“He…he…signed…everything? Th-the divorce papers and…and…”
“All of it. He signed away all his parental rights as well as the divorce papers. I’ll send them by courier to the lawyer today and they’ll get them filed with the courts. It’ll take a few months for a judge to sign off on them but after that, you will be free. You’ll be free to do anything or go anywhere you want.”
Hot tears prick the back of my eyes at it being over, at being free but it’s so hard to believe it. It will take time to process it all but right now I know one thing for sure.
“I don’t want to…I don’t want to go anywhere. Can…can we stay here?”
Easton’s expression softens and I catch a hint of relief in his eyes before he nods firmly.
“The last thing we want is for you to leave. You and Chloe have come to mean a lot to us. This is your home, Avery, for as long as you want it to be.”
I squeeze my eyes closed as happiness and relief flood through me but when I open them, I catch Easton sharing a dark look with the other two causing a shiver of dread to race down my spine.
“What? What is it?” I ask with a hint of panic in my tone. When they don’t answer me, I start shaking my head. “Don’t! Please, don’t hide something from me like that. What aren’t you telling me?”
Easton comes around the counter and rubs my arm. “It’s okay. Everything is fine, I promise.”
I step away from him and shake my head as I twist my fingers and swallow down the uncertainty coursing through me.
“Tell me.”
He searches my face for a beat and then shoves a hand through his hair.
“We, Zack, did some digging on him and found out that he’s been stealing money from the firm he works for. We turned the information over to federal agents and had a plan that they would scoop him up and arrest him as soon as we got him to sign the papers. Apparently, something came up and they were late getting to him and now he’s…missing.”
My legs start to shake and my eyes dart over to Ryker and Zack before landing back on Easton. “What does that mean? He’s missing? What does that mean?” My voice gets shriller with each question and Easton reaches out for me again but I back away with another shake of my head.
“What does that mean?”
He breathes out a deep sigh. “It doesn’t mean anything, Avery. It just means that the feds don’t know where he is right this minute.”
My body goes cold as panic surges through me. He, he, he, he…could be anywhere. He knows now. He could find the lawyers. He could track us. HE could be HERE! My chest tightens so I have to gasp for each breath and I spin away, spin away from them and lunge for my purse. The money! I need the money to escape. I need to get Chloe and we need to RUN!
Kanga starts to whine, picking up on my panic but huge arms wrap around me and lift as Ryker growls in my ear, “No!”
My purse strap falls from my fingers as he turns and carries me from the room but my eyes are blurred with hot panicked tears so I can’t see where he’s taking me. It doesn’t matter, I need to go, I need to get Chloe and we need to run. As soon as he puts me down, I’ll run. We’ll go further, disappear somewhere he can never find us. I…need…to…run!
Ryker finally sets me back on my feet and my eyes dart in every direction searching for an escape route. My terrified expression bounces back to me from the mirrors that cover every wall in the gym he’s brought me to. There’s a sound coming from my throat that shocks me into silence. It’s the sound a cornered animal might make. All the progress I’ve made, all the happiness I was finally starting to feel drains out of me and I’m back to being that small useless woman he trained me to be and that…that makes me furious.
“Yes, that’s it, baby. Don’t run, get mad. Fight!” Ryker growls at me in approval.
I shake my head in frustration. “How? How can I fight? I’m weak…I’m…nothing.”
He growls and turns me toward a large punching bag hanging from the ceiling. “Start here. Hit, punch, kick it. Channel what you’re feeling and let it all out on the bag. We’ll work on style later. For now, just let it out, baby.”
I glare at the bag and let the swirling, toxic emotions erupt and then I charge it and let loose. My pathetic little hits barely make the damn bag move but I don’t care as I get lost in the fury that’s taking me over.
Hate…hate…HATEHIM! Years of trapped emotions pour out of me. Every harsh and demeaning word, every slap, hit, and kick he laid on my body. It all comes out until I’m rage sobbing and my arms become too heavy to hit the bag anymore.
Ryker pulls me away and sinks to the mat-covered floor with me in his lap. He arranges my legs to wrap around his waist and one of his big hands cups the back of my head and pushes my face into his chest. I cling to him like a life raft in a storm-filled sea as the last of the tears fall. When I finally come back to myself, I feel…drained, almost empty like I’m ready to start again. Ready to fill myself up with something new. I’m still afraid he will find us but the raw, wild panic is gone. I want…I want…
I lean back slightly so I can look up into Ryker’s eyes and what I see in them steals the breath I’ve just managed to get back. His gaze is solid, steady, and I think…full of love. His big hands cup my cheeks and he uses his thumbs to brush away the wetness from my face.
“Tell me what you want, baby.” He rumbles.
You! The word, you, springs to my lips but it’s more than that, more than just him so I take in a shuddering breath and tell him.
“I want…you and Zack and Easton and to stay here and…” I swallow hard because I have to tell him what happened. “I kissed Zack! And, and something happened, maybe, with Easton and, and, I don’t want to mess anything up!”
