“I can’t answer that Zoey. This has to be your choice and your choice alone.” She stood to her feet and started to walk away from me, but she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Whatever you choose, Zoey, you’re not alone anymore.”
“Thank you, Rowan. For everything.”
She smiled and gave me nod before leaving me to make the biggest decision of my life.
#
Ifollowed the directionsof the GPS. My stomach was in knots because I didn’t know what to expect when I showed up wherever it was I was going. All I knew for certain was that Houston was in my rearview mirror and I was heading north toward Livingston.
My body was mostly healed and the bruises were fading from black and purple to blue and green. My ribs still hurt when I moved in certain ways, but I no longer had to bind them. I was well on the way to being mended physically and scared to death where I stood emotionally with Killian.
I’d driven myself mad wondering about him, what he was doing, and why he wasn’t coming for me. The memory of his words, of him saying people in his life were temporary, came to mind and made the knots in my stomach twist.
I contemplated which envelope to pick up. The idea of leaving this city—this life— behind and going somewhere to start over as someone new appealed to me, but the idea of starting a life alone—without Killian—gutted me.
In the end, I grabbed the small envelope. The one that had no guarantees and an unclear ending. One envelope had a new life—a good life, but no Killian guaranteed. The other one held a mystery, but it also gave me hope that the road would lead me to him.
In the end, the decision was easy. I grabbed the only envelope that had a shot at a life with Killian.
Chapter 31
Killian
She’s on her way.:)
Relief washed over me at the text from Rowan. Zoey had chosen option two. She had chosen me without anyone’s input, and my chest tightened with anxious longing. God, I’d missed the hell out of her this past week.
I’d drank myself into a stupor almost every night, and tried to stay as busy as possible during the day so I didn’t go over to Rowan’s place and kidnap her again. Guilt had also been a huge deciding factor in me staying away. I had failed to protect her, and she’d paid the price. Seeing her hurt broke me in ways nobody and nothing ever had before.
“Did she make a decision?” Donovan asked from the chair beside me. We were sitting on the back deck in a couple of Adirondack chairs as we sipped on whiskey and looked out over the lake.
“Yeah.” I replied, still in a bit of shock. “She chose option number two.”
Donovan smiled. “I never had a doubt, brother. You guys were made for each other.” He drained what was left in his glass, “Now, maybe you can stop being such a surly, drunk bastard and be easier to deal with.”
I laughed and grinned. “So I’ll go back to being my usual surly, sober bastard then.”
