Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Am I falling in love with him?
Sheesh. That question feels so loaded that I’m afraid to put my finger anywhere near the trigger.
Even though I never give her a response, her eyes grow heavier with each soft brush until she can no longer hold them open at all.
But I keep brushing. And brushing. And instead of thinking about Dom or the way I feel about him, I just savor this quiet moment with my mother. Savor the peace I get from seeing her relaxed and asleep in her bed when I know that tonight could’ve gone a very different way.
Today was a busy day for her. Leaving the house and going to a stranger’s home is a big obstacle for someone like her. And when you combine that with meeting new people—all of Dom’s family, to be exact—it creates a risk for uncontrollable behavior that stems from stress.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy we went. I’m happy for the moments I got to see her laughing with Dom’s grandfather Louie. And I’m happy with the way his entire family embraced my mother with open arms.
But it also makes me remember that most people wouldn’t have. And not because they’re mean, but because they simply don’t understand.
Once I’m sure she’s asleep, I set the brush down on her nightstand, press a soft kiss to her forehead, and whisper, “I love you,” into her ear before I turn on the small night-light beside her en suite bathroom and leave her bedroom, clicking the door closed shut behind me.
But when I walk out into the living room of the big farmhouse, my ears are graced with the kind of silence that makes my mind race and my thoughts run wild—one hundred miles per hour toward Dom.
After he dropped us off at the house, he headed to the station. And even though he didn’t give me the details of why Shane wanted him to come down there, I overheard enough of his conversation in the car—when Shane was a calling a second time to see how far out he was—to know there’s something going on with the case. The same case that brought Dom into my life in the first place.
The same case that’s resulted in two different girls—who just so happened to work the same CMA line as me—ending up dead.
When I check the time on my phone and see it’s a little after midnight now, I can’t stop myself from calling him.
“Hey,” he greets me on the second ring, but his voice sounds tired and a little off. It carries a quiet rasp, a heaviness that makes me wonder how much he’s been carrying on his shoulders tonight. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything is fine,” I answer. “How are you? Are you doing okay?”
There’s a long pause, and I almost think he’s not going to answer, but then he exhales deeply into the phone.
“Better now that I’m talking to you.”
Ditto. My heart flips inside my chest at his words.
I dig my teeth into my bottom lip as I mull over whether I should ask him what I want to know, but eventually, I decide to just do it. “What happened tonight? With the case?”
“Ohhh, I see how it is,” he replies, and his voice lightens with a teasing lilt that makes me smile. “You’re just calling me to talk shop.”
“Were you hoping I was calling you for something else?”
“I don’t know, it would’ve been nice if you were calling to say hello or to tell me you missed me or something.”
I snort. “I just saw you, like, four hours ago.”
“And your point?”
His words are lighthearted, but there’s a warmth beneath them that settles deep in my bones. He doesn’t just make me laugh—he makes me feel seen. Wanted.
“Dom,” I say through a laugh, my cheeks flushing as a smile tugs at my lips. “What happened? Did you find anything out?”
“You know I’m not supposed to tell you or anyone details about an ongoing investigation,” he responds, but there’s humor in his words. “I took a blood oath at my badge-pinning ceremony.”
“A blood oath? Do they stick the badges in your actual chest?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, Hannah. But just know it’s all very serious, very blood-oathy kind of shit at those ceremonies.”
I swear, if I smile any bigger, it might crack my lips. “Why do I get the sense that you’re lying through your teeth?”
“Probably because I am.” He chuckles. “And the only thing we found out tonight was that Waylon is no longer a suspect.”
Outright shock sends my stomach on a quick bid to my feet.
Waylon is no longer a suspect.
Wait . . . what? How could they cross him off the list so easily? My thoughts spin, a messy swirl of fear and frustration.
Of all the callers who made me suspicious, that man was at the very top of my list. My conversations with him have always made me uncomfortable. His fixation with inflicting pain is downright disturbing.