Page 92 of Love Finds Home

“Okay.” Ginny hands me her phone, and I dial, putting it up to my ear.

“You tell him you’re putting him on speaker when he answers.” Stefon points at me, and I nod in return.

“Elle! Tink! Are you okay? What’s going on?” Ranger yells when he answers the phone. “We’re on our way. I’m coming for you, baby.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I know I sound like a robot and I hope with everything in me, he knows all of this is bullshit. “I’m going to put you on speaker, Jonny, okay?”

“Got it. We’re almost there, Tink. Do whatever you have to do to stay alive.”

I put the phone on speaker and look at Stefon. “Tell him that you’ve been thinking about your life and have decided that the man you really love isn’t him and you need to be with him.”

“Jonny, I’ve been thinking about my life and I’ve decided that the man I really love isn’t you and I need to be with him,” I tell Ranger, staring at Stefon the whole time.

“Tell him that you’re sorry if he’s forever crushed, but you have to follow your heart to your soul mate and you’ve wasted enough time and you can’t wait anymore.”

“I’m sorry if you’re forever crushed, but I have to follow my heart to my soul mate and I’ve wasted enough time and I can’t wait anymore.”

“Okay, Elle. I understand.”

“Tell him thank you. And that you’re going to go home to your true love’s house now and live forever.”

“Thank you. I’m going to go home to my true love’s house now and live forever.”

“And he needs to call his henchmen off.”

“And you need to call your henchmen off. Please.” I smile at Stefon, letting him know I ad-libbed that part to be polite.

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

“Now hang up,” Stefon tells me, and I do what he asks. “It’s time to go now that we took care of that.”

“Can I take some of my stuff with me?” I ask, looking around the studio.

“Of course you can. I brought the van just for you. How can I help?”

It takes everything in me to not throw up. This man is truly delusional. And I still don’t know if his goal is to keep me like a doll or kill me and hack me into pieces in his basement. It’s a toss-up at this point.

I throw a look at Ginny, hoping she gets the message and can read my mind. The time is now to take this man down. Any possible way we can. She blinks twice, and I hope that’s her code for message understood.

“Oh, gosh, Stefon. I just don’t think I could go on without my favorite easel. That one.” I stand from the futon and point. “In front of the window. But it’s so big, it’s hard for me to move it.”

The rain is still coming down outside, but we’ve been oblivious to the storm raging. I watch the water for a second before I turn to Stefon, who flexes his arms. Yes. The man flexes his fucking arms!

“I can do that for you.”

He turns to the easel and I pick up the bottle of rum, mouthing, “NOW,”to Ginny, who sits on the edge of the futon and scoots to the edge.

With my next breath, I raise the bottle of rum up over my head and run at him, bringing it down on his head.

He turns, staring at me, his mouth open wide, trying to talk. But there’s no time for words when Ginny hits him like a running back on the game scoring drive in the big game.

She hits his midsection with her shoulder and he flies through the air. We both watch as his back connects with the window andit’s like the entire wall crumbles and falls, with him going with it all.

The shop door flies open, Ranger and Joker rushing into the room and taking in the scene. Sam Carmichael, the local cop we met when shit went down with Lottie, comes in next, his eyes immediately going to the window before looking around.

“Outside?” he asks.

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