AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Three
BRIGGS
I practically dragMillie to the Ryker’s front door and use my fist to bang it down. Pris answers with a scowl on her face but it quickly falls when she sees me.
Panic has taken over, everything is heightened, stronger. I have to get to my dad.
“Briggs what’s going on?”
“My dad. He’s in trouble. I can’t get ahold of Xan. I need Millie somewhere safe.”
Pris is slightly confused but Jet steps in.
“Of course,” he says and calls for Del. There’s so many Ryker’s crammed into the little porch area and they are all watching me like I’m crazy.
“Del, can you take her? Keep her here. Don’t go anywhere until you hear from me okay?” I say and Del nods holding her hand out for Millie.
I hug my daughter tight and feel her tears on my neck. “It’s going to be okay sweetheart. I promise.”
I need to stop promising her these things. Because I have no idea if it’s going to be okay. Xan is out battling fires, my dad could be getting his knees bashed in, or worse. I am reeling from the discovery that my own assistant has spent the last year torturing me. I’m such a fucking idiot. How did I not know?
“I love you,” Millie says, and I kiss her forehead.
“I love you so much. I will see you soon okay.”
Millie takes Del’s hand and Del is the only one who doesn’t look somber. She’s all excitement with sparkling eyes, but that’s because that’s what Millie needs. A distraction. There’s nowhere better for my daughter to be. No better people for her to be with.
The relief is palpable. I turn and jog down the steps and heavy thuds follow me down. Jet matches my stride easily.
“Not a fucking chance you’re going by yourself, Marchand.” He dangles his truck keys from his finger and steers me away from my motorhome.
I don’t argue because if there’s one person you want around when things go bad it’s Jet. He’s a teddy bear, sure, until he gets angry.
“So, talk,” Jet says as he fires up the truck and whips out of the drive. “I need to know everything.”
On the fifteen-minute drive back out to my house I tell him everything. The call out, the first calls, hiring Leslie, how things steadily escalated, when I got scared and came here to hide. I flashed the messages to him on my Instagram and his hands tightened around the steering wheel so hard I thought he’d snap it right off.
“She’s a little girl,” he growls to the road. He’s right, Millie doesn’t deserve any of this. No child deserves to be threatened.
I put a hand on his arm and he breaths out a bit of the tension, but in this moment, I feel sorry for Leslie for a fraction of a second. She doesn’t know the protective streak of a Ryker.
“Thank you for coming with me. I don’t think I could do it alone.” The words taste strange on my tongue.
“Did I just hear you admit that you need help?” He asks pulling into my driveway.
“No one will ever believe you. I’ll deny it ever happened.”
Jet lets a short laugh out before he turns cold and focused.
In the driveway is that black sedan. The car that ran me off the road.
“If I told you to stay in here would you listen?” Jet asks and I shake my head. “Fine, stay close okay?”
The sun is beginning to set, sending colors shooting across the sky, bouncing pinks and purples off puffs of clouds. Shadows are stretching along the lawn and I get the feeling I’ve had so often since returning to Raston. The tingling that flows along my skin like a warning sign, the hairs standing up ready to alert me of danger. My body has been sensing her presence and suddenly I’m no longer afraid. I’m fucking pissed.
The violation of being watched, followed, and tortured puts all my feelings into perspective. My steps are heavier, my shoulders stiff, my heart thumping with mama bear rage. Jet’s going to have to be the one pulling me off this bitch, because I’m going to crush her for what she’s done to Millie.
Jet grabs my arm as shadows pass through the house. I see my dad standing in the window.
