Page 35 of Gold Mine (The Diamond Trilogy 2)
“No, but she said something about the way you met.”
He looks away. “Hell.”
In this moment he sounds like Elijah. “I thought she met you on a road trip.”
“That’s a nice euphemism for how it happened. The same way you keep telling me that you decided to travel the world on the spur of the moment.”
I squeeze him back, the strong, protective solidity of him. “There are some things that only make sense to the people who experienced them. You raised two girls who know how to take care of themselves.” That much is true. We evaded experienced security professionals. We faced off against international thugs and made it out alive. “Now you need to trust us.”
He kisses my forehead. “You might be right about that. Some things only make sense to the people who experienced them. But I’ll tell you this much. You ever point a finger at someone, you ever so much as nod in their direction, I’ll rip his fucking throat out.”
I give him a watery smile. “I love you, too.”
I leave him to the rest of the dishes and go upstairs. I’ve settled into my old bedroom and London into hers. It’s been a safe haven here at home, but it’s getting time for me to leave. London has already been accepted into an upscale rehab center only an hour’s drive from here, and Elijah is…. In the past.
My cell phone sits with taunting darkness.
Of course he could get my number. He could call me all gruff and angry with me for leaving. Or he could call me acting all casual, as if I only stepped out to the store. I have a faint smile on my face just imagining it. He could call me. But he doesn’t.
For three weeks I’ve maintained radio silence. With shaking hands I pick up my phone and call the number Liam gave me. The words Liam North flash on the screen. His private cell phone.
“Hello,” he says, sounding brusque and businesslike.
“Hi, it’s me,” I say. And then with a little laugh. “Holly. Holly Frank.”
“Hello, Holly. Is something wrong?”
“Oh no. Nothing like that. I only… wanted to see if Elijah is okay.”
There’s a pause. “Why are you asking?”
“Well, you know, he did save us from Ian Taggart and help with that. I wouldn’t want him to be hurt or anything. You know, hurt physically. I know I can’t hurt him emotionally.” I’m rambling, and it’s only by clamping my hand over my mouth can I stop.
Liam clears his throat. “He’s fine. Angry. I have a nice shiner.”
I wince imagining Elijah punching his brother. “He didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t be angry at him. He loves you and Josh so much.”
“You don’t have to defend him, Holly. I understand why he did it.”
“Oh. Well.” There’s a tightness in my throat. A tingle behind my eyes. I’m near tears just thinking about Elijah. Maybe I need my own rehab center. Not recovery from cocaine. I need to recover from Elijah North. He’s the addiction I can’t shake.
“Holly.” Liam’s voice softens. “He’s gotten on with his life. You need to, too.”
The tears spill over. “Right,” I manage. “You’re right.”
“He’ll be safe this way. And despite what you might think, I don’t hate my brother. I want him to be safe from the lieutenant colonel. You did that for him. You saved him.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Holly
I’m missing a shoe. I hop around my loft apartment with only one high heel on my feet, the other bare and stockinged. I’m wearing a white T-shirt with the words I read past my bedtime on it. The black pleated skirt and heels will make it vaguely professional.
“Are you on your way?” comes the voice from my phone. It’s sitting on the entrance table on speaker, because I’m supposed to be out the door.
“Very, very soon.”
There’s a laugh over the phone. “That means no. It’s a good thing I made the appointment for thirty minutes after two instead of two o’clock sharp.”
I glance at the clock. A smile hovers on my lips. “You knew I’d be late.”
“Because I know you,” comes the singsong answer. My agent is more than my business partner. She’s been my friend since I sent my very first round of queries, and she replied back, “Let’s hop on the phone. Right. Freaking Now.”
She loved my tooth fairy story, but it hadn’t been the first novel we sold. She shopped it to publishers who said it had great writing but was too strange to be accepted by readers. Give them a vampire, please. But I’ve always had an aversion to blood.
They finally relented when I wrote a shifter story for them. Only when my books cracked the New York Times bestseller list for young adult were they willing to take a chance on the tooth fairy. She’s my highest grossing book to date, and the sequel has been a major success.
