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Oh well, I have a lot of stuff to get done today. Once I make coffee and breakfast for myself, I take my time drinking and eating, but I’m getting antsy just sitting here. I work on my normal daily duties, like laundry and dishes, but then the air feels stifling so I take a break.
Slipping on my jacket, I grab my beanie and put it on my head before heading outside. It’s uncharacteristically cold today, but maybe a little walk to the mailboxes is exactly what I need to clear my head.
The breeze feels so good in my rose gold hair and the crunch of the grass under my shoes is like heaven. Maybe I need to start taking walks every day.
Fresh air is good for the soul and, after what happened last night, I really need this.
Using the key Xander gave me, I unlock the number six mail slot and pull out the small stack of bills and advertisements. This seems so mundane it’s comical. I almost start laughing at the flyer for a new pizzeria around the corner.
I thumb through the stack, but it really is just two bills, an Auto Trader magazine, and a bunch of ads for food and auto part stores. I turn down the path for our apartment when I hear a deep voice.
“Gillian,” a man calls, his voice deep and dangerous, but I don’t allow my body to react. If someone thinks I’m her, it’s not good news. The only people that are looking for my sister aren’t good people and she’s not here. Only me.
If I can get inside the apartment, I can call for help. My sanctuary is just a few feet away and I left the door unlocked.
“Gillian, don’t you dare run from me,” the voice warns, but I have to take the chance. Maybe if they’re distracted coming after me, Gillian will have the chance to get away when she comes back.
I fly over to the door and yank it open before slamming it, locking it behind me. Pounding, beating, kicking sounds on the other side of the door and I yank my phone out of my pocket to find that I have no signal.
Why the fuck is my signal gone?
I cry on the inside as I look around, trying to figure something out.
“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Gilly!” the man’s voice bellows through the door as my eyes zero in on my sister’s panic button sitting on top of her bags.
I grab it and hit the bright red button twenty times in a row, not realizing the banging has stopped until it’s too late.
A massive, masculine body drives into the sliding glass door, shattering it, before hitting me, knocking my head directly into the gold doorknob.
All color and feeling fades from the world. All memories disappear until I’m left with only the heartbreaking scene of holding Xander in my arms as he cried and I sang him my favorite song.
CHAPTER25
XANDER
Ihate working this damn job. I much prefer only handling motorcycles. I love the sleekness, how it’s always the same things that break, and always for the same reason. There’s something special about doing the same thing over and over again and again.
Like sleeping in bed with the same woman every night and wanting to do it again and again until gray hairs sprout out of places no person should grow hair.
“Gunner!” Pipe yells from across the shop.
“Yeah?”
“Your phone is going off. It says something about a panic button being activated.”
My eyes widen as I stare at the oil pan by my side. This sedan could crash down on top of me and I wouldn’t notice.
The panic button? Why is Gillian sounding the button if she’s leaving? This makes no fucking sense.
“Activated?” I wheel myself out from under the car and wipe my hands on my dirty rag before jumping to my feet.
“You’ve got a shitload of notifications and they all say the same thing.” Pipes hands me the phone and I flip it open to the messages. In less than a minute, I received twenty alerts and that button is hard to push. These can’t be by accident.
“Why the hell do you have a panic button?” Chucky asks as he joins our huddle.
I have the perfect lie for this.
“I got it for Laura. She was freaking about this ex of hers tracking her down.”
