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“Not that I’m aware of.”
Max types the names into his computer one by one, reading out loud how they died. They deemed two suicides, with the third being murdered.
“Did any of them hurt you?” he asks.
I rub my temples. I’m not proud of who I was in the past. The desperation is demeaning. “Not really. Chuck Adams was the last of the three. I realized that no matter what I did, these guys wouldn’t help me. He tried to get a little more physical with me. Wanted me to do things I wasn’t comfortable with.” I keep my gaze glued to the outside.
Ryker’s chair drags across the floor and I imagine him walking out of the room, not wanting to hear this, and a pain in my chest spikes. Instead, his arms wrap around my chest and he kisses the top of my head. “It’s okay,” he whispers.
He rotates me so our bodies are mashed together. I whisper, “Thank you.” When I pull back, Ryker wipes my tears away with his thumb. “I learned how to defend myself, so he didn’t hurt me. Rather, I left him with a broken nose.” He flashes an amused smirk.
That was the end of trusting men to help me. Determination to do it myself fueled the success of my business.
Max hums. “And he’s the one who was murdered.”
The guilt I was hoping he could ease, grows like a vine inside me. “Do you think that was because of me?”
He scratches his head. “I’m not sure how something that happened thousands of miles away and they left there like it never happened, had anything to do with their untimely deaths, but we can’t discount it.”
My prison kept me safe from the consequences of my actions. They are dead because of me. The gods righted the men's wrong. And now this… this is my punishment. I’m just uncertain what this is.
I rush out of the kitchen to the bathroom, locking the door behind me as bile from my stomach burns my throat.
“Can I stay in here with you?” Ryker asks later that evening, bringing my last bag into the bedroom. He stands and shoves his hands into his athletic pants. Today weighs on his body, making him appear smaller.
“You don’t have to. I’ll be fine.” I dig into my bag to find my toiletry bag. When I find it, I walk into the bathroom to avoid watching him leave.
The lights in the bedroom are dim and Ryker’s tucked into the bed, leaning against the headboard.
“But I want to,” he says when he meets my questioning glance.
With a quick snort, I reply, “So it seems.” I pick out a nightshirt, ignoring the heat coming from his side of the bed as he watches me change. “Ryker, I’m drama you don’t need. I’m giving you an out.” It’s my last attempt to make him leave. Except, the words sour on my lips as soon as they escape.
He yanks back the sheets and pats the space beside him. “What I need is for you to be beside me.” I sigh and walk to the side of the bed, hesitating. “I promise I won’t bite.”
I sit on the bed, bringing my feet under the sheets and then Ryker pulls them up over my bare legs. His fingers graze my thigh by accident and I bite back the desire.
“Whiskey, you’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, wrapping my hair behind my ear. “You might not believe it, but I’m glad we met.”
I close my eyes, reveling in his touch. No other man has ever made me feel so many emotions like he does. “This was easier when you were being an asshole.”
The look of regret etched on his face reflects how I feel about leaving him. I’m so torn inside. Guilt that my dad is sick, yet I want to stay here makes me a horrible daughter.
“They released Addison.”
My spine straightens and I grab his hand, hoping she’s not in any trouble because of me. “That’s good, right?”
“It is. She said when she ran the picture, the system glitched. There was information for a second, but it erased before she could read anything. That’s why she called Max when she saw men asking for her. But she had to give them the picture.”
“That’s fine. It was only a picture of my family.” But it means she was being interrogated because of it. I fall against the padded headboard. “We should call whoever and tell them where I’m at. They can ask me anything.”
Ryker wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his body. “We’ll figure it out tomorrow. Let’s try to sleep.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aspen
“They’re here,” Max says, looking out the window to the vehicle that just pulled up the driveway. Ryker and I push off the couch and stand. Ryker’s hand grips mine, tight. I squeeze with a single nod, reassuring him I’m okay. But I’m far from it.
