Page 77 of Carte

I took a peek inside the box standing two feet from the table.

Bile surged up my throat.

There was a card near it.

You’re not alone. I’m closer than you think.

Goddamnit he was in her circle.

“Call the cops,” I glanced at Trevor. “But first, call Chace. He’ll know what to do.”

Trevor jutted his chin already making the call.

Without a moment's hesitation, I turned and walked from the room.

And took my Dynamo home.

Chapter Twenty

Harley

I opened my eyes and sighed in contentment then immediately frowned when I realized that I was alone in bed. Carter’s bed. I shifted and spied the clock on his bedside table.

Checking the time, I tried to mentally calculate, but my brain was still sluggish to understand what I was seeing.

“Damn,” I muttered as I shifted to lay on my back, my eyes going to the ceiling. I was asleep for over twelve hours. It was no wonder that it took me a minute to get to that conclusion.

Yesterday, after he got to me, Carter carried me from the hotel straight to the airport. How he managed to organize a private plane in such a short time it took us to get from the hotel to the airport, I had no idea. At the time, I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence, let alone help with transportation, but he didn’t need my help.

He took care of everything.

Took care of me.

As soon as the plane hit the tarmac, he whisked me away in a car that was parked at the gate, and didn’t stop until we reached the cabin.

Just as I asked him to, he brought me home.

He didn’t push, didn’t ask any questions. He simply brought me here, then guided me under the hot shower, and later put me to bed.

Throughout the night, sometimes I could hear him murmuring, and walking through the cabin, clearly dealing with the situation, but I was so exhausted I couldn’t tear myself from sleep, and just let it pull me under, ignoring everything else.

The door slowly swung open and I looked that way to see Carter leaning on the door jamb, his arms crossed over his chest, his hair mused like he was running his hands through it all night, a soft look in his eyes, and dark circles under them. “What are you doing over there?”

He smirked, “I like watching you.” His gaze swept over me in his bed, something shifted in his eyes, something that made warmth spread through me and he gave me a gentle look. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” I sat up. “I’m sorry for freaking out on you yesterday”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Thinking about it now, I felt like a fool. I should’ve known something was wrong.

“I thought the box was from you, that you sent me flowers or something. Looking back, the words on the card should have raised red flags, but I was thinking about you, how you said you were coming to me. And I guess…” I shrugged. “I deluded myself into believing that that was you giving me a heads up that you were near. And then when I opened the box and saw what was inside-” I gulped. “Why would anyone do that? Why would anyone take that many pictures of me, of us, in our private moments and…” I couldn’t even finish that thought, it didn’t make sense to me.

Carter’s whole demeanor changed, “Don’t think about it. Get it out of your head. That was fucked up, and if you dwell on it, you’ll drive yourself crazy.”

I got up from the bed, and crossed the room. “Are you okay?”

He flinched at my question like I lashed out at him, but he didn’t answer.