Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
The screen turned to a police sergeant who spoke to reporters. “If Miss Nguyen is here to do legit business, she’ll have nothing to worry about. However, we’ll be taking a special interest in the goings on at the location.”
Oh, God.
This was not good.
My phone started to ring. I looked down at the screen and answered immediately. “Julius, are you seeing this?”
“I’m watching it right now.” He paused, then uttered, “I’ll take care of it. Don’t say a word to Ana.”
Take care of it.
Take care of Ling.
My stomach coiled in on itself and my lips parted. It didn’t matter how far away these men tried to get from their pasts; it followed them, for always. I wished they would be given the peaceful lives they desired. Regrettably, too much blood had been spilt, and that was not how their world worked.
It’s not like she didn’t deserve it. Ling was the reason Ana found herself in the hands of a madman. Ling was the reason Ana was the mentally crippled woman she was today.
Yes, she deserved to die, and I quickly decided I was okay with that.
“Okay.” I licked my lips and kept my eyes on the television. “Do what you need to do.”
“Look,” he said quietly. “I don’t think she’d be stupid enough to do anything in broad daylight, but—” He hesitated. “—I’ll talk to Molly. Tell her to be vigilant.”
My sudden frown was deep. The thought of Ling near my son was enough to make me crazy with worry. It was enough to make me violent. Just let her try to come near my cub. She had no idea of what a person was capable of when it came to the safety of their child.
Julius had told me about Ling’s unnatural obsession with A.J., about how she cried openly about me being his mother and her being left without anything of Twitch. She was crazy jealous, and that made her dangerous—not that she wasn’t before, and that was the worrying part. Insane as she was, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to get what she wanted. As long as she was far, far away, it wasn’t an issue. But she was here now, in Sydney, and that meant trouble.
If I had to choose between Ling’s life and my son’s safety, Ling would lose every time. That was the simple fact.
The words I spoke were firm and unyielding. “Take care of her, Julius.”
“Leave it with me. Don’t stress,” he uttered self-assuredly, then quietly seethed, “The bitch is as good as gone.”
He spoke so confidently, so surely, before he hung up.
So why didn’t I feel any better?
It was later that night when I heard the commotion.
I jumped awake with a start and ran breathless down the hall to find Molly holding A.J. back, away from the window.
The open window.
As A.J. fought Molly’s hold, he held his arms out and sleepily cried, “Daddy, come back!”
It was then I looked down at Molly’s hand, the hand that held the gun, and I shuddered, rushing over to the window. Panting in fear, I peered outside but saw nothing.
There was no sign of anybody. And I was suddenly glad I’d asked Molly to sleep in the room adjacent my son’s.
Molly and I exchanged a panicked look.
“Daddy!” A.J. shouted, louder this time, and the anxious need in his voice was enough to coat my arms in goose bumps.
But no one was there.
***
Twitch
It was late, and I shouldn’t have been where I was, but after the fight with my sister, I needed to see my boy.
The thought of being kept away from him was enough to make me lose my fucking mind, and I didn’t care what Manda thought. That wasn’t happening.
If I were honest with myself, maybe I was out here proving a point.
To who?
Fuck knows. Myself more than anyone, I guess.
Pulling my hood up over my head, I stepped outside into the dark of night, shoved my hands in my pockets, and made the short walk down to the house. I put my hands to the windowpane and pushed slowly, listening to the light rattle as it lifted. Without a sound, I climbed inside, and the moment I saw his small, sleeping form, the bands tightening around my chest eased.
My feet carried me silently over to my son and I knelt by his bed, watching him in the moonlight, gently stroking his hair. He blinked sleepily and I smiled, whispering, “Hey, bud.”
“Daddy.” He yawned, then muttered, “I missed you.”
He was my heart. “I missed you too. I couldn’t wait to see you, so I thought I’d visit.”
That was when A.J.’s eyes shot open. “Daddy, did you know you have a sister?”
I shushed him, looking towards the door. “Quiet, A.J.”
“And you got a dad too. I’m gonna meet him one day says Aunt Manda. And I have to call him Nonno Tony, but...”