the cat that finally caught the canary. “My husband and I made this our hometown three years ago.”
A sinking feeling started to fill my stomach at her words.
“Your husband?” I repeated.
She looked almost giddy when she said, “Jaycen Brees and I got married after Absinthe Solomon tried to break him. We’ve been happily married now for the last four and a half years. We even have a little girl.”
My stomach soured at the thought.
If anyone on the planet deserved not to be a parent, it was Jaycen Brees.
That poor, poor kid.
“Fascinating,” I said, “but my best friend is on the line with me in my truck, and I’d really like my mail now. I’ve been waiting for a package all week.”
I hadn’t.
I just wanted her to give me my shit so I could fucking go.
Goddammit, this was a nightmare.
Out of all the places, how the hell would they wind up here?
Shit, Sin was going to flip his fucking lid.
He only thought that he didn’t like me working at the prison because it was dangerous.
But having Jaycen Brees anywhere near me?
That was going to really, really piss Sin off.
And my father.
Oh, and my grandfather, too.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Sure thing,” she smiled as she pulled some mail from the holder beside her. “No package today, though. I’m sorry. I’ll give you a call if it comes in before I head out today.”
Wonderful.
Not.
Now there were two fucking people at the post office that were creepy as hell.
“Thanks,” I murmured. “Have a good day.”
Hope you fall off a cliff and accidentally die.
During my time in bootcamp, I hadn’t realized how much Drill Sergeant Ames had ‘egged’ Brees on until I was able to look back at it with a clearer head.
Meaning, when I wasn’t in the middle of the torture.
And only then had I realized that she’d made it possible for Brees to do all the things he’d done.
I mean, it was obvious how hard she’d gone out of her way to invite Brees to ‘teach us lessons.’
Walking woodenly on too stiff legs, I got into my truck and waited until not only the door was closed, but my heartbeat had righted itself, before saying, “Beckham?”
“Yeah?” she asked, sounding distracted.
“I’m gonna have to call you back,” I murmured.
“Sure thing. Call me ASAP. Or, even better, come meet me at my office with lunch. Wait. Our office. It’s going to be so much fun not to be by myself anymore. Hurry.” Then she hung up before I could reply.
I licked my lips, then dialed the one and only person that I could in that instant.
Except, he didn’t freakin’ answer.
I narrowed my eyes when I heard Sin’s sexy voice say ‘leave a message’ and that was it.
Taking a half a second to consider what I’d do next, I backed out of my driveway and headed toward the one thing that I knew would be able to calm me down.
Seeing as Sin was busy—he had to be or he would’ve answered—I drove to Sin’s place and parked his truck in the usual spot in the driveway.
Once arriving inside, I played with Sarge and texted Beckham that something came up, then took the longest, hottest shower that I physically could handle before heading for the only other thing that would help right now.
Sin’s bed.
I’d been sleeping in it beside him for three days now, and I found, when the afternoon got too much for me and the exhaustion hit, being surrounded by Sin’s scent while I took a nap was the next best thing to having him actually be there.
With a full belly and nothing else to do this afternoon, I didn’t bother getting dressed mostly because I knew that I wouldn’t have to get up at a certain time.
That, and Sin promised to bring dinner home tonight, so there wasn’t even that incentive to get up and moving.
Which meant the moment I hit the bed, it was with a certainty that I’d be there for a while. Then the cat had curled up in front of me, and I’d really settled in.
At least until I had to pee, anyway.
For a baby the size of a golf ball—Sin downloaded a tracker on his phone that explained to him in ‘man terms’ what our baby was sized like—I sure did have to pee a whole bunch.
The moment my face hit Sin’s pillow, that ugly knot of dread trailed off to a small tug of worry.
Honestly, the only thing saving me from all out fear at this point was knowing that