AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Somehow, Aurora, I think you might be the perfect candidate. Here’s what you’re going to do.” He holds out a slim black phone. “You’re going to carry this with you. And when I call, you’re going to answer.”
I shiver. This feels like something out of a book. Something I’d concoct in my head. If only I was a heroine destined for her true great love, instead of… me. A girl suffering from writer’s block and delusion.
“I don’t know how I can help,” I mumble. I don’t take the phone.
“Your connection to Whiteshaw.” He pauses. “And Haverhill.”
A chill sweeps down my spine.
“Fun mess you’ve gotten yourself into, don’t you think? Married to one, engaged to the other.” He chuckles. “It took my people less than fifteen minutes to discover that one. You flew on our jet at Haverhill’s request. It’s his ring on your finger, his bank statement confirmed it. So here’s the thing. You help me, or I resort to more drastic measures to force your hand.”
“Drastic,” I repeat. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone pale. My hands are shaking, but I mask it by keeping my palms pressed to my thighs. “I don’t suppose you’d elaborate?”
“Well, I’d start with Haverhill.” He tips his head. “He’s not the greatest goalie, is he? If he has an accident, if, say, his legs were to shatter… well, we would get the other Whiteshaw. Then you’d have to pick my next target—your husband or his brother.”
He pushes the phone at me again.
This time, I take it.
I don’t even know what he wants from me. I know nothing, although my imagination runs wild enough.
He stands and buttons his suit jacket, then slips down the row and disappears up the aisle. As soon as he’s gone, I blow out a shaky breath. I’m screwed.
12
AURORA
Idream of blood. A high-pitched scream echoes around the room as blood pours from Joel’s mouth and eyes. He’s on the floor, gagging and choking. He scratches at his eyes, making everything worse.
There’s no saving him.
I’m shaken violently, and I jerk upright in bed. I’m sweating, cold and hot at the same time, and my heart is going a thousand miles a minute.
Joel stares at me, the concern etched on his face almost painful.
Alive, whole,notcovered in blood.
I burst into tears.
“Hey,” he murmurs, drawing me close. “What’s wrong?”
I latch on to him and bury my face in his neck. I can’t voice the fear, the dream. He’ll ask why my subconscious is focusing on his death, and I definitely can’t tell him that it’s because he’s been threatened.
So I let him hold me as I sob, until eventually the tremors subside and I can breathe without hiccupping again.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
He doesn’t stay over very often. We’re practicing that whole separate-lives-until-marriage thing. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. Maybe because my parents got married right out of high school and moved in together. My aunts used to gossip that I was out of wedlock. Another reason that Knox’s comment about me marrying Joel because I was pregnant stung at the time. And why my parents would rush to get married.
I never asked my father about it, though. I didn’t want to hurt him by believing the rumors—or even considering believing them.
Not that it would be the worst thing in the world…
I don’t know.
Joel strokes my hair, then releases me. He gets me a glass of water from the kitchen, making his way back in the near-total darkness. My fingers wrap around the cool glass, and I take a sip.
Almost immediately, I cough. It burns on the way down.
