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“I have to call Kincaid. I don’t have the authority to give you permission to head back.”
I angle my head, telling him to hurry the fuck up. I hold the door open with my boot as he crosses the room and grabs his phone from the bedside table.
He places the call holding his phone to his ear, and I watch as Hound relays what’s going on to our boss.
“I don’t think that will help…no, sir. He’s no good to me like this. I agree…dangerous for everyone…Okay…Yes…we’re about an hour away from doing that…okay…bye.”
The call ends and Hound turns back to face me.
“Shadow is going to make arrangements for a commercial flight out of Mexico City. I don’t know that he’s going to be able to get you into Four Corners Regional tonight, but he’ll get you as close as possible and have a car waiting for you.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, my resolve nearly cracking.
“Any time. Now go get your shit together. The ticket will be waiting for you when you get to the airport. We’re sending Legend back with you. You’re too fucked up to go alone.”
I nod and spin around. It takes longer to explain to Legend what’s going on when I get back to our shared room than it does to pack. He tries to assure me that everything is fine, and I want to believe him, but in my gut, I know that nothing is okay. Even if she’s just in a bad mood or thinking too much, it’s bad. But whatever the issue is, we’re going to get to the bottom of it and fix it. I can do that much for her. No matter the problem, I can fix it. I need her to realize that she can put bad things on my shoulders, and I have the ability to handle it. This pulling away causes more problems than it solves.
The cab ride to the airport is spent with my nose to the glass, twitching, and counting down seconds, getting frustrated every time we hit a traffic light. It seems to take forever. Heading back with my best friend makes it ten times worse. It’s like everyone knows something is bad, and no one will tell me a damn thing.
Airport security is ridiculous, and of course since I’m flying commercial, I’m unarmed. But the look on my face when I exit the cab must be harsh enough that no one approaches me. I’m not interrupted by someone trying to con a tourist one last time before they leave the country.
Shadow is a rock star because our tickets are waiting just like Hound said they would be. We’re having to fly into Albuquerque, with a two-hour layover in Dallas. With the three-hour drive from Albuquerque, it’s going to take us over ten hours to get home to her.
I’m antsy as we make it through security, and of course that sends the wrong signals to those working security. They pat me down, run my duffel through the X-ray machine more than once, and the plane is already boarding by the time we make it to the gate.
And much to the irritation of the man stuck sitting beside me, my knee shakes up and down for the duration of the entire flight into Dallas.
Chapter 33
April
In my dream, everything is perfect. There isn’t someone trying to force me to have an abortion, or people wanting to take my child from me. In my dream, there is warmth and happiness. In my dream, I can feel Nate’s hands on my skin, and feel the brush of his lips on my cheek. I can smell the scent of his skin—masculine soap with undertones of clean sweat.
My dreams are perfect. It’s why I’m reluctant to wake up when I feel movement beside me.
“Baby?” he whispers, and I roll closer, praying I don’t move too much to make the dream turn into a nightmare.
His fingers brush my cheek, no doubt moving my wild hair out of my face so he can see me better. I love when he looks at me, when I can tell he’s really seeing me.
I snuggle closer into him, my fingers getting tangled in his shirt, and that’s how I know this is a dream and not reality. Nate wouldn’t wear a shirt to bed. He’s the same as me, wanting as much skin touching as possible.
But as the last tendrils of sleep fall away, the warmth stays.
I blink up at him. The bedside lamp I know I turned off earlier makes a warm glow at his back, some of his handsome features cast in shadows. I can see the first hints of daylight coming in around the blinds, but I don’t feel that sense of rest I normally have this time of day.
“You’re here?”
He presses his lips to my forehead. “I’m here, baby.”
