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“Damn right I’m stubborn!” I feel my fury flaring. Nostrils wide. Breath huffed.
“It’ll all work out in the end,” he promises. He comes close to me, like he wants to hug me. I step away from him because if he gets within striking range, there’s no telling what I’ll do. I might stab him or slap him. Or, worse yet, I might let him hug me. Because even though he’s the one putting all this in motion, he’s also the one I most want to reassure me that everything is gonna be okay. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that I’m cool with this in the slightest.
“It doesn’t matter if it works out. This is bullshit and you know it.”
“It’s for your safety.”
“I could be safe at home!”
Reese sighs and strokes a hand through his mussed hair. “I know what I’m doing, Olivia. I’m gonna find the person that’s responsible?—”
“The person that’s responsible is Holly! It’s so obvious!” A flicker of dread passes across his face. He masks it quickly, but I know what I saw. “You know something, don’t you? You know something that you’re not telling me.”
He sighs and checks his watch. “Listen, I know this isn’t ideal for you, but it won’t be forever. I just need you to sit tight, okay? You’re gonna be okay here and Violet’s gonna be with Grams. It works out.”
“Oh, how fucking convenient. And what am I supposed to tell my mom, huh? What about when Quinn is trying to get a hold of me and she can’t? What then?”
Surely he doesn’t think that the people closest to me are going to just not notice my absence. I didn’t hit him in the head with the bat that hard, did I?
“I have that covered,” he says enigmatically. “Ten steps ahead.”
I can’t help but continue to glare at him. “You’re un-fucking-believable, Reese.”
“I’m doing what I know best: getting shit done. Just try to trust me.” He looks at his watch again and then back to me. “I have to go. But I’ll check in on you, okay?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Reese sighs, as if he has more reason than I do to be frustrated, angry, and annoyed. He looks at me one last time before turning to the door.
“Take good care of her, boys.”
Each of the bodyguards replies with a grunt instead of words. What are they, mindless Neanderthals? Drones that are just here to do Reese’s bidding without a second thought?
“This is bullshit,” I spit out once the door is closed and locked behind Reese. I zero in on one of the bodyguards, a blonde behemoth with stone-cold, piercing blue eyes. “Can you at least help me get these bags into a room?”
Maybe I can get one distracted enough that there’s only one that I have to contend with as I try to slip out…
“I’m sure you can handle it yourself,” he says, taking me by surprise. “I’ve done jobs like this for a long time. I know that look on your face. You think, Hm, maybe I can separate them and make my big break. It’s not gonna work, honey. None of those bags are too heavy for you.”
I narrow my eyes. “I’m pregnant. They’re too much.”
He tilts his head. “Not so pregnant you can’t handle a couple of fifteen-pound suitcases and a backpack. Nice try.”
Asshole.
Sure enough, as I move the suitcases one by one into the bedroom, both Blondie and his friend Bozo just stand in place, watching me. One keeps to the door and the other stands near one of the windows in the small living room. I make a point to stomp, to huff, make as much noise as possible. I even toss one of the suitcases into the room just to make more ruckus.
I don’t know what’s more irritating: that it’s not one bit satisfying when I do it or that the bodyguards don’t even acknowledge the mayhem.
Just to be more of a bitch, I slam the bedroom door closed, too.
The very first thing I do in my solitude is check my phone. Sure enough, there’s no service. I’m tempted to throw it at a wall. But that’ll just do the work for Reese in making the device even more unusable.
“This is so stupid.”
I can’t help feeling stupid and betrayed. I really, truly thought that he was bringing me out here to do something romantic. Bags packed for me? A pink silk blindfold? Adorable! A sweet little getaway to put the severity of the break-in behind us for a little while.
But no. He brought me to Bumfuck Cowtown, Texas, and then abandons me while he goes off to do who-the-hell-knows-what.
