And Conor…maybe Conor was still out there playing the game. Maybe he was still looking for him. If only they knew…
“I’m right here,” Max whispered, “right under your nose.”
Right then, the doors opened, and the light flooded in, blurring his vision. But he didn’t need to see to know who was there.
The monsters had returned.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlotte
Over the following couple weeks, Conor slowly began to step out of the house. He joined me for home-time pickups, and like I predicted, aside from a chirpy hello, nobody had the balls to ask him straight up how he was. The awkwardness was worth it when Penny found him waiting for her every time, her squeal loud as she launched herself into his arms.
Because his licence expired in prison and he couldn’t have it renewed, he had to retake his driver’s exam before being granted his licence again. I had him included under my car insurance and he was free to leave when he wanted.
At first, he was weary to leave the house alone, so I went with him. After dropping Penny off at school, our routine consisted of driving aimlessly around town, listening to music. I got him hooked on coffee again and he was finally smashing his morning breakfasts. He joined a nearby gym and planned to go in the mornings before Penny got up for school.
He got to spend one-on-one with her in the evenings while I was getting work done in my office. I’d gone to Locke’s firm once to gather some paperwork and to speak to Locke about what Reid had said, but he wasn’t around.
In fact, Locke had gone quiet.
Which was fine by me. I needed distance from Locke. Now that Conor was here, Locke was a complication. I even entertained the thought of quitting, but I could never do that to him after all he had done for me.
Plus, Locke needed me in a fucked up way.
After contacting Ember and Jem, we scheduled a get-together the following Saturday with the plan to leave for Jem’s bar that evening.
I wore a long sleeve grey dress and would be accompanying it with brown high boots when we went out. Conor kept it simple, as usual, but he pulled on these sexy as hell jeans that hugged his ass so nicely. His plain white shirt he’d owned from before prison stretched across his chest, proof he’d gotten so much bigger. His biceps bulged deliciously, straining the sleeves in a mouth-watering way. He’d smirked when he caught me checking him out countless times.
He’d even shaved his beard.
His face left me breathless.
His cheekbones were visible, his eyes seeming even more vivid against his skin. I noticed a small scar on his cheek, one that had never been there before. I never mentioned it. Had pretended I hadn’t even noticed, but my heart felt tight in my chest. I knew he’d tell me if I asked.
I kept thinking of the night he had opened up to me. He let me in on the eight years of hell he had survived, and I was still wrecked at times just thinking about it. It was hard for me to believe he would be okay any time soon, but after opening up, he seemed to be in better spirits. A weight had lifted from his shoulders, and my old Conor was coming back more and more every day.
“Are you okay?” I’d ask him occasionally.
“I have you,” he would answer every time.
I worried this was temporary. That this goodness wouldn’t last and the dark would return. I swallowed hard and shelved the thoughts, not allowing them to get to me, especially when we were due to have company over.
I was nervous about the day because Ember was a headache when she wanted to be and highly unpredictable. Megan switched her shifts just so she could make it, and I had a feeling it was to keep a leash on her daughter.
Over the years, Ember behaved in a spoiled way. Her mother always bailed her out of her debts, and what was a promise to get on her feet and leave home, ended up being total bullshit. She’d been living in Megan’s townhouse for years, and she still hadn’t found a stable job.
She was just a mess.
I hated saying that. I didn’t want to think badly of the girl, but she never helped herself. She just whined about her situation like a victim, and it got tiring after you heard