Page 50 of Hunt You Down

Regan was already in New Orleans. If I left, he would just follow me. I wasn’t safe anywhere but if I had to choose, I wanted to be with André.

André rounded the corner, setting the food on the counter.

“Yes.”

Hope flickered across his eyes, but he quickly masked it. “You can take some time to think about it.”

“I don’t want to. The answer is yes. I want this relationship with you and yes, I’ll move in with you.” I held out the necklace in my hand. “Will you put this on for me?”

Chapter Twenty-One

Despite being elated that André and I were officially living together, my mental health tanked.

I barely left the house and when I did, it was with André by my side. Still terrified of public bathrooms, we never stayed out for very long—or I would just refuse to go. If it weren’t for André’s work schedule, I wouldn’t have known the time of day.

Whatever was only going on inside me only got worse. The pain intensified with every passing day and when I couldn’t go straight away, it was damn-near debilitating.

I did try to suck it up once at a restaurant but the second I couldn’t see the door, I panicked. It led me to staying home, even if I did panic with every noise I heard outside.

One morning, I was desperate for caffeine—and instantly regretted it. I couldn’t stay out of the bathroom. I’d just opened the door after a particularly bad spell to André rummaging through a plastic bag. “What’s that?”

“All the pointless stuff they sent home from the hospital,” he turned the bag upside down, tipping the contents onto the bed. “I don’t know what they expect anyone to do with a year’s worth of baby wash.”

“Save it,” I said, intending to go into the kitchen for a glass of water. “Penn and Amanda might want it.”

“Baby, what’s this?” André called.

I abandoned my drink and went back to the bedroom where André was holding something in his hand.

Fuck. It was Mitchell’s business card. In the time it took me to try and fumble together an answer, André’s tone changed. “Did he hit on you? I told him to keep his hands off you. I swear to God, if he fucking hit on you…” André slipped into Creole, and I no longer understood what he was saying. He threw the card in the trash and started searching for his phone.

“No. André!”

The volume of my voice shocked even me. André screeched to a halt, giving me his full attention.

I brought my voice down a notch. “H-he didn’t hit on me.”

“Then why did he give you that card? Go figure the one time I find someone I really care about, he still can’t keep it in his pants.”

I couldn’t hide anything from him anymore. I was going to have to tell him what happened that night. “He gave it to me in case I ever needed anything.”

A twinge shot across my lower belly and up my back. God not now… I willed the feeling to go away.

“What could you possibly need from him? He hardly knows you.”

The burning intensified, and a jolt of pain shot across my back. André was blocking the master. I was in too much pain to speak, so I silently turned toward the hallway.

“David, don’t walk away from me.”

“I just have to use the bathroom⁠—”

“You just came out of the bathroom, just tell me what is going on! Did Mitchell do something to you?”

“It was Regan!” I screamed. The pain had become excruciating, buckling my knees. I held onto the couch to steady myself.

“What?”

“André—”