down from the ceiling until it meets the accordion doors that surround the fireplace. The effect allows muted outside light flowing into the room, and makes the house feel like it’s not a structure, but rather a part of the great outdoors itself. I can tell the glass is bulletproof, too. It’s thick and high grade. It took me an hour to find the one weak spot in this house. Olivia had left one window open. It was up high and a damn small one—it’s in the master suite’s bathroom. My woman is claustrophobic, so I figured she’d want some kind of fresh air filtering into her bedroom. I’m glad I wasn’t wrong in my hunch. I hate that Olivia is still suffering so much from this. She was always scared of small spaces. Her fear only increased when we lived in that human cage that Eyeball put us in. I lost count of the number of times I helped talk her down from panic attacks. I had to hold her in my arms so that she could feel our connection and repeatedly talk to her in her ear, reassuring I was with her. Eventually, her trembling would lessen. I hated that I couldn’t take away the scars of the past from her. I’m scared to hear of how she fared after I got free. I still carry guilt that I couldn’t come back for her. By the time I was able, she’d freed herself. My woman is as strong as they come. She’s endured way too much. That won’t happen again. Once it’s safe, I’m going to take Olivia far away from here. We’ll live on a beach somewhere. Sand, salt air, and wide-open spaces all around. We spoke about it often. I was more than ready to walk away from the club. They’re doing fine. They don’t need me anymore. I’m not sure how much money I’ll have left. I gave most of it to Olivia and then some to Ayita—that fucking bitch. My shares in the casino, which were separate from the club itself, I gave back to my brother. Still, I checked online one night in the town library. I still have access to one of my offshore accounts. It hasn’t been touched. Cross was supposed to make sure that Olivia had sole access to it. Everything remains the same and nothing has touched it, except a fuck of a lot of interest. There’s more than enough there to find us our own place. Hell, maybe our own island. It’s something I definitely need to talk to Olivia about. I can’t tonight, though. If she knows I’m alive, she won’t allow us to be apart. Eyeball will know at once and he’ll increase his efforts to get to her. So, for now, I’m going to see her up close and watch her sleep. I’ll slip out when I have to and bide my time until I can see her again. I know I’m putting everything at risk, but at least this way the danger is smaller. It’s all I can indulge in right now. Besides, if I don’t get to spend some time with her, I’m afraid I might snap.