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Vanessa sits in a chair with her laptop open, tracking my phone to see if it’s been turned on, but of course, it hasn’t been. Then she searches all the properties William owns again to see if we missed anything.
Darin stares at her hopefully. “Do you think you can contact your friend who searched the dark web, and explain that you can’t come to New Jersey, but you really need her to search the name Damian Hayes and see what information she can come up with?”
Vanessa glances up from her search. “I left a voicemail and texted her when I went for coffee. She hasn’t gotten back to me yet. I’ll text her again.”
“What about your garage, Darin? How are you managing there?”
Darin waves his hand dismissively. “I don’t have much work right now. Dad is handling it, along with my uncle, if he needs help.” He leans back in his chair, taking a drink from his water bottle. “It’s all under control.”
I nod, grateful to him. “Thanks again for everything.”
“No problem, bud. Anything for you. You know that. And I’d do anything for Irelynn, too.” He looks at Vanessa. “I need you to reassure Max that Irelynn wouldn’t fall for William, even though he has her in captivity.”
Vanessa pauses with her iced coffee halfway to her lips, her eyebrows raised. “Are you serious?”
Heat courses up my face, turning it red.Damn you, Darin.
I spear him with a withering glare, irritated he mentioned that in front of Vanessa.
“Max, I can assure you, Irelynn loves you. Even if the two of you haven’t said it.” She gives me a pointed look. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about.” Her voice is laced with conviction as she takes a sip of her coffee.
“Thanks, Vanessa.” I give her a tight smile, still mentally cursing Darin for bringing it up.
“You’re welcome.” She grins, then her head lowers to her screen.
“Can I do something to help?” I feel useless just lying here.
“Yeah, you can stare at the television and rest,” Vanessa says, barely glancing up at me. “You need to focus on your recovery, Max.” Finally, her gaze moves from her screen. “Irelynn would want you to take it easy, and you damn well know it.”
I do, but lying here, imagining the horrors she may be enduring, is not at all helpful. I sigh, pressing buttons on her phone until I get to her photos. Slowly, I swipe through, my heart squeezing at the images.
A different nurse comes in, checking over me and giving me some pain medication. I take them, not even bothering to ask if they’ll make me sleep. At this point, sleep would be a welcome relief, a reprieve from all my worries and fears.
Fifteen minutes later, I can barely keep my eyes open. Pressing Irelynn’s phone against my chest, I succumb to the exhaustion.
Chapter twelve
Irelynn
October9,2018,8:00am.
I jerk awake with a start, blinking against the morning light streaming through my window. Releasing a long sigh, I sit up, admiring the brilliant reds and oranges lighting up the forest with their vibrant colors.
A wistful yearning dampens my joy.If only I could go outside and experience the beauty of autumn.
My feet sink into the plush carpet as I stand, heading to the restroom to shower. It takes me a couple of minutes to figure out how to operate such an ostentatious shower, but I refuse to press the button to beckon Emma.
I wash my hair with an upscale salon brand shampoo that I’d never be able to afford as a broke college student. Although its light floral scent smells amazing, it reminds me too much of the horrors I endured at the hands of the queen bee and her minions at Anderson Academy high school. Cringing at the thought of her, I grab the bottle of conditioner, squeezing a healthy amount into my hair, coating my long, curly locks and letting it soak in.
As I pour the luxurious body wash onto the loofah, I flashback to one of the worst experiences I had at Anderson Academy. My life was forever changed in the span of one single day.
The first week of my sophomore year was pure hell, and I had only made one friend, Terryn Michaels, who, like me, was a scholarship student. We bonded in the bathroom when we were cleaning up our respective injuries from the mean girls in this school.
I’d never encountered such vicious students and always thought movies dramatized how vile and cruel some people could be. Until I met Melissa Vanhorn. Terryn and I dubbed her the queen of the rude bitches because she was the leader of the mean-spirited pranks and bullying behavior they exhibited toward us on a daily basis.
I was Melissa’s favorite target, and I quickly figured out why—she wanted William. But from all I’d witnessed, he didn’t want her. And since he and my brother are friends and hang out a lot, that means he’s around me.
I’d often catch her glaring at me anytime William interacted with me. After she saw him walking me to class the first couple of days of school, she hated me with a fiery passion.
