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“So this is all your doing?” Declan now says, waving his glass around the room.
It feels like there’s an edge to his question and despite my earlier plans, I reach for a whiskey as one of the wait staff walks past with a tray of drinks. “Just wanting to give my friend a good night,” I reply.
Declan smiles, nodding as he says, “Yeah, nice. It looks good in here.”
My phone buzzing in my pocket gives me the perfect excuse to remove myself from this conversation as I pull it out, holding it up as if to say, I need to take this. Before I go though, I turn to Simon and say, “Can you help me out with something?”
“Sure thing,” my brother responds.
As we move away, I glance at my screen, relieved to see the photo of Zoey and Tracy, with a message underneath letting me know she is safely at their house and already enjoying a glass of wine.
“Everything okay?” Simon asks, as he glances at my phone.
“Yeah,” I exhale. “Just figured you don’t really remember the guy so probably wouldn’t wanna get stuck talking to him.”
Simon laughs, looking over at where Declan is now laughing with Brandon. He turns back to me, his arm once again around my shoulders as he says, “Yeah, I actually don’t remember him so thanks. Anyway, I’ve gotta work on getting you drunk, right.”
“Hmmm,” I murmur, shoving a hand through my hair. “Okay, fuck it. Let’s go have another drink.”
CHAPTER24
ZOEY
Ethan crawled into bed around three in the morning, cuddling up against me, his warm body smelling of whiskey and pine. It only took me a few seconds to fall back to sleep, feeling the comfort of him being home and safe. I’m so glad he spent the evening with Brandon and Simon, finally getting a moment to relax. Both of us have been on edge, and rightfully so.
I silently pull myself from the bed, checking my phone to see that it’s too early to wake Ethan since he got in so late. I’m also sure he’s going to have a massive hangover and I want to let him sleep some of that off.
Making my way to the kitchen, my bare feet padding on the wood floor as quietly as possible, I catch a glimpse of the security camera screens as I pass them. Nothing out of the ordinary, and I will admit, there are times that I’m afraid even in my own house. It’s so damn big that there’s a real possibility that someone could be hiding in here and we wouldn’t even know it.
I see Eric out on the back deck, giving him a wave, he waves back. Ever since he saw those really flattering pictures of me, he’s been exceptionally nice. Not that he wasn’t before, he just seemed indifferent and really just here for the job. Now it almost feels like he’s family, albeit a weird family, but still family.
Sliding the oversized glass door open, I call out to Eric, “You want some coffee?”
The mornings are still cool, and the air catches me off guard, making me shudder. I wrap my arms around myself, rubbing my hands up and down my arms, trying to warm up.
“No thanks, Zoey,” he replies, smiling a little, and he looks like a totally different person when he smiles. Less intimidating, less scary, and that’s probably why he doesn’t do it often.
“You called me Zoey,” I say, smiling too. “You never call me Zoey.”
“Yeah, I figure after yesterday, things changed between us,” he answers back, and I can’t tell if he’s making a joke. I watch him for a few seconds and when he hits me with a hearty laugh, I laugh right along with him.
“All we can really do is laugh,” I tell him, shrugging. It’s true though. If I focus too much on what’s happened, it will eat me alive. There are times that it does, but I’ve said it a million times, I will not let this asshole win.
“I’d rather you do that than cry,” Eric says, looking back over his shoulder. “I gotta get back to work. Have a good morning.”
“You too,” I respond, closing the door and heading back into the house.
I’ve done enough crying, and I told my mom that when I was talking her off the edge when she received those pictures of me. I worried that she only wanted to pay the guy because of the Holden name, not wanting that blemish on our record, but when I mentioned this, all she did was say my name.
It was said the way she used to say my name when I was being irrational as a kid, and that’s all I needed to hear to know that she was looking out for my best interests.
I’m sure this is a nightmare for both my parents. The constant worry that something is going to happen to me, but paying this person isn’t going to make this go away. He’ll find something else. He’ll demand more money, take things further than he already has.
I despise that my thoughts are consumed by this, but it’s where they go when I’m given time to think. I need to busy myself until Ethan wakes up.
I open the fridge and pull out a carton of eggs, deciding to make breakfast for the guys, to help with the hangovers Ethan and Simon will have.
Grabbing my phone from where I set it on the kitchen island, I begin looking up recipes for eggs or breakfast things, trying to keep my thoughts from wandering. Even though I’ve never been the best cook, I figure I can give it a try.
