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“I’ll go reach out to the prosecutor. Jack needs to know what’s going on.” He eyed me, and I nodded, giving him a grateful smile. “At the very least, it might extend her stay.”
“Thank you, Zack.”
He walked to his office as Elena rubbed my back. “I know it seems like everything in the world is tipping on its axis, and you’ve got people trying to intimidate you left and right, but we are here. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
I brought my gaze to hers. “What about Mom and Dad?”
“My brothers are on it. I can promise you that nothing will happen to your parents.”
I nodded mindlessly, knowing that once we married into the Volkov family, they’d do as much as they could to protect us all on some level.
But what kind of life was it when you had to always live behind a veil of fear and worry?
I closed my eyes and drew in a few deep breaths, remembering some of the breathing practices my therapist would have me do.
For once, I was thankful for knowing these calming exercises.
My mind lulled with each steady breath in and exhalation. The voices around me drifted into an abyss of muffled sounds as I thought about the last six months.
Kidnapped.
Rescued.
Love.
Life.
Fear.
Threats.
Anxiety.
My eyes flashed open as my pulse pounded between my ears, and Zack walked back into the room, handing me the phone.
He was my center, the one thing that could stop me from running.
“It’s impossible that Carmella made that call.” Zack sat next to me.
“What do you mean? I heard her voice.”
Zack pressed his lips together and nodded. “I don’t doubt you heard it, but she’s still in processing. She didn’t make that call.”
It felt like I was losing control of reality. I knew who I heard.
“Now, that doesn’t mean that she didn’t record it while she was out, and then someone called and played it for you,” Zack offered as his eyes met mine. “Or it’s not her at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jack doesn’t necessarily see or hear remorse when he’s spoken to Carmella, but he knows a woman who doesn’t want to be in jail. No good would come from her reaching out to you. She’d only hurt herself.”
I shrugged. “Then where does that leave me?”
Zack glanced at his phone and smiled. “Ian’s date must have gotten cut short. He’s coming through the gate.”
“He was going out with Melanie tonight?” I asked.
“I thought those were his plans,” Zack said, eyeing the front door. “But it’s probably better that he’s here.”
