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“Did you stop her?”
“How?” Ken asks.
“You didn’t fucking stop her? Did she take it?”
“You said follow her, keep her safe. I’ve followed her. You didn’t say stop her.”
“Did she take it?”
“I don’t know, Derek.”
I’m pacing. Bile keeps hitting my back teeth. I’m out of my fucking mind with a storm of emotions that feel like they’re burning a hole in my gut. I’ve called her phone over and over. She won’t answer.
Plan B and a sports drink. She’s going to take it and erase the possibility of the link that’s probably forming right now between us. And she’s not going to forgive me. I saw it in her eyes. I saw something I’ll never forget. I had it for a day. I fucked it up. If I’d waited, it would’ve happened naturally. She was falling for me. She started to believe. And I fucked it up.
“Derek?” Ken checks.
“I don’t give a fuck how. Just get her here. Now!”
I get a text ten long minutes later.
Kenny: ETA, 5
I breathe out relief. He has her. He has her. Maybe she didn’t take it. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe I can fix this. Maybe I can…I can’t fix this. I saw it in her eyes. The utter pain and betrayal. I had it for a day and it’s gone. It’s gone. I burnt it to ash.
My hands are shaking. Bile rises again, this time with an even more rancid taste. My stomach contracts hard and I hurl into the sink, losing the dinner she cooked for me. I hold onto the counter, white knuckled, staring at her rings that I put there, feeling in my gut like I’ve lost everything that matters.
The doorbell rings.
I open the door to Ken holding Chloe’s arm. Her face is red and she’s looking at me with hatred.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” I snap.
He jerks back in surprise. “You said get her here. It required some force.”
He’s got scratches on his face.
“Did you fuckin’ hurt her?” I shout. “I’ll fucking kill you.” I grab his throat and back him up.
“No man, she just struggled. I just subdued her and got her here.”
“You put her in danger?”
“Derek. Fuckin’ relax.”
I growl in his face and release him.
“Where’s her car?” I demand.
“It’s on the highway. I remote disabled it. Chuck is bringing it.”
I growl.
“I did it safely, Derek. Chill out! It’ll be here in a while.”
“How’d you get her here?”
“I had to pull my weapon to get her out of the car. She didn’t believe, so I fired a shot into the ground. Then she tried to run for it so caught her in the ditch and carried her to my car. Threatened with the gun again… just to get her to cooperate.”
