AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She cocks a brow at him. “It’s LaikenWilder.”
He nods. “Of course, my apologies. I have a few boxes here from a Miss Nolan Brentwood. Does that sound familiar?”
“Unfortunately,” she says dryly. “Where do I sign?”
The mover shows her where to initial and sign, and when she’s done, he hands her a letter with Laiken’s name written in Nolan’s handwriting. She scrunches her nose at it but takes it anyway, opening it while the guy goes to start retrieving her boxes out of the truck.
A few days after we nearly lost our lives, Laiken was finally ready to confront Nolan. I sat in the living room and watched Laiken pace as she laid into her. Nolan admitted to everything, but claims she knew nothing other than that she was someone who needed to be looked after. Still, the trust there was destroyed, so when Laiken told her she never wants to see her again, I didn’t blame her. And when Nolan asked if she wanted her things packed up and mailed to her, Lai was so done with it all that she said she didn’t care.
“Do whatever you want. It’s not my concern anymore.”
Looks like she decided to ship it to her anyway.
“For what it’s worth, I really did value you as a friend,” Laiken reads out loud with a scoff, before crumbling it up in her fist. “Well, it’s worth nothing, bitch.”
I chuckle, watching her go down the steps and tell the movers that she wants all the boxes on the porch. After everything, it makes sense that she would want to go through it before bringing it into our house.
As I see she has this handled, I go back inside to continue finally fixing the mantel. Laiken has been on me about it, telling me that it’s always been her favorite part of the house. What shedoesn’tknow, however, is that I’m reinforcing it to make it stronger.
I hear the name Rollins come through the TV and I pause, grabbing the remote to turn it up just slightly as the news anchor starts to report on the story.
“After a month long investigation, police are finally closing the case on a fire that took place on a small island off the coast. Investigators say that Montgomery Rollins, who had disappeared and was presumed dead, was living there for two years out of the house that had been abandoned for over a decade. During what authorities believe was a lover’s quarrel, a female who was at the house with Montgomery struck him fiercely and repeatedly in the head and face, killing him before lighting the house on fire and shooting herself. According to sources, even Montgomery’s own parents didn’t know he was still alive and had believed their son was dead. We reached out to Senator Rollins for comment, but he declined.”
The idea of Riley and Monty being lovers grosses me out. Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me. Monty was a sick fuck. I don’t think there’s anything I’d put past him.
“What are you watching?” Laiken says as she walks through the door.
I press the button to turn off the TV, smiling back at her. “Just that they’re closing the case on Monty. Everything okay?”
She glances out the window and nods. “Everything is perfect.”
It only takes a couple steps before I’m in front of her, pulling her into my arms. “Good. But as soon as they leave, I’m taking you somewhere.”
“Do I get to know where?”
“Do you ever?”
Her lips press together as she pouts. “Fine.”
As she goes to walk away, I reach out to grab her, spinning her back into my arms and kissing her so fast it catches her off guard. Her whole body melts into me as her lips move against my own, until I finally break the kiss to look at her.
“Happy Anniversary, baby.”
Her smile brightens, lighting up my whole damn life. “Happy Anniversary.”
THE SUN SHINES DOWN, warming us as we drive down the street. Laiken’s hand hangs out the window as she lets the wind run between her fingers. I find myself glancing over at her a lot lately, just to admire how beautiful she is. When she came back, I was so angry, and trusting her again proved difficult, but we were always going to hold on until it happened. I don’t believe there was ever another alternative for either of us.
As if she can feel me looking at her, she turns to me and grins. “What?”
“Nothing,” I tell her. “Just glad you’re mine.”
She looks down at her finger, where the tattoo of my initial is newly touched up. A week after finally putting an end to the nightmare, the two of us went to the tattoo shop and sat across from each other, not looking away for a second as we reaffirmed our love for each other with the buzz of a tattoo gun.
“There will never be a day that I’m not,” she promises.
And I know she’s never meant anything more.
I pull into the parking lot of our special beach, the same one that was taken from us the night Monty and Riley buried Laiken alive here. Laiken’s breath hitches, and she looks at me with fear in her eyes, but I put the truck in park and turn my entire body to face her.
