“I know all of that,” I say. “So does Blake. I’m just glad to hear that you’re giving yourself that credit.”
“Look, sweetheart, I know Waters. What he’s good at is manipulation. He hits you where you’re weak. That means, he’ll come at me over my brother and you.”
“Because I make you weak?”
“Because normal humans, which he is not, have emotional bonds. Those bonds make us stronger in most ways. However, it makes us vulnerable to monsters. That means he’ll come at you through your family and me.”
“And?” I ask. “Where are you going with this?”
“And we have to flip the switch and come at him.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet. I need to think a bit. I need to talk to Blake.” He strokes my hair. “Take a minute. Cool off. What you don’t want to do is react to any connection you find to your family in anger. That’s what he wants. And, sweetheart, you don’t know how he might be manipulating those you love.”
I inhale and let out a breath. “Right. That makes sense.”
“Blake knows where your father is already. We’ll go back upstairs, and we’ll dig into a real plan.”
I glance at my phone. “It’s already two. How is it two? I need to call the judge and follow up with Ed. And damn it.” My eyes go wide. “We just had sex, and I never took my pill. Please tell me it made it here.” I dart for the bathroom and start digging through the bags Walker brought me, sighing in relief when I find my pill package. I pop today’s dose out and down it, cupping my hand under the water to get it down.
I glance in the mirror at my smudged lipstick and quickly gloss my mouth. When I turn, Adrian’s standing in the doorway, and I swear every time I look at him, he gets a little hotter.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
I close the space between us and press my hand to his chest, comfortable touching him now. That happened so fast. “The pills were here. I’m late taking it, but I’m sure we’re fine. That’s the last thing we need now. Me pregnant while we run for our lives.”
He studies me, his lashes half-veiled, expression unreadable. “Do you want kids, Pri?”
I blanch with the unexpected question. “I don’t know. I have a dysfunctional family and I don’t exactly have the safest life. And I think I’m a bit jaded about the world I’d bring a child into, you know? I guess, maybe, probably, right now, I feel like I’m a no. What about you?”
“The same,” he agrees. “It’s been a long time since I thought about family in any way but the past.”
There’s something about the way he says those words, that has me asking, “And now?” and holding my breath while I wait for a reply, though I’m not sure why.
“And now,” he says, “there’s Walker. And you, Pri.” He cups my face and leans in closer, his breath warm on my lips as he says. “I don’t know where any of this takes us, but you are—”
There’s a knock on the bedroom door and we both groan with the interruption of what felt meaningful, even necessary. A piece of a puzzle we are just fitting together, but that piece is now lost. “Sorry, sweetheart,” Adrian murmurs, stroking his thumb over my cheek before he releases me.
He backs up into the bedroom. I ease around into the room as he opens the door, and while I can’t see who’s at the door, I hear Blake say, “Royce and Lauren want to get you on a Zoom chat regarding your defense in about fifteen minutes. Alone. I set-up the office upstairs for you. And I’d like to have a chat one-on-one. Also alone.”
Adrian glances over his shoulder at me and I say, “Go. I’ll be up soon.”
He gives a nod and exits the room. He shuts the door behind him and I swear I feel it like a punch in the stomach. We’ve just sworn there is no goodbye coming. I know we both meant it, which is proof that we’ve come so far together, so quickly. But there is a truth here that we’ve just skimmed over because we want to be together. That truth is that my family being involved in this Waters issue—and they are—is a mountain of a problem. He says it’s not, but when he thinks about this, really thinks about this, the reality of this development is cold, bitterly cold.
Anyone trying to get him arrested on false charges logically knows he won’t come out of jail alive, and is, in my mind, complicit in attempted murder.
In other words, my family is trying to kill Adrian.Chapter Twenty-FourADRIAN
I step into the office first, followed by Blake, and the only reason I notice the glass desk and a giant window with a view of the property is training and experience. Both have taught me to always know where I’m at and how I’ll leave. As promised, there’s a MacBook on the desk, ready for a Zoom call with Royce and Lauren, who is now my attorney. An attorney I need for complicated reasons that amount to my own decisions. Deleon and Waters are alive. My brother is dead. It’s about as fucked up as it gets.