Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
She nods and, after taking the card from Dr. Moore, we walk out into the lot. Madelena takes in the collection of soldiers. I sent twice the number and a cleaner to Hells Bells. Having dead cops involved is going to complicate things, but between my connections and Father Michael’s, we’ll figure it out.
The fact that Val is gone hits me as I help her into the SUV, but I set the thought aside for now. It’s not yet time to mourn the dead. It will come, but not yet.
“What happened? What was that call?” Madelena asks as I climb into the driver’s side, and we head home.
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.”
I keep my eyes on the road and feel hers burn into me. She has questions, but I’m not ready to answer them just yet.
“Santos.” She touches my hand and I turn to her. “I almost died today. We almost lost the baby. Maybe I almost lost you. Please talk to me. No secrets.”
I grit my teeth, but she’s right. “My mother. This all started with her years ago. More than a decade ago.”
“Your mother?”
“And my brother. To a different extent. But guilty is guilty.”
“What was the call?”
“She’s gone.”
“Gone?”
I nod, draw a deep breath in and exhale it out. “I’ll go to Augustine’s later. Figure it out.” We stop at a traffic light, and I turn to her, touch her cheek. “Let me take care of you first.” I shake my head, pull her to me, and kiss her forehead. “I thought I lost you.”
“You didn’t.” A tear rolls down her cheek. “I’m here. We’re both here.”
I nod.
“Your brother. Are you going to be okay?”
“I have to be. I love you, sweetheart. I love you so much. You know that, right?” She smiles, looks at me with such warmth it’s almost hard to look at her. “I don’t deserve you.”
“I love you, too, Santos. And I’m here with you. We’re not alone anymore. Neither of us.”
The car behind us honks their horn.
Madelena looks back then flips him off, which makes me laugh. Caius was right about her. She’s tough as nails.
When we get home, I run a hot bath for her as the cook prepares a warm meal. I bathe her, shower myself, and help her eat a little bit before the doctor arrives. I stay in the room as he examines her. She will heal but it will take time and she’s exhausted by the time he leaves. I lay her down in the bed and climb in beside her.
“You’re going, aren’t you? When I fall asleep,” she says as I hold her to me.
I’m fully clothed, so it’s pretty obvious, I guess. “I’ll be here when you wake up, and I’ve stationed two men at the door, more throughout the house and outside. You’ll be safe.”
“I know. I just don’t want you to go.”
“I have to.”
“I know that too.” Her eyelids close. “I can sleep for days.”
I kiss her forehead and don’t even get a chance to reply before she’s out.
Cummings is sweating, he’s so fucking anxious. Ana, on the other hand, stands calmly by the windows, her arms folded across her chest, eyes narrowed as she studies me. She’s framed by sunlight in the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room. I wonder about her. She reminds me a little of Camilla.
“So she didn’t tell you where she was going?” I ask Cummings again.
“She didn’t even tell me she was going. I woke up and she was gone. That’s all. Can I go? I’m behind on my appointments.”
“Sure,” I tell him because I don’t think he knows anything. I think Mom used him.
He stands, adjusts his jacket.
I walk closer to him. “If you hear from her, I’d love to know. You understand me?”
He clears his throat, face flushing with nerves. “Of course.”
“Good. I’d hate to be on opposite sides, Dr. Cummings.”
“Understood.”
I gesture to the soldier standing nearby to let him out and turn to Ana.
She cocks her head, lets her gaze move over me. One corner of her mouth lifts suggestively. She doesn’t think I’m remotely attracted to her, does she?
“Sit,” I tell her, pointing to the couch.
“Your brother likes to give orders too. It must run in the family.” She sits, and I just watch her, confused.
“I thought you and Caius broke up.”
She shrugs a shoulder. “It was temporary.”
“Was it?”
She puts her thumbnail into her mouth, and I see how young she is. She’s Madelena’s age but a very different person.
“He won’t be back. He will never return to Avarice. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Why not?”
I ignore her question. I know she was just a pawn, someone Caius and my mother both used. “You should go home, Ana. Forget about him. And forget about my wife. I don’t want you upsetting her.”
“Because she’s pregnant.”
I neither confirm nor negate.
“Is he dead?” she asks.