Page 57 of I Never Stopped Loving You

And yet I still won’t be needing that anytime soon.

I lead her to the door, and as soon as I’m sure she’s out of the front gate, I drop the façade. I need to make sure to change the lock codes first.

“Fucking annoying woman. Good lord,” I huff as I make my way into the laundry room.

My fingers run along the wall, feeling the panels for the slightest bit of air…Bingo. I follow the air, pressing against the wall slightly until I hear a soft click. A whoosh of air follows the second click as the false wall piece pops open, showing me my hidden treasure.

A secret staircase that leads down to my new sanctuary. A place I’ll be able to satiate my inner demons by bringing my targets down into its depths.

It’s dark, damp, and deathly quiet. You can smell the earth all around you as you go deeper underground. This is the reason that I bought this house, one that isn’t on the blueprints or known to any realtor. No, the only reason I found out about it was because of a folded-up map, hand-drawn by the architect himself. It was being sold at a sale here two years ago. That was the day I decided I needed to have this property.

Each step creaks under my weight. The sound echoes, showing the years of neglect. Who knows the last time someone was down here? The first thing I’ll be doing is replacing those steps. That’s all I need is to be dragging one of the pieces of scum down here, and a step gives, leaving me at the bottom with a broken ankle or worse.

When my feet finally leave the rickety old wooden steps and hit solid ground, I can feel it. The energy down here is different. It’s not a basement or a cellar. It’s a hidden tunnel system designed by the original mastermind of this home. If I didn’t know any better, I might’ve thought he had a sick and twisted game he’d play down here. But no, he was just obsessed with labyrinths and wanted his own.

And now it’s mine.

My phone dings. I pull it out and stare at the brightly lit screen. It’s a notification of a tracker that my hacker, Monty, placed on the fucker’s phone last week when we finally found him. The red dot just moved North and crossed the border between Indiana and Michigan. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

“It’s been a long time. Welcome home, James Parker.”

CHAPTER 27

WILLOW

NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY

“So...Did you text him yet?” Jenna asks as she starts pulling stuff out of the fridge to make us lunch.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m just not sure what to say.”

Thanks for the flowers. By the way, why fifteen bouquets? Do you have an obsession with the number fifteen? Is it your lucky number? Or are you secretly stalking me?

“How about just thanks for the flowers? Simple. Sweet,” she asks.

“Doesn’t that seem a bit unappreciative? The man literally got me hundreds of flowers.”

“Do you want to thank him by going on another date?” she teases.

“I can’t.”

“Ooh, so it’s not that you don’t want to…”

“Jenna, stop. I told you last night why. Everyone would judge me at the firm. They’d say there goes the bitch who slept her way onto the team.”

“No one would say that,” she laughs.

“Okay, they’d think it.”

“And are you a mind reader?”

“No…”

“Then fuck what they think! Jesus, Willow. You said it yourself, you’ve never felt like this with someone before. What if he’s your true love? Your Prince Charming.”