Page 40 of Four Times Forever

What the fuck?

I ejected upward.

What did Ann-Marie mean by 'she's leaving and she can't tell me why'? My fingers shook. I should call the police. It didn't sound like leaving was her choice. If she was in danger, I had to do something.

I listened to it again.

She said she did something that she couldn't tell me about. Not that someone had done something to her. If I called the police, I might be landing her in a heap of shit. This didn't make any sense. What could she have done? And why was she calling me from an unknown number?

I called her actual number. Nothing. Tried calling her on this new number. Still nothing. I got the same kind of nothing when I called Tyler.

My heart was pounding as I sat back, legs sprawled out to the side in a daze. The phone sat in my limp hand.

Gone without a trace.

Just like that.

She'd made her choice and there was nothing I could do about it.

The phone started buzzing again. It was Ethan. I lifted my heavy hand to answer it, and the front door banged open.

Chapter 30

Eric

"Eric, damn it! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Lily shot out of the sofa and screamed at me.

My heart dislodged from my throat and plummeted into my chest when I found her safe and sound, hands crossed across her heaving breasts, glaring at me.

"Are you okay?" She frowned as I hurried over to her and wrapped her in my arms. "Um...you're freaking me out." Her arms came up slowly to stroke up and down my back. "You're shaking. What's wrong?"

"Am I shaking?" I asked as she pulled back to examine me. "No. Yeah. I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" She wiped away the sweat off my forehead.

Trying not to be dead obvious, I glanced out the windows and glass doors and kept my walk steady even though my bones were fucking struggling to hold my weight up. Tyler had said something about that Carter guy being a part of a mob family. Why the fuck would he get us involved in the death of a member of the mob if he knew that?!

If he ran, there was no way we could stay. He was supposed to be untouchable and he got the fuck out of here. The guys were on their way here. I had to figure out a way to get Lily excited about packing. The first thing I brought up, without thinking, was the trip to Florida. Or maybe subconsciously, I knew it was the best place for her to be.

Me and the rest of the guys, Curly, Larry, Moe and Joe, wouldn't stand a chance against the mob. What did we look like trying to protect Lily from them? But in Florida, with my parents, where there were other retired vets helping to take care of them, there would be more protection than we could provide on our own, more expertise than we could hire out without getting involved with the wrong type of people again. The last thing we wanted was a Tyler 2.0. I had hidden my parents' weapons, so I knew where they were in the event that we needed them.

Fuck, this was a crazy idea. What was I thinking? They had PTSD, remember? I couldn't bring this to their doorstep, but what other choice did I have?

"So, uh. You know what. I've been getting cabin fever." I scratched the back of my neck.

She looked at me as if that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard come out of my mouth. "Here?"

It wasn't like we were cooped up in a tiny house.

"Yeah, here. It's so secluded. Same old, same old every single day. If I stay here one more day, I'm going to lose my mind. We wake up, it's the same thing. Big house, gym, pool, sauna, eat, sleep, repeat. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's getting to Ryan too, you know. We're used to traveling and as of late, we've just been stuck in the house." I exaggerated my groan.

Her lips actually curled in disgust. "Don't let the people I used to live amongst hear you say that. The women at the shelter might call someone like you ungrateful." She crossed her arms again. "No one's stopping you from leaving the house if you're bored."

"Yeah, but leave the house to do what? Shopping? Come on. Don't tell me you're not crawling out of your skin with boredom too." I clutched at relatability.

"Oh my goodness." She curled her lips even more. Okay, this wasn't going the way I had planned.

"What I'm trying to say," I moved closer to her, "is...yeah, I know I can leave the house and go do stuff, but I don't want to do that kind of stuff without you. Everything's boring without you, but staying in the house is not my vibe. That's all. It's a beautiful place. And I'm not ungrateful. I just need to step outside of it. I miss the beach and the sun. And honestly, I miss my parents."

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