spotted you.”
He laughed, but this time, there was some humor in it. “You saw me because I wanted you to.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why? Weren’t you afraid I’d say something to Wren?” He shrugged, and when he turned away, my eyes narrowed on his back. “You were hoping I would, weren’t you?”
“I had a few moments of weakness,” he grumbled, and I wondered if maybe it hadn’t been as easy for him to stay away as I assumed. “I’m just glad you know how to keep your mouth shut.”
I laughed then. “Your son wouldn’t agree.”
Ghost’s smile was small as his eyes shone with pride and longing, and I realized we shared something in common. We both loved his son.
Still, I couldn’t forgive him for leaving my best friend alone in a den of wolves, and Wren would tell me not to trust him, so I looked away. I heard what might have been a sigh from Ghost and then his footsteps as he crossed the room. Forcing my gaze away from the ugly-ass painting on the wall, my heart sped up as I watched him head for the door.
Was he leaving me here alone? Did I want him to?
“Stay here,” he ordered.
“Oh, phooey. I figured I’d go for a stroll through the park.”
I could tell he was fighting a smile when he frowned at me over his shoulder. “You’re not my son’s type,” he said, and it felt like I’d been kicked when I was already down until he added, “but I can see why he chose you. You’re good for him. You’ll keep his hands full.”
“You’re wrong on two counts. Wren and I are just friends, and I’m no good for anyone.”
He chuckled as if I had told a joke. “That’s the basis of human nature, kid. We crave the things we can’t have. Knowing we shouldn’t just makes our desires that much more enticing.”
He didn’t stick around for a rebuttal. The moment the door slammed shut behind him, I collapsed against the headboard and curled into a ball. My eyes never strayed from the door as I anxiously awaited Ghost’s return. An hour passed before my eyes drifted shut, and when they finally opened hours later, it wasn’t Ghost I found standing over me.
I screamed.
I WASN’T SURE HOW LONG I stood there watching Lou sleep like some creep, but when she opened her eyes and started screaming bloody murder, I was at last convinced that it was her and not a mirage. She was safe if…not all that sound. I felt the tension in my muscles melt away when I quickly slapped my hand over her mouth to mute her screams and felt her soft skin.
She’s real.
After days of no contact, I’d begun to lose hope. And when I got the call from the front desk clerk that I had a package waiting for me at a motel I’d never been to nor heard of, I assumed I’d gone insane.
Nevertheless, I vowed not to leave any stone unturned, so I came here half expecting it to be another wild-goose chase. If it weren’t, then she’d surely be dead. Bear had found his truck haphazardly parked outside his shop just hours after the cops on Fox’s payroll questioned him. Despite the extensive damage he’d mentioned finding when he called me, he’d been more concerned with Lou’s well-being. The reports that followed were even more harrowing. Not even Miles and Leo knew where she’d gone after they saved her from Fox’s men in the nick of time. She’d completely disappeared.
“It’s me, little Valentine.”
She tore away from me, and my brows drew together when she scrambled across the bed.
What the hell? I followed after her wanting to pull her into my arms and comfort her, but she let loose a panicked cry, stopping me dead in my tracks. “Lou?”
“S-st-st-stay away from me.” Tears streamed down her face as she held her hand up, keeping me at bay.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Lou?” All this time, I’d feared my sanity when I should have been worried about hers. What the hell had she seen up there, and why was she treating me like I was some monster hiding under her bed? Maybe I am. I’d never hurt Lou, but right now, she was making it clear that she wasn’t convinced. Had she ever been?
I took a step back and then another until my back hit the wall. Only then did she calm down. My hands balled into fists, but I