Page 40 of Clever Deceit

“I need to get this back in the freezer,” she remarked, pulling open the door and carefully placing it back inside. “Since we’ve found more effective methods for dealing with your pain.”

I chuckled and pulled her on to my lap again when she was done, nuzzling into her neck and inhaling the scent of her. No matter what happened, no matter what we went through, as long as I had this at the end of it all, I knew I would find a way through. I knew there would be a way for us to make sense of all of it, because with each other, it just felt easy.

She sank into me, leaning her head against mine, and I listened to the slow in and out of her breath as she came back down to Earth. I didn’t know what was going to happen next—but right now, I didn’t really care about it, either.

CHAPTER 19

LILY

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I ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOW to let in some of the cool air beyond, leaning my head back and letting out a long breath.

“How are you feeling?” Warren asked me from the driver’s side of the car. I managed to muster a smile.

“Good,” I replied. “My mom’s coming out of the hospital today. I’m glad about that.”

It was true, at least. Finally, I would be able to bring Mom home and make sure she was doing okay. It would be a small slice of normalcy in the middle of all this madness, and I needed it more than anything.

Silver hung her head between the seats, and I scratched her chin. She panted happily.

“And I’ll bet she’ll be happy to see her too, right?” he remarked.

“I don’t know if she’ll be allowed in the hospital,” I laughed. “But yeah, when she comes out, you’re going to have to hold her back from jumping all over her, or it’s right back to the emergency room again.”

He grinned at me and turned his eyes back to the road. Silver took her seat in the back again, and I gazed out of the window once more, the smile slipping from my face.

I still couldn’t really wrap my head around all of this. Everything that I had been told the day before, and then the attack on Warren’s house too. It all made me feel...as though I was being watched, or something. As though there was someone hanging over my head at all times, intent on making sure I never felt too safe. Even now, out here on the road with Warren and Silver, I couldn’t quite let it go. I didn’t know when I would be able to.

My mind drifted, as it often did, to the woman who had taken the restraining order out against Tony. Maybe she had just been more sensible than me and seen the danger earlier on, viewed the order as a way to extract herself from the situation as soon and as safely as she could.

Or maybe...maybe, she had been caught up in it deeper than any of us had. I didn’t even want to think how far Tony must have gone to get that reaction out of her. And I knew him too well to think for an instant that he would respect a restraining order. In fact, I could only imagine that it would send him flying into a rage, and what would he have done to her when he got her hands on her after that?

It didn’t even bear thinking about. I slid down a few inches in the seat, hoping nobody in the cars passing either side of us could see me. I just wanted to be invisible right now, to be sure nobody was watching me, but the memory of Warren’s destroyed house flashed through my mind once more.

When was this going to end? When was I going to be able to live a normal life again? Even though we had taken huge steps forward in getting the women who had been hurt by him together again, we still hadn’t pulled together enough evidence to get this thing to trial. And even if we did, how could we be sure it would all go our way...?

My mind spun out again. This was getting to be all too familiar to me, this feeling of losing control. Being out on the road again like this reminded me of those first few months I had been on the run from him, when I would have done anything to put distance between us. When miles and miles of road didn’t feel like enough, when it was like he could spring out from behind any corner the first chance he got.

And I was starting to feel that again now. Tony was out there. He had even attacked Warren, though Warren had done his best to play it down to me. But I could tell from the way the bruise was spreading out over his chin that it had been anything but easy for him. I felt so damn guilty, knowing I was the one who had gotten him into this—he wouldn’t have been dragged into this mess if he hadn’t gotten involved with me, and look where it had gotten him: his house burned down and stuck in the middle of a fight he didn’t pick.

We arrived at the hospital, and I climbed out of the car. Warren, seeming to sense how emotional I was, offered to give me some time alone with my mom before he came in.

“I’ll take Silver out,” he told me. “It’s been a long trip.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, and I reached up to give him a hug before he left. I didn’t like the thought of being away from him, but right now, I really needed to just talk to my mom by myself.

I headed in to the hospital as Warren and Silver headed to a small park next to the parking lot and told the receptionist at the desk who I was there to see. She directed me down to a room at the far end of the hall, and I hurried down there to get to my mom.

As soon as I opened the door, I felt a well of emotion rise up inside me. Even though she looked so frail, I couldn’t stop myself from running over to her and wrapping my arms around her tightly, squeezing her in close to me.

“Oh, Mom, I missed you so much,” I breathed to her, and she patted my shoulder.

“I missed you too, Lily,” she murmured, and she smiled at me as I pulled back. Glancing around, I noticed her bag was unpacked on the seat next to me, and she was still wearing a hospital robe.

“You’re not ready to leave?” I asked her. Maybe she had one last check-up to do before she could walk out of here. It couldn’t be anything more serious than that, could it?

“I’m fine, honey,” she assured me. “The operation went well. They said I’m looking good to go, just as soon as my doctor can sign the release forms.”