Page 96 of Reclaiming Adelaide

Hanging up, I pushed my phone into my pocket and limped towards the bedroom door, slamming it shut so no one could see her plush breasts and supple ass.

“I’m going where you go,” she said, crossing her arms over her exposed chest.

“I figured,” I said, sighing. “Get dressed. We’re going home, and we have a long drive ahead of us.”

She took three long strides to the bed where her pack lay and dug inside, pulling out an outfit. “Why are we driving?”

“It’s safer. Airplanes have one destination.”

“They also have more security in place.”

“There’s no security outside of an airport, and if they know you’ve been on a plane, they know where you’re going to land.”

“You think they’ll come after us?”

I nodded. “Better to assume so.”

“What about my parents?” she said, her voice lowering to a murmur.

I exhaled and stopped zipping my bag halfway around. “I’ll have Alek call it in. We’ll take care of them.”

She nodded, keeping her gaze on her bag as she sniffled. “Will I be able to have a funeral for them?”

“Adelaide,” I said as I reached out for her. Gripping her shoulders, I tipped her chin up with my finger. Her red, irritated eyes enhanced the darker green ring around her irises. “I’ll take care of everything. I promise.”

If only I could turn back time and take away her pain—to press a button and be her hero like she said. But that wasn’t possible.

“How long will it take for us to get home?”

“Not long.”

“What then?”

“Then we get you someplace safe while I handle them.”

“I don’t think you exactly qualify as a vigilante, Jake. Why don’t we just go to the police?”

I smirked. “Why didn’t you go to the police instead of running away?”

It may be hypocritical, but she wasn’t the only one who kept secrets, and I wasn’t about to let her in on mine just yet.

She shrugged. “Because I would’ve incriminated myself just to tell them about a suspicion I had.” She glanced around as if her mind ran wild, as did mine. “Why did they threaten Becca? How did theyknow about you?”

I sat her down on the bed. “I made a deal with them. Your safety for Holeo.”

“Why did you do that?” she demanded.

“It was the only way to keep you out of harm’s way. They think I’ve gone back on that deal. But it’s too late. They burned what bridge we had between us when they killed your parents.”

Her eyes lowered, and she covered her face with her hand, then swiped it down as if it’d stop the flow of tears pooling in her eyes.

Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.

“Get dressed. I don’t want to lose more daylight.”

I zipped her bag and mine and hauled them out of the room after she slipped on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt—my t-shirt.God, she looked good in that.

When we reached the bottom of the steps, I took in the scene before me with a growing irritation beneath my skin.

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