Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“Why here?” Jace asked.
“Because it was here that he took me.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I have nightmares of being kidnapped from here every night, you know? I thought maybe if I came back here I could face them head on. Is that dumb?”
“Not dumb,” Jace told her quietly. “But I wish you’d told me, Rory. You know I would have done what I could to help you.”
Had the two of them kept in touch? He remembered Jace asking about her during the wedding rehearsal.
Interesting.
“I know. I guess I figured I should be able to do this on my own.” Rory clenched her small hands into fists. “I’m just tired of other people having to take care of me. I want to take care of myself. I want to be strong again. I want to be able to sleep without nightmares in a bedroom that isn’t in my mother’s house.”
“Sounds like that part might be a smart idea,” Kane said.
They all looked at him.
“What?” Kane said. “Rory just told us that her mother loves drama and she’s full of doom and gloom, keeping her down and in a dark place. Maybe what Rory needs is some independence. A change.”
“She won’t let that happen,” Rory said, sounding dejected. “Even if I moved out, she’d still be at my place every day. Or bugging me constantly with videos of all the bad things happening in the world.”
No, Gray likely didn’t know any of this, Travis thought.
“So move towns,” Kane said.
He didn’t know Rory’s background, what had happened to her, so Travis knew that while he was just trying to be helpful, that wasn’t a simple thing for Rory to do.
“I can’t just leave Dallas. Gray would lose his mind. And where would I go? I couldn’t be completely alone.” She shuddered.
“Move here,” Kane said. “You have back-up here.”
“Kane, could I talk to you in the hallway?” Travis asked.
“Yeah, sure. Nice to meet you, Rory,” Kane told her with a gentle smile.
“Sorry I interrupted your day,” she said.
“That’s okay, sweetheart.”
They both left the room so Jace could chat with Rory.
“How did you know she was here?” Travis asked. “You weren’t here already, were you? You don’t start work until after six.”
“Ahh, yeah, I was just in here doing some paperwork. Saw her in the cameras,” he said to Travis.
Travis nodded. “Thanks for taking care of her until we came.”
“Seems like she needs someone to look out for her while helping her to find her feet again. Something bad happened to her, huh?”
“She was kidnapped by the Latin Lothario.”
“That serial killer?” Kane asked, growing pale.
“Yeah, he kidnapped her from here. Fucking bastard used her as bait to get to Lacey. Unfortunately, Rory is really struggling still.”
“I don’t think living with her mother is helping.”
No, it didn’t seem it was.
“I’m going to go get some coffee,” Kane told him. “Want some?”
“Yeah, thanks.” A wave of exhaustion hit him. Nearly two days of searching for Rory meant he’d been working non-stop. And there was all the other work he had to get done. Fuck.
He drew out his phone and messaged Gray and Hunter again. Then he opened up the messages from Caren.
Every time he’d thought to check in with her it had been late at night or early in the morning. But what did he say? Finally, he just settled on something brief.
Travis: You okay? Need anything?
The door to the office opened before he could think of anything else to say.
Like, I want to come around and finish what we started.
Jace nodded to him as he walked into the office.
“Tell him,” Jace said to her.
Rory glanced up at him nervously. “I’m really sorry that I caused so many issues for you, Travis. I’ll call Gray soon too. I should have messaged him but I thought Mother knew where I was going. And he’s on his honeymoon.”
“That doesn’t matter now,” Jace said quietly. “What matters is that you need a break from your mother.” He turned to Travis. “She needs somewhere to stay and she struggles with being on her own. I thought one of the apartments in your building.”
“Yeah, of course. She can stay on my floor—”
“Those are temporary spaces. There’s one next to me free,” Jace said.
Ahh, what did temporary matter if she was only here for a short time? Unless Rory thought she would stay longer than a week or two?
Or does Jace just want her near him?
Interesting.
“And she needs a job,” Jace added. “We need a new assistant. Someone at the front desk.”
Travis raised his eyes at that . . . suggestion.
“Jace! Travis can’t just give me a job,” Rory protested.
Jace stared at him steadily and Travis understood what he was trying to say without actually saying it.
Rory needed someone to keep an eye on her and they could do that if she lived in his building and worked for him. And they could do it in a way that wouldn’t smother her. Or pull her down into the darkness.