Page 8 of Ruined

“Fucker, Frenchie can’t be photographed. She’s still a target,” I snap.

“I know, man, but attacking a member of the press while in your uniform isn’t going to help your girl.”

I look around for her and realize she left when I saw her at her car.

“Where did she go?” I ask the other girls who have moved over to where Reaper and I are standing. “Get Titan to pull any footage of her. To blur her face or something.”

“I will,” he confirms as Vixen steps toward me.

“She had a class on campus,” Vixen informs me, and I nod at her.

I head to my SUV, not caring that I’m still in uniform or in a marked car. I have to get to her. The fear that she could be spotted and taken again is overwhelming. I just got her and don’t want to lose her.

I make it to campus and locate her car. I block it in so she can’t leave without me. Pulling up the shared location app on my phone, I see she’s in one of the buildings off the main quad, and I walk toward it.

When I reach the floor she’s on, I stand by the open door, listening to the lecture.

“When a patient is traumatized so severely, it can not only take years for them to recover but can also make it to where theywill never heal for a normal relationship.” The professor pauses, and then I hear her voice.

“But if said patient thinks they can handle a relationship, shouldn’t they try?”

I’m on pins and needles, waiting for the answer.

“That first relationship could be what is called a rebound and won’t work out. It’s extremely rare for a victim to have a normal relationship right off the bat.”

“No matter how long it’s been?” Minuet asks, and again I hold my breath, waiting.

“No matter. There have been so many case studies on it. If the person really wants to be in a relationship with the patient, they will not only give them the time to heal, but they will also, as the phrase goes, set them free and see if they come back. It’s an important test.”

I stand there in shock, thinking about what the professor said. My legs feel like they have lead in them as I make my way back to my SUV. I can’t set her free yet, but I’ll let her come to me this time instead of me bugging her like I did yesterday.

I’ve been sitting at my desk for an hour, staring at the files in front of me and not making heads or tails of them, when my phone pings in my pocket.

Baby Doll

Can I cook for you tonight?

I take a deep breath, knowing this isn’t completely what the professor was saying, but it’s still a milestone, and I respond back.

Me

I’d love that. I’ll be off at 5. I don’t have much at the house.

Baby Doll

I’ll stop at Freddy’s before I head out. See you soon. XXX

She has the code to get into the house and disarm the alarm. I settle into work and finally make some progress before I head home to my woman.

FOUR

FRENCHIE

It’s been a month since I started staying with Dylan. I’ve got a couple changes of clothes there now, and it almost feels like I’ve moved in. Tonight, we are having Vixen and Terry over for dinner.

I push the cart through the store, scanning the shelves for the ingredients I need to maketarte Tatin, the French dessert I learned to make years ago. Skyler is walking beside me, jabbering away about what she learned in school this past week. I just picked her up from Tae Kwon Do. Ryder is in the cart, playing with the canned foods I’m buying to stock up the pantry.

We turn the corner, and my cart slams into someone.

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