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I can just imagine her standing on the other end of the line with her hand on her hip and a scowl pulling at the skin around her lips and eyes. What I wouldn’t give to see that expression on her face instead of sitting in some strange woman’s bedroom.
“I can’t, Mom.”
“Eden—”
“No,” I interrupt her. “You know I would tell you if I could. I never keep things from you or Daddy, but this one time I’ve got no choice. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can and will tell you everything. In the meantime, you’re just going to have to trust I’m doing what’s best.”
“Are you in danger?” Her voice drops, giving away her worry.
“No,” I lie. If they knew I was in danger, there’s no way they wouldn’t call the police. “I just needed to get out of town for a while. I swear I’ll explain soon.”
She’s quiet for a moment, and I fidget on the bed. Melanie Delmont is a force to be reckoned with. She’s head strong, independent, can be very stubborn, brave, and loves her family fiercely. You step between her and her daughter or husband, you better watch out. She may be short and stalky, but she’s not above fighting dirty to get to her family.
“Okay, Eden. We’ll do this your way for a while, but you keep in touch. If I don’t hear from you at least once a day, I’m calling the cops, you hear me?”
I release a silent breath. “I got it, Mama. Thank you. I love you.”
“Love you too. Whatever’s going on, please be careful. And call me tomorrow.”
“I will. Give Daddy a hug for me, will you?”
“Okay, honey.”
After we hang up, I drop my phone by my hip and dig my fingers in my eyes. I’m relieved to have my parents taken care of. I’ve been stressing on how they would take me leaving town. My parents and I have always been really close. We never keep secrets from each other, so for me to do that now, I know is hard on them. Thankfully, Mom is giving me time to work out my problems. I just hope she gives me enough time.
With a tired sigh, I get up from the bed. As soon as I’m on my feet, my stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. Lasagna, even reheated, sounds really damn good right now. Afterward, a nice long hot shower, followed by a good night’s sleep, something I haven’t had since the day I witnessed that woman’s murder.
Opening the bedroom door, I’m immediately met with a delicious smell. As I descend the stairs, my thoughts move to JW and the crazy way my body reacts to him. You’d think after sleeping with Diego and then finding out what his extracurricular activities entailed, I’d be turned off by men for a while. Apparently, I’m way off base thinking that, because I was most definitely turned on.
Especially when he looked at me with his enticingly gorgeous baby blue eyes.
JW
I DROP DOWN INTO MY OFFICE chair at work and swivel around to face my desk and the three men who walk through the door. Trouble and I just left Jenny’s place. Instead of having to repeat myself, I held off on telling him what’s going on until I called Judge and Emo to set up this meeting.
Once Emo closes the door behind him, he stands in front of it with his tattooed arms crossed over his hard chest, his black soulless eyes staring at me.
Both Judge and Trouble occupy the seats across from my desk, watching me expectantly as well, waiting for my explanation of bringing an unknown to Malus.
I lace my fingers and place them on the desk in front of me, ready to get down to business.
“Her name is Eden Delmont. She’s from San Antonio and has a bastard of an ex after her. He’s already got his hands on her once.” I move my gaze to Trouble. “As you’ve already seen.” He gives me a tight nod. “Her time was up today. The next time he won’t leave her alive.”
“What do you mean her time is up?” Judge asks, his jaw ticking.
“He thinks she has some microchip. She claims she doesn’t and has no idea what he’s referring to,” I answer.
“And you believe her?”
I look at Trouble. “Yes. I do.”
“Why? You know nothing about this woman.”
I swing back to Judge. “Because my instincts tell me to and they’ve never steered me wrong before.”
After a moment, he nods, trusting my judgement.
“I still don’t like that she’s here. We need to take care of this shit fast and get her gone.”
