the beep. I grin at her message.
“Hey, whatever.” Her raspy voice slides over my skin.
Fuck this. I need to go after her. However, that doesn’t stop me from leaving a message.
“Roni, when you get this message call me. Don’t get on a plane, don’t try to avoid me. We need to talk. Face to face. I’ll meet you at the airport.”
I’m in the middle leaving the message when my other line beeps in. I rush to check the call, hoping Roni has come to her senses, instead of running off like a brat. I sigh when I see it’s Dad and not her. I switch over.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
I swear I feel his pain before he replies. “It’s Nora, son. She’s gone. Wyatt needs us. He has to go tell Nellie.”
I’m already tossing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “On my way.”
“See you soon.”
I hang up and spin in a circle, my thoughts are scattered. The need to go after Roni tugs at me, but my brother needs me. The bond I’ve had with my brothers since we were little tells me I’ll have to let things with Roni go for now.
It’s not like I can do anything about this thing between us. I have to settle things back home first. I huff and rush to put my shoes on as I make a plan in my head.
Once I’m moving out of the hotel, I bring up Nate’s number on my phone. Braxton pulls up in the rental SUV we’ve been sharing. A hand lands on my shoulder and I turn to find Noah with a grim expression on his face.
“This is going to be hard as fuck,” he grumbles.
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that, but we’re all here for them. We’ll fix this.”
He nods at me soberly. It’s like the weight of the world sets in on my shoulders. Once in the car, I settle into the backseat. Instead of calling Nate, I shoot him a text to let him know Roni is headed back his way.
Then I pull up Roni’s number. I stare at the phone, not knowing what to text. For the first time in my life, I don’t have the answer to the problem before me. No quick band-aid, no long-term solution, nothing.
Me: Go back to NY. They’ll take care of you. I’ll see you soon.
Staring at the text with my thumb hovering over the send button, I think over the text and delete the last part. I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.
I throw my head back against the headrest. My head starts to ache. This is going to be a shit day.
“Fuck.”
Chapter 23
Shutdown
John
“Yo, John,” Braxton calls through the office. “You have that file for me?”
“Yeah, I have it here.”
He walks over to my desk and sits on the edge. I tap at the keys on my laptop to send him the footage that accompanies the file he’s asking for. I’m glad to hand off the socialite. Of all the shit we do, I hate these types of cases.
Some people think money buys you truth, sometimes not knowing is better than knowing. This girl is in for a world of hurt when she gets the answers she’s looking for. My thoughts turn to Roni.
I’ve been to New York a few times without making my presence known to her. It’s probably best that way. She’s taking to the program. Almost too well.
Nate has concerns about her. While she’s one of his top trainees, she’s still an X factor. We don’t know where she’s from or who she used to be. Her sessions with the psych team have revealed she has so much repressed anger, she’s essentially a ticking time bomb.
“Hey, did you hear what I said?”
I draw my brows as I focus back in on Brax. He looks at me like I’m crazy. Releasing a sigh, I fall back in my seat.
“I missed that. What did you say?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “What’s the deal with you? You’ve been spacing out a lot lately. Not to mention, I was just up front at Heather’s desk. You’re taking time off again. The schedule shows you out of the office for two weeks again. I didn’t see any bounties attached to your load,” he says, his words measured as if he’s piecing together a puzzle as he talks.
Thank God this isn’t Ryan. He’d be up my ass with the truth in a hot second. Although, if I don’t create a distraction Brax will