“I’d like her to be your mommy too, buddy. Maybe one day soon?” he asks Dillon while staring at me with intense need in those garnet eyes.
I nod, wondering if this is a proposal in the backseat of a Ford Raptor? I guess there have been odder places to say ‘yes’. It isn’t unromantic, oddly enough. I’m surrounded by love, a kid who somehow likes me, and a man who is perfect in every sense of the world.
I’m obsessed with this life I’ve run to, and I don’t want it to be taken from me.
“I love you,” I mouth to Grayson.
“I love you too,” he mouths silently in return.
The road home is long, happy, but with a sense of dread lurking in the corner. I’m being watched, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is Trevor. He’s always going to watch me. He’s always going to want me.
And he won’t stop until he has me.
I’ve fought this long and this hard, and I refuse to fall into the hands of that monster.
Chapter Twenty-One
GRAYSON
It’s been a week since Dillon has been home, and Finley is distant. She’s pulled away from me. I don’t know what I did. I’m starting to wonder if maybe this is more than she signed up for. Maybe having a kid isn’t what she wanted after all. It’s a lot of responsibility for an eighteen-year-old to have. I’m expecting too much of her.
I open the box holding the ring I just bought and wonder if I’m crazy. Am I moving too fast?
“Oh,” Quinn says as she sits next to me in the kitchen. “Well, I’m sorry, but I’m a taken woman.” She points to the massive diamond on her hand and her growing belly.
I snort, open the box, and close it. I do that over and over again until I sigh. Quinn’s hand falls to mine to stop me, and then she wraps her hand around mine. “What’s wrong, Gray?”
Another long exhale leaves me. “Nothing,” I say heavily and stare down the hallway to Finley’s room where she has been staying. She hasn’t slept me with for the last few nights. That’s how I know she’s mad at me. She won’t even come to my bed. The oval sapphire ring glitters in the light every time I open the box, and when the snap of the lid closed, my heart aches a bit more.
“That’s so convincing, Gray. Tell me what’s wrong.” She nudges my shoulder.
“It’s Finley. She hasn’t talked to me. Something is on her mind, and she’s avoiding me. I’m starting to wonder if this is all too much for her. You know, it’s one thing to be with someone older, but it’s another to be with someone with a kid, a sick kid. I love her more than anything, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe she regrets it.”
“I don’t,” Finley’s voice echoes from behind me, and I freeze, then narrow my eyes at Quinn.
“My work here is done,” she says with a bit too much pep and hops off the stool. “I’m going to go check on Jaxon.”
She waddles down the hall, and the tension between me and Finley is about to snap. It’s awkward. It’s never been awkward before, and I feel a bit lost. This is new territory for me. I turn around and keep the red velvet box where she can see it, and when I see that she’s crying, I stand and run to her, engulfing her in my arms.
“Please talk to me. Whatever is going on, please let me help. I can’t do anything to help you if you don’t let me. You’re killing me by staying in your room. I miss you.”
“I’m sorry,” she balls, clutching onto my shirt. “I saw Trevor at the hospital a week ago. He was there. I should have told you.”
“What?” I’m furious. I’m not mad at her. I understand why she felt like she couldn’t tell me, but I can take care of this problem. We have resources. Trevor doesn’t have to be a threat. “I thought he was dead?”
“I did too. But he found me because of my phone. It’s been eating away at me. I didn’t know how to tell you because of Dillon. I didn’t want the two of you to get hurt, but he threatened my mom and me. He said I owe him money, but if I don’t give it to him, he’ll kill my mom and take me. I turned on my phone and turned the location off, and he has been sending me messages.” She pulls her phone out of her pocket and hands it to me, and I almost throw it against the wall.
Dick pictures.
Pictures of him with a knife.
“I want you. You know you want me. It’s all yours. I’ll kill you if you don’t accept my offer.” I read line by line of disgusting texts from him, and she hasn’t responded. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You had me wondering if you loved me. I don’t like feeling like that. I love you more than anything.”
“I love you too. I was scared. I didn’t know how to bring this to you, but I couldn’t take the distance I put between us. I know it’s my fault. What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything, Gray.”
“Well…” I slide her phone into my pocket and guide her to the kitchen island. I open the red box and show her the ring I got her earlier this morning. “I want you to wear my ring. I want us to tackle these issues together. Don’t ever not be in my bed because of fear. I gave you space this time, but I won’t next time. We are in this together, and there is no way in hell I’m going to let him ruin that for us. I won’t let anyone ruin what we have. I’m going to give Sebastian the phone and see what Trevor has been up to. Him and Zeke have been hard at work trying to find Kendall.”
When I checked on Dillon earlier, he was playing with the new racetrack I got him. He has been stuck in there all morning, not wanting to come out. He’s happy. He’s being a little boy. Not a little boy who is sick or being pumped full of poison, but just a kid, playing with his toys. I won’t let Kendall take him from me, and I won’t let Trevor touch Finley.