Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
She pauses, shuddering.
“He wouldn’t believe I threw them out the window. Maybe the wind took them. His apartment was a penthouse, so I think that’s possible. Or maybe they just disappeared. Or maybe they’re still down there, and he hasn’t bothered to look.”
“He killed your dad for that?” I ask.
She sniffs, rubbing a tear from her eye. “Apparently, I cost him millions of dollars with my little temper tantrum, as he describes it. He’s been demanding the money ever since. I haven’t known what to do. He showed me a photo once of him at a police party, all of them smiling, happy…and what happened yesterday makes me more certain I made the right choice.”
“By not going to the police,” I say, nodding. “Maybe. But why didn’t you tell me?”
She shakes her head slowly. “If you knew what sort of man Mike was, you wouldn’t ask me that.”
Suddenly, all the heartache and the pain make sense.
I understood it as Julie grieving, but there was always that cruel voice whispering at the back of my mind, telling me Julie should be able to get over this. Not forget her dad, not stop caring…but function, move on with her life.
But with Mike constantly threatening her – and the guilt of her dad’s death – now I understand.
“Last night, Mike called me. He said he was done waiting. Now I’d really know how badly I messed up. I wish I’d explained this all last night. Or months ago. I’m sorry, Freya.”
I wrap my arms around her as she begins to sob, making choking, gasping noises of pure grief. We stay like this for a long time, and then she leans back, sighing.
“I want you to know something,” I tell her. “What happened to your dad wasn’t your fault.”
She makes a tsk noise, rolling her eyes.
“It wasn’t,” I snap. “I’m not saying there aren’t things you could’ve done better. There always are, and I get that. But you didn’t hire somebody to kill me. You didn’t…blow up a freaking house.”
“I know,” she says softly. “But I could’ve warned Dad. I could’ve warned you.”
“You could have,” I agree. “But you didn’t. I’m not going to hold a grudge. I’m just relieved you feel like we can talk about this now.”
She takes one of my hands in both of hers, holding onto it tightly, staring at me with tears glistening in her eyes.
“I’ve wanted to tell you ever since Dad…but it’s hard to explain how terrifying Mike can be. And as the weeks and months went on, I thought maybe that was it. Maybe he was done. And then the phone call came.”
So Mike hired Mr. Red, who in turn hired Felix. All as a way to get revenge on Julie, as if she hasn’t suffered enough since her dad’s passing.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I tell Julie, though I’m not completely sure of that myself.
“Promise?” she says, smiling as she offers me her pinkie finger, a throwback from our childhood.
Her face drops when I don’t take it. As silly as it may seem, we take pinky promises seriously.
“Felix will keep us safe,” I murmur. “His friend will be here soon. With backup.”
She nods, sitting back in the chair. “Thanks for not hating me.”
“I could never hate you, Julie. Next time, though, remember you can talk to me. About anything.”
“I will.”
She smiles, but her eyes are still tinged with sadness.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Felix
I stand on the porch as the cars drive up the lane.
There are two in total, off-roaders, bulletproof and reinforced. From the rear car, two men climb out, their hands at the ready as they scan the forest. The driver climbs out, walks around to the passenger seat, and opens the door.
Felicia springs from the car with all the gusto of a three-year-old. She runs past Kenny and the other men climbing from the first car and up the stairs toward me.
“Uncle Felix!” she beams, almost tripping on the steps.
I walk down quickly, sweeping her into my arms, feeling an extra pang of emotion as she wraps her arms around me and plants a big kiss on my cheek.
She makes me think of giving her cousins to play with, cousins with Freya’s brown hair and smile, and hell, her everything.
“Does that mean you missed me?” I grin, holding her up as she smiles down at me.
“Yeah. I missed you this much.” She spreads her hands. “And more.”
I smile, placing her down as Kenny and Yasmin walk up the steps together. The rest of the men are already fanning around the property, taking up positions Kenny must’ve arranged with them before arriving.
Kenny is just a little bit shorter than me, with black hair turning silver at the edges. He’s wearing a plain shirt and jeans, but his earpiece and the concealed gun at his hip – the outline just about visible – makes him look like he’s in business mode.