Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Okay.” She nods emphatically. “I’ll get a room in a hotel, I promise.”
“You’re not staying in a hotel.”
If she could afford one, she wouldn’t be sleeping in her damn SUV.
“Then, what do you want me to do?” she cries.
“Come home with me.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, but I can’t find it in me to regret them.
I don’t know this woman’s story, but I know enough about her to know that she’s kind and sweet and caring, and if she’s living in her fucking car, there’s a damn good reason why.
“What?” She steps back. “No, I can’t.”
She shakes her head, looking at me like she’s a rabid animal I’m trying to corner and capture. Whatever happened to her is enough that she’d rather sleep in her car than get help from me.
“Yes, you can. I have a big home with too many damn rooms,” I say, trying to assure her. “You can trust me. You’ve known me for over a month now. You and your daughter will be safe in my home.”
“But …”
“But nothing,” I argue. “Come home with me and get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow, we’ll figure this out. I’d bet your little girl would love to have a nice shower and sleep in a comfy bed tonight,” I add, not above guilting her into listening to me because there’s no way in hell I’m leaving them here to sleep in their vehicle another night.
She stares at me for several seconds. Then, her shoulders slump, and her panicked features morph into defeated acceptance, telling me she’s going to give in.
“Okay,” she whispers. “We’ll go home with you.”
chapter five
KIRA
“Mommy, where are we going?” Violet asks as I drive out of the Kingston parking garage, following Ryder.
After I agreed to go to his house, he took the phone Ana had given me and input his address into the GPS.
Sensing my hesitancy, he looked at me and said, “Don’t run, Kira. If you do, I’ll have to chase you.”
And since I could tell his threat wasn’t empty, I agreed.
“Ryder invited us to have a sleepover at his house with Addie. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” I ask, keeping my voice light even though I’m freaking the hell out on the inside because he knows my daughter and I are homeless and living out of our SUV.
I begged him to leave it alone, to forget he saw us, but he insisted on us staying with him, and I could tell he wasn’t going to stop until I gave in, so I did—right after I cried in his arms like a crazy person.
Sigh. This is not how I thought today would go.
I guess I should be thankful he didn’t turn me in. When he pulled up and got out, I thought for sure that everything I’d done up until now was for nothing.
Oh God, speaking of everything I’ve done … what is Ana going to say when she finds out? Will she fire me for using their parking garage? Will she think less of me once she knows living around the corner didn’t mean in an actual home, but in a vehicle? I shove the fear away, needing to get through tonight. I’ll deal with the fallout later.
“Does Addie have a pool?” Violet randomly asks.
“I’m not sure, Vi, but we’re just sleeping there for tonight. Ryder said we can shower and sleep in a bed.”
“Okay,” she says, always going with the flow. “But if they have a pool, can we swim in it?”
“Probably not,” I tell her, not wanting to get her hopes up.
“Are we still going to see bugs tomorrow?” she asks after a few minutes of silence.
Shoot, I forgot all about the trip to the museum I’d promised her. I don’t know what will happen once we get to Ryder’s, but there’s no way he’ll prevent me from taking my daughter to the science museum. I let one man dictate my life, and I’ll never allow that to happen again.
“Of course we are,” I tell her as we pull up to a massive guard’s gate.
Ryder stops ahead of me and rolls down his window. He speaks to the guard for a couple of minutes and then pulls forward. I follow, waiting for the guard to stop me, but he only nods, indicating that I’m good to go.
As we drive through the streets of his neighborhood, I glance at the homes in shock and awe. I’m no stranger to living in a nice neighborhood—I lived in one for over a year—but these homes are on a completely different level. Like, there’s rich, and then there’s rich. I figured Ryder makes a good living since he’s the CFO of a multibillion-dollar company and drives a newer BMW, but, holy shit, this is insane.
When we pull up to what must be his home, Ryder waits for the wrought iron gate to open—because he apparently has another gate despite his neighborhood being guarded—and then we drive up a long driveway.