AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If Talia knew I was here, she’d have a damn fit.”
He’s not wrong. His childhood sweetheart turned wife, and mother of their four-year-old twins, wouldnotbe happy if she knew her husband was visiting Rogue.
Sliding into the chair beside mine, he gratefully accepts the tumbler of whisky Vaughn offers. “What in the name of God is wrong that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow at work?”
I slide a glance at Vaughn, who all but buries his smirk in his glass, sheer devilment dancing in his onyx eyes.
Rolling my eyes at him, I pivot in my seat to take in a clearly peeved Grayson.
Might as well rip off that Band-Aid, buddy!
And so, I deadpan, “I got a call that there’s a sex tape featuring yours truly about to break, and I need you to have my back when Henry inevitably tears me a new one tomorrow.”
With each word that falls out of my mouth, Grayson’s eyes get disturbingly wider until I’m altogether sure they’re on the cusp of falling clear out of their sockets.
Silence rebounds through the small office as Grayson empties his tumbler in one fell swoop, then holds it out for a refill.
“I’m gonna need more, Burton. The secondhand fear isreal.”
* * *
REYNA
My ringing cell wakes me from a dead sleep, and I jolt upright, only for my head to harshly connect with the ceiling of my Corolla.
“Ouch!”
I rub my forehead, blinking repeatedly as I scan the floor of the car for the chiming cell that I’d thankfully been able to charge at the nearest Denny’s following my unceremonious eviction.
My forehead breaks out in a cold sweat, remembering the true extent of how bad yesterdaycouldhave been had I not gotten free of that wolf in sheep’s clothing, Chad Freemont.
Spotting the device half hidden by the layer of clothes I slept underneath last night, I push those thoughts firmly aside as I yank it out, only for my heart to drop into my stomach when I spot the caller.
Sunrise Harbor, Lita’s assisted living center, flashes on the screen, and without further thought, I swipe to answer.
“Hello?”
The caller clears their throat, and I shoot up a silent prayer that this isn’t the call.
Please let her be okay!
“I’m sorry to bother you so early, Reyna…”
My shoulders descend from my earlobes when I hear Penelope, one of Lita’s Memory Care specialists, on the other end.
“Not at all, Pen. Is Lita okay?”
“She’s…she’s asking for you, Reyna.”
My mouth drops open, and tears fill my eyes.
Her doctors spoke to me recently, advising that there had been some symptoms of possible terminal lucidity in recent weeks. She’d requested her favorite gelato a couple of times now and even given her tamales recipe to Penelope the other day.
They’d said there might be a possibility of her asking for me. I just never dreamed I could get her back for any period of time.
I glance at my watch to see it’s 6:14 am.
“I’ll be there in five.”
