Page 111 of The Complete Truth Duet
The truck slowed to a stop on the shoulder of the road, but the dam inside me had broken. “What did I do wrong? I’m a good person, but I’m tired of being strong. I’m tired of fighting losing battles. And I’m tired of making the best out of a bad situation for the sake of everyone around me.”
He put the truck in park and leaned toward me to give me some awkward side hug thing. “Shhh…calm down. Get it together, because we’re gonna figure this out,” he soothed.
But I couldn’t get it together. My life had fallen apart the moment I first laid eyes on Nic Guerrero. And now, fourteen years later, there was nothing left of me but jagged remnants and broken shards. None of the pieces fit anymore, and I was too damn tired of trying to make them.
“I quit,” I told his shoulder. “The universe can have its victory, because I can’t take this anymore.”
“You’re not a quitter. Or we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
I sat up, swiping at my eyes. “He took my daughter, Drew. And unless I can get in touch with Catalina and convince her not to come back to claim her brothers’ estates, he says he’ll take her away from me for good. And he’s just sick and twisted enough that I believe him. Though I’m not sure if that’s before or after he kills me. Something he also threatened. So maybe I should worry about that one first.”
The day I’d met Drew Walker, I’d thought he was plain. But, in hindsight, that had only been because he was standing next to Penn.
Drew was a different kind of handsome.
A different kind of sweet.
A different kind of thoughtful.
And, right then, with his jaw tight, his eyes narrowed into slits, the muscles straining at his neck, and his lips forming a hard slash, he was kind of scary too.
“What?” he breathed so quietly that I barely heard him over the rumble of the engine.
“And he sent the attorney you found home tonight. Apparently, they play golf together. Annnnnnd…the judge that will be hearing my case owes him more favors than Thomas has time. How am I supposed to fight that? Because seriously, if you have an idea, I’m all ears. ’Cause I got nothing.”
“Oh, I got a plan.” He stared at me. His lips were curled into a rabid snarl and his chest was rising and falling faster with every breath, but his eyes weren’t focused. It was as though he were looking right through me.
I waited for several seconds, but when he failed to offer an explanation, I prompted, “You care to share it with me?”
He blinked, turned in his seat, put the car back into gear, and hit the gas. “Nope.”
I watched him closely as he weaved through traffic. He wasn’t driving fast or overly aggressive, but the muscles in his arms flexed like he was trying to rip the wheel off the steering column.
By the time he opened the door to our hotel room, he’d relaxed a good bit. I, on the other hand, was a mess. One look around that empty room and I wanted to fall apart all over again. Thanks to the Guerreros, I had missed years of River growing up. But ever since Manuel had gotten locked away, she hadn’t spent a single night away from me.
Now, I didn’t even know where she was.
Her clothes were strewn haphazardly in what was supposed to be a pile in the corner, and her phone was still charging on the nightstand.
Never had my chest felt emptier.
But crying wasn’t going to get my daughter back.
Drew was right: I wasn’t a quitter, no matter how appealing the idea sounded sometimes.
I had no doubt River would call me the first chance she got. She was smart, and as much as I’d hated all the shit she’d had to deal with in her thirteen years, it gave me comfort that she knew how to handle herself in any situation.
I had a week before the court date. I needed to get in touch with Catalina and figure out our next move. I couldn’t live like that. I’d just gotten rid of two problems without adding Thomas Lyons to my list. Even if that meant finding River and taking off the same way Catalina had done all those years earlier. Once I got the rest of the girls from the building taken care of, I didn’t have much of a reason to stay anymore.
The building was gone.
Penn too.
And, while I did care about Drew, it wasn’t like he was going to spend the rest of his life beside me on the bed. Nor did I want him to. However, I was weak enough to let him stay until I got River back.
But what would happen after that? I’d always be looking over my shoulder. Holding my breath. Waiting for the day Thomas or one of his henchmen in blue found us.
