Page 29 of Tangled In Lies

The only reason I could stay sane in prison and actually manage to get my university degree was because of the strict routine they implemented. My mind thrives on that. Give me a spontaneous and impulsive schedule, and my mind switches to a bloodthirsty hound in point-five seconds.

I flex my right hand, waiting for Holden to finish typing.

Holden

Nah. We may as well stay, seeing as we’re already here.

Another message pops up before I have time to respond.

Holden

I’ll find you when we’re home. If you haven’t yet, get your workout in before you lose the last bit of your muscle mass.

Me

middle finger emoji

We both know my muscles aren’t small by any means, and he’s the biggest reason for it. I’m not nearly as bulky as his fridge-sized frame, but I’m undoubtedly in the best shape ever.

But he isn’t wrong. A workout is exactly what I need to mellow out before they get back. I have a feeling I need to be as calm as possible around Evangeline so I don’t accidentally kill her.

She still has to pay her dues before then.

And there’s a whole list of them.

Chapter 9

Evangeline

Ijolt awake with my heart hammering wildly behind my rib cage, the seat belt the only thing keeping me from leaping forward.

Crap, I must have fallen asleep after we left the shelter. I blink at the window and the winding road toward my new home.

My new home.

My stomach churns at what’s waiting for me behind the gorgeous façade.

Groaning, I rub at my right temple.

My life has turned into a joke.

A fucking joke.

Or maybe a horror show.

Possibly both.

“Something wrong?” Holden slows down as we near the gate and the security post, glancing in the rearview mirror. “You don’t need to puke again, do you?”

I shake my head. “I’m good.”

That’s all I say because Holden doesn’t actually care about anything other than me not making a mess of the car.

He’s barely spoken to me all day, just a quiet shadow in the background. A constant reminder of my new situation.

The only saving grace I was granted was that Monday is the only day I don’t have any classes with my friends, so I could go as unnoticed as possible in the back of my lectures and feign a migraine when someone approached me.

Tomorrow will look very different. Tyler shouldn’t be a problem once he can see for himself I’m okay. Hopefully. But there will be no escaping Ruby or Mason. I’m sure by now there will be dozens of missed phone calls and messages waiting for me from the two of them. I haven’t been able to check because, of course, in my hurry to get out of the house this morning, and as far away as possible from Phoenix, I forgot my phone. They’re probably out of their mind with worry. I just hope they didn’t do anything hasty, like show up on Phoenix’s doorstep or something like that.

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