Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Excuse me for being prepared and looking good while doing it.”
“No shade here, Princess. I dig it.” I slide open one of the bags and pass it to her before I start disassembling. “Hold this for me?”
She agrees, and I set to work, breaking down the cage in record time. Scarlet helps me load it into my truck. “Anything else you need before we head out?”
She darts back inside and returns with a charging cable in her hand. “I’m good now.”
“I’d say lock up, but...”
“Shit.” She looks up at me with big, pleading eyes. “What do we do about my door?”
I slide my phone out of my pocket and pull up Silas’s contact card. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. Follow me back to my place?”
“Pretty sure I know the way.” Her lips quirk up with a hint of a smile.
“Pretty sure I’ll feel better keeping you in my line of sight, Scar.” I tip my head to the side. “In fact, I’ll follow you.”
Scarlet pulls onto the road, and I follow behind, hugging her bumper like I’m her own personal bodyguard—which is fitting, since that’s exactly what I am.
I hit dial on Silas's number as soon as my car connects to my Bluetooth. “Wilder, what's good?” His deep voice fills the cab of my truck.
“Just left Scarlet's house.” My fingers flex on the wheel. “That motherfucker kicked her door down, trashed her shit, and left a note on her wall.”
He cusses under his breath. “That’s an escalation. Send me her address. I'll get Smoke and Silver on it.”
“Will do.”
“Guess this means she’s officially your—”
“Don't say my girl,” I warn him through gritted teeth. Though I don’t know if my frustration is because the notion’s absurd or because I like the sound of it a little too much.
He laughs. “I was gonna say your first job, but I mean...”
“Shut the fuck up,” I say, but there’s no real heat behind it. The fucker’s good at what he does. He doesn’t even have to see my face to read me like a book.
“Is that any way to talk to your boss?” I can practically see his stern face and raised brow. “Seriously though, keep her safe and keep me in the loop.”
“Will do.”
“Do you have a way to track her location?” he asks.
“I can put something on her phone?”
“Good, but it’s not enough. You need something discreet. Something her stalker won’t think to remove if he gets ahold of her.”
My mind flashes to the tracker necklace Atlas gave Nora. It was his saving grace in finding her when his piece of shit dad took her. “I’ll figure something out.”
“We can talk more later. I can show you some options we have. And Ellis, make sure to keep your phone on you.” The sound of shuffling pages filters through the line. “I’ll text you later about some small jobs for you to do throughout the week while she is at work.”
“Sounds good.” My voice comes out steady despite the jolt of fear spiking through me at the thought of her being out of my sight. A tracker is must. Maybe a few. Lucky me, Atlas already has the scoop on where I can buy something. Hell, Silas might, too.
“Everything’s gonna be okay, man,” he says, and suddenly I fully understand why me saying the same thing upset Scarlet so much...
There’s literally no way anyone can promise that.
Fuck.
TWENTY-ONE
SCARLET
Ellis follows me like he's scared my stalker will snatch me off the street if he allows so much as an inch between us.
It's total overkill, but at the same time, it absolutely makes me feel safer. Not that I’ll ever tell him that. His head’s already big enough.
I glance over at Fefe, who’s snoozing peacefully in her carrier. I’m trying to be calm, but after everything last night and today, it’s like someone put all of my worries under an amplifier.
What if Fefe is traumatized from last night? What if she doesn’t settle in well at Ellis’s?
My girl's... persnickety and isn't one to hide her displeasure. One time, I brought her to my mom’s, and she absolutely lost her shit. The last thing I want is for her antics to put Ellis out. He’s doing me a massive favor by letting me stay with him. Even if he literally demanded it.
Ugh, I know I should tell my mom about all of this, but she'll be horrified, and insist on coming home. Then again, if I tell her I’m staying with Ellis, she’ll be elated and it will more than likely cancel out her worry.
On second thought, I’ll wait until she’s home. I’d never forgive myself for ruining her trip.
More pressing is the whole Atlas situation. Ellis says he'll handle him, but how pathetic would that make me? The sentiment is nice—more than nice, really. If I'm being honest, it's downright swoony—but I need to fight my own battles.