Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
“Harper! Harper, come back here!”
I don’t stop. I don’t even think about stopping, but with every step, blades cut me. I’m bleeding inside and it’s like her voice is acid being poured in freshly cut wounds. I open the door and find Eric standing there. We stare at each other as my mother screams and tears prick my eyes.
Desperate to escape her screams, I step into the hallway and shut the door.
“I don’t want the money,” he says, his voice low, rough. “I didn’t know and it wouldn’t have mattered if I had. I don’t care about anything but you.”
“I know that,” I whisper. “I know.”
I don’t know who moves then. Me. Him. Both of us, but we collide and hold onto each other, just hold each other. Neither of us wanting to let go.
Chapter one hundred twenty-four
Harper
“Idon’t know what to do, Eric,” I whisper, hugging myself with the impact of the bitter truth I cannot deny. “She’s my mother, but she—she’s not a good person.”
The door opens behind me and my mother gasps. “You,” she hisses at Eric.
“Yes,” Eric says, his tone hard, a blade of steel. “Me. I’m still alive.” I rotate to stand next to him, keeping my hand at his back. He doubted me. He doubted us. No. He feared I’d believe the worst of him and that’s exactly why my hand settles firmly on his back. “And so is Harper,” he adds. “I’m keeping her that way and since that means dealing with Isaac, that means you, too, but for now, I suggest you leave. Stay hidden until this is over.”
“I have a husband who needs to be buried.”
“He wanted to be cremated. Have a service later, not now. Get on a plane and go to Europe with Gigi. Don’t come back until this is over.”
He’s protecting her and despite all my anger at her, all the pain of today’s revelations, this calms me. This allows me to breathe. He’s the reason I can breathe. Savage steps to Eric’s side. “We can escort her to make arrangements and then set-up her travel.”
“Who are you?” my mother demands.
“One of the men keeping you alive, even if you don’t deserve us,” Savage snaps, clearly aware of what’s occurred. He was listening in. God, Eric was listening in. He heard every brutal moment I just shared with my mother.
“Do what they say, mother.” I keep calling her mother. I normally call her mom, but she’s different to me now. I can’t change that reality. I wish I could. “You’ll live. You’ll survive. You and Gigi might just want to stay in Europe indefinitely. Have the funeral there. You two loved Italy. It’ll give all your rich friends an excuse to go to Italy. I can’t believe I just said that.” I press my hand to my stomach. “I need to leave.” I twist out of Eric’s arms and start walking.
Blake steps to the end of the hallway, waiting on me.
“Harper!” my mother calls out. “Harper.”
But I don’t stop. I keep walking the eternal hallway that eventually leads me to Blake. “You okay?” he asks.
“Not really. I just—I need out of here. I want this over.”
“I don’t blame you. We’ll help get you all the way to the other side of this.”
Eric steps behind me, his hands on my shoulders, and I twist around to face him. “I want to go home.”
“Then let’s go home.” He takes my hand, kisses my knuckles, and then folds me under his arm, and in silence, we head to the elevator. I ride down with him on one side of me and Blake on the other. Savage must have stayed with my mother and I think that’s a good thing. He’s strong. He can handle her. He’ll keep her alive and keep her from getting anyone else killed.
Once we’re back in the SUV with Smith behind the wheel, I rest my head on Eric’s chest. We don’t speak. We just hold each other, bleeding together, the salve to each other’s wounds. A sanctuary in our bond, a place above hell where we can’t fall when we’re together. He’s lost a father. I’ve lost a mother, but we have each other. I feel that now. He feels that now.
Smith and Blake, who rides shotgun next to Smith, seem to understand our need for each other and privacy, if you can call this privacy. Or maybe we’re all in shock at the magnitude of evil that this family proved capable of. Maybe we all need this timeout.
In a short ride, we arrive at the apartment and Blake joins us at the elevator. “I need to debrief with you both. I’ll make it quick.”
I’m torn by this request. I both crave information and crave the sanctuary that is Eric’s apartment that is our new home together. Eric looks down at me. “Are you up to this?”