Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“He got this into your suite?” Trev’s voice sounded as if he was barely controlling his anger.
I nodded, glancing up at him, then quickly away. I hated seeing him look at me that way. It hurt inside my chest.
“It’s why I left that morning. I was afraid to stay any longer. Then, another ring showed up in our camper. It was the first night we came to stay here. I didn’t want Mom to see it in the trash, so I tossed it in my bag.”
“Was that the last of the rings?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. Work. It’s why I quit. I went on a restroom break, and when I returned, there was one on the counter.”
I stood up, and he stepped back, letting me stand this time.
Forcing myself to meet his gaze, I swallowed hard. “He’s not mentally stable. I think he’s a psycho. He will follow me wherever I go. It’s not safe, but it’s my problem. Mom is happy here. I want her to be happy. She’s sacrificed for me since she was seventeen. It’s time she has a life of her own. I can’t tell her about this. She’ll pack up, and we will be gone. She won’t listen to reason. I can go now. While she’s in Paris.”
“Back to him?”
“No! Did you miss the part where he is a psycho?”
“Is he why you left Miami?”
I nodded.
“Do you love him?”
“No. In the beginning, I thought I did, but it was a crush. If I did feel something, he destroyed it.”
“What did he do to you?”
I dropped my gaze to the floor. Seeing the disgusted anger in Trev’s normally friendly face was more than I could deal with. “Hurt me.”
“How did he hurt you?”
“It started with slapping. Then twisting my arm until it felt like it was going to break. Then hitting. Then shoving me down and kicking.”
Trev moved, and I looked up as he planted his fist into the wall beside him.
“Trev?”
He swung his gaze back to me. “Continue.”
I looked at the hole in the wall, then back at him. “I, uh, left then. I told Mom, and we left,” I whispered. “Is your hand okay?”
“When you lived in Miami, did you live in your camper?”
I nodded, then stopped. “No, not the entire time.”
“Where did you live?”
I thought back to the place and wished I had never gone there with Mom. She’d been dating another bad boy on a motorcycle. Granted, he was gorgeous, but he was younger than her. He asked her to move in, and she wanted to. It was a new experience for her. An adventure. So, I went with her. I’d met Tyde there.
“It was a big building with a lot of rooms, kind of like apartments, but everyone knew each other. It was a club. They shared the same kitchen, and there were women who cooked for everyone. Mom was dating a guy who lived there, and we moved in for a while. I got my own room, and I met Tyde there. He pursued me hard. I missed all his red flags.”
“Did they all ride motorcycles?”
I nodded. “Yeah, they had, like, some motorcycle club. It was kinda dumb, but when I mentioned it, Tyde got pissed. I never brought it up again. It felt like they were pretending to be on the Sons of Anarchy. Even doing the bad things. In the end, I found drugs in Tyde’s room, and, well, some of the women who came in there to stay were porn actresses. I think maybe the club had something to do with that too. Tyde had a knife and gun he kept on him most of the time.”
“Who did your mom date there?” he asked.
“Micah. But he was a nice guy. Mom found out he was a man-whore though, so that ended. We moved back to the camper, but I continued seeing Tyde.”
Trev narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. “Do you remember any of the other names of the men who lived there?”
“Uh, yeah, but they were all nice. I promise. Tyde was the screwed-up one.”
“Names,” he repeated.
“Tex, Brick, and then there was the president or whatever, but he didn’t stay there much. I only saw him twice.”
“Name.”
“Liam … Walsh I think was his last name.”
Trev turned and walked out of the room. I stood there, waiting to see what he was doing when I heard him open the door and close it behind him. He had left.
I let the tears slowly roll down my face as I walked to my bag and began to pack things up. It was time I left. He knew everything now, and he would know who to watch for. Mom would be safe.
Twenty-One
Trev
Blaise was standing with his arms crossed over his chest at the bottom of the stairs when I walked down them.