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)
“What are you doing here?”
“I want my family back.”
Jesus fucking Christ, this can’t be happening right now.
“How the hell did you get through the gate?”
“You put it as our daughter’s birth date.” She rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t difficult to figure out.”
She steps through the door, and I lift my hand to stop her.
“My daughter, not yours,” I point out.
“That’s why I’m here,” she says, stepping closer to me. “I made a mistake, Ryder. I miss you.”
She presses her hand to my chest, and I swipe it away, moving out of her touch.
“I can’t do this right now. My fiancée and her daughter are missing, and I need to find them.”
“No, what you need to do is focus on your family. Kira is obviously focusing on hers.”
The fact that she knows my fiancée’s name has me taking a step toward her.
“What the hell did you just say? And how do you know Kira’s name?”
“I know a lot more than you think,” she says with a shrug.
Her nonchalant response sends a chill straight up my spine. Something is off … a lot of fucking somethings, and I have a suspicion that, somehow, my psycho fucking ex is caught up in the middle of it all.
Stalking toward her, I reach out and slam my front door closed, and then I wrap my fingers around her neck, pushing her against the wall. “Tell me how the fuck you know my fiancée’s name! She’s missing, Nora!” I tighten my hold on her enough to make it clear my threat is real. “I swear to God, if you had something to do with that, I will make you pay.”
“She’s not missing,” she chokes out. “She’s back where she belongs. She left with her husband because they’re a family.”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
“Yes, she would!” she screeches, making me flinch. “She belongs with him, just like I belong with you. I messed up, but I can fix it. I can be a good wife, I promise. I can be a better mom than her! I was just struggling, but I’ve fixed everything.”
My blood turns cold, and the worst feeling passes through me.
“Nora, what did you do?” I ask, trying to remain calm because killing her won’t get me answers.
“Did you know she’s still married?” she hisses, ignoring my question. “She was never yours. She’s his, just like you’re mine.”
“Nora …” Fuck, all the pieces are clicking into place, and I’m not liking the picture they’re creating at all. “Tell me you didn’t do something you can’t take back.”
“Adeline was calling her mom!” she cries. “She’s not her mom! I am. This house is mine! You’re mine! The money is mine!”
And then it hits me …
“Are you Marie?”
She smirks. “That bitch is too trusting.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Now, it all makes sense.
“Where is she?” I ask, tightening my hold on her a little more, done with this bullshit.
My ex-wife is off her fucking rocker, and she’s the reason Kira and Violet are missing.
“Where she belongs. With her husband!”
“He’s abusive!” I yell, losing my cool and slamming my hand against the wall beside her head. “If you handed her over to him—”
A knock on the door cuts me off, and I rush over to it, swinging it open and praying it’s Kira even though she would never knock.
It’s not her though. It’s two police officers in uniform.
“Ryder Du Ponte,” one of them says. “My name is Officer Glen, and this is Officer Remington. We’re here to file a missing persons report on a”—he glances down at his phone—“Kira and Violet Miller.”
“Her last name is Williams!” Nora says, further confirming that she knows who my fiancée is and is most likely responsible for her being taken. “She’s married and with her husband.”
The officer glances from her to me in confusion.
“Kira has a restraining order on him,” I explain. “His name is Brian Williams. If she’s with him, it’s against her will and even more imperative that we find them as soon as possible. I have reason to believe that my ex-wife has something to do with it.”
“Stop worrying about her!” Nora screams. “She’s not yours. She’s his! I’m yours. Focus on me.”
“Let me tell you something,” I say, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward me. “If I find out that you had anything to do with Kira’s disappearance, I’m going to make sure you rot in prison.”
I shove her toward Officer Remington. “She’s trespassing. We have a legal agreement stating that she’s not allowed to come within five hundred feet of my residence. I want her arrested. And if you don’t believe me, I can show you proof.”
I pull up the restraining order on my phone, and as I do so, Nora tries to run. Before she can make it to the door though, I slam it shut, refusing to let her get away.