Page 116 of On the Wild Side

He snarls as I blink quickly, fighting the tears that want to come.

“Quite a nice girl you had there, Cowboy.”

“Fuck that and fuck her. I’ll take care of her, baby.”

“I did that myself. She won’t make any more trouble.”

“Are you almost here?” he asks.

“Yeah, five minutes.”

“Okay, babe. Love you.”

He clicks off, and I want to succumb to the tears. Heloves me.And I love him so much, I can’t think straight. I don’t want to leave him. I don’t want to give up this life that Daisy and I have worked so fucking hard for.

But I don’t see any other option. Janet will find us, and she’ll take Daisy away from me, and that can never happen. It won’t happen.

Because I’ll disappear again.

I pull up in front of the farmhouse. Before I can even open my door, Brady’s rushing out the front door and down the steps to me.

I step out, and then I’m in his arms, and he’s holding me tightly, kissing my head.

“I’m so sorry.” He kisses my forehead. “About the whole situation, but especially about Jen. She’s a mean bitch, Abs, and I’ll make sure she knows that she fucked with the wrong girl.”

I pat his back, already trying to mentally distance myself from him. God, this is going to be the hardest thing I ever do. “I don’t really care about her and her jealousy. It’s actually a really beautiful commercial and makes this place, and your family, look amazing.”

“But they showed you and Daisy,” he murmurs, anguish in every word. “And I didn’t say they could do that. Abbi,I didn’t know.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” I step out of his arms, already missing him so much, and try to smile up at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He scowls and frames my face in his hands. “Talk to me, Blue Eyes.”

“Let’s go inside.” Again, I step out of his grasp. “We’ll talk everything through.”

“Baby, I understand being upset. I know how you feel about Daisy’s face being shown.”

You don’t know.I want to scream it at him. But I just nod and walk ahead of him into the house, where everyone else is already waiting.

“Abbi,” Joy says with a bright smile. She hurries to me and wraps me in a hug, and I just want to lean into her and sob.

But I don’t.

“We’re going to sue the fuck out of them,” Ryan says from across the room. His hazel eyes, so much like his brother’s, areferal with rage. “By the time I’m done with them, I’ll own that entire goddamn company.”

I believe him. He will.

“A lot of money is going in the swear jar today,” I hear Johnny say to his sister and Daisy, who both nod.

I do believe Ryan, but the damage is already done. I have to hurry up here so I can rush home and get Daisy and me ready to leave. I have no idea where we’ll go, but I can’t stay here.

It’s not safe.

My phone rings, and when I pull it out of my pocket, I see that it’s Jerome, my P.I., and I swallow hard but answer.

“Someone fucked up,” he says in my ear. It’s loud enough that Brady can hear.

“Who is that?” Brady asks, but I shake my head.

---