Page 152 of On the Double

My brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“No, I’m not doing this with you. If you want the story, you’ll have to get it out of her lips. Just know that you made her feel about as worthless as she’s always felt she was. And that’s something I can’t and won’t forgive. You fucked with my family, and I hope now you feel that same helplessness that she was feeling when she walked out of here that night. I hope you stay awake at night going out of your fucking mind because you know you screwed up, and you have no way to fix it.”

“I’ll find her,” I growled.

It didn’t matter that everything he was saying was true. I wouldn’t allow her to disappear from my life. I was in security. This was what I did for a living, and I wouldn’t rest until I hunted her down and brought her back where she belonged.

“Good luck with that,” Oliver snickered. “And if you do find her, just remember I can and will murder you if you hurt her again.”

I took his words for exactly what they were. A vow. And I believed him one hundred percent. I’d fucked with his family, and there was no way he’d let that slide a second time.

I would find her and bring her home, and when I did, I would never let her out of my sight again. I was not my father, and the only way to prove that was by showing up every day and being the best damn person I could be for both of them.

39

HARPER

I luggedthe last of the groceries inside, plopping them down on the table. I slumped in my chair, exhausted from the back and forth, up and down the porch steps. I heard that women were supposed to have more energy in the second trimester, but I hadn’t felt that yet, and I was nearing the end.Having spent the first two months of my pregnancy completely unaware that I had a tiny human growing inside me, everything else seemed to fly by, leaving me not only feeling rushed, but completely unprepared for the impending birth. In just two weeks, I would enter the third trimester, and I already felt like I was ready to deliver.

Three months had passed since I walked away from my home and my brother. It was a drastic change from what I was used to. Instead of having someone at home with me every night, I sat in this huge house, all alone, with nothing but books to entertain me. When I left, I also dropped my studies, knowing it wasn’t the time to go back to school.

Besides, I was flying under the radar. Edu would have caught on right away to where I was. Not that he was looking for me. If he even realized I was gone yet, he was probably reveling in the fact that he was off the hook.

I shoved out of my chair and winced at the twinge in my back.What I wouldn’t give for a back massage. As I started putting away groceries, a familiar voice called out to me from the front porch.

I hurried over, waving my neighbor in. “Come on in!”

She hurried in, then shut the door behind her. I’d only shut the screen door as I carried in the groceries, and now the bitter chill from outside had seeped its way into the living room.

“It’s freezing outside,” I laughed. “I’m surprised you left the house.”

“Well, I wanted to get you these jams before I forgot. Plus, I needed a reason to get out of the house.” She was setting down a jar and froze at her words. “Um…decorating is getting out of control,” she smiled.

Decorating. Yes, her husband was decorating her in bruises. They were more obvious when I first moved in and she wasn’t wearing so many layers of clothes. Now, she was able to hide them for the most part.

“Where’s Cody today?”

“Oh, he’s at a friend’s house playing. He’ll be gone most of the day.”

That was code for her husband didn’t want him in the house, and that left him time to beat on her.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want. I was just putting away groceries.”

“Oh, no. I can’t. If I don’t get back soon…”

I understood completely. I hated that her husband was such a bastard, and I wished there was a way I could help her, but the one time I’d called the police, she’d only landed in the hospital. She refused to press charges or even say that it was her husband hitting her. She was terrified and begged me not to do anything else.

I would obey her wishes as long as Cody wasn’t involved. But the minute that bastard laid a finger on that little boy, I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut. As it was, it felt wrong not to try and help more.

“Would you like a cup of tea before you go?”

“Oh, why not,” she said, pulling off her gloves. “You don’t have any decorations up.”

I shook my head. I didn’t feel much like decorating this year, but Ialso didn’t have the energy to put it all up on my own. “Maybe next year.”

“You should get one of those small tabletop trees. At least then you’d have something.”

With nothing to put under it.