Page 65 of Cruel Secrets

Abandoning the cart, I jog down the aisle and the back of the store, heading for Gia and Bianca as they pass by the rainbow-colored cereal boxes.

Gia looks up as I step into their path and crouch down, opening my arms. Bianca falls for it, running straight to me and throwing her little arms around my neck. For just a second, I hug her back, hoping that this won’t be the last time I see them.

I lock my arms around her, standing up and leaning closer to Gia. “You both need to get out of here right now.”

Gia’s eyebrows pull together. “What are you talking about? Where did the cart go? There’s no way the shopping is done yet.”

“You need to take her,” I say as I hand Bianca over, glancing over my shoulder. “Then you need to get in the car and get the hell out of here. Go home.”

“Royce, what the hell is going on?” She takes Bianca and holds her close. Her gaze darts around before locking on me. “You’re acting weird.”

“You need to get home right now.” I pull the keys out of my pocket, pressing them into her palm. “I’ll follow you once it’s safe, but right now, you need to get the hell out of here and don’t look back. Matt should still be at the house.”

“You’re scaring me,” she says, her voice wavering as I grab a black baseball cap from a small rack near the end of the aisle.

She stays still as I settle the hat over her hair, pulling the brim down to hide her face.

After flicking the collar of her denim jacket up, I give her a slight nudge toward the door.

She holds Bianca closer. “Royce, what’s happening?”

“I need you to trust me now. Do you think you can do that? We’re wasting time right now.”

Her tongue flicks out to wet her bottom lip before she nods. “I trust you.”

Thank fuck.

Gia keeps her head down, heading for the door without another word. The bell above the door chimes as she steps outside and within a couple minutes, the rumble of the car’s engine permeates the otherwise sleepy and quiet morning.

As I wander up and down the aisles, my heart beats faster. I don’t know where the hell Noah is lurking now, but there’s a sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach that makes me wonder if he saw Gia.

I thought I got her out in time, but we spent a lot of time talking.

Noah could be tracking her back to the house right now. He could take her while I’m not there to stop him, and then I don’t know what could happen to her.

What’s he even doing in Devil’s Hole?

The two men I caught must’ve been able to get a message to him before I killed them. It’s the only explanation for how he would’ve found us.

Until I turn a corner, I’m sure that I’m going to go home to an empty house.

Noah stands at the end of the aisle with his phone pressed to his ear. Other people are passing around him with loaded carts, shuffling to the side of him to grab jars of pasta sauce before carrying on with their day.

I shuffle closer to the pasta, looking through the boxes and trying to make it look like I’m not paying attention to him.

As I get closer to him, I grin and make a point of turning to him. “Hey, Noah! Good to see you after so long, buddy. How’s New York been?”

My voice is loud, drawing the attention of some of the people around us as Noah turns to me with a scowl on his face. His eyebrows knit together as he puts the phone in his pocket.

Chuckling, I clap him on the shoulder like we’re close friends. “I didn’t think you were going to come see us.”

Noah glowers at my hand on his shoulder. “You better get that off me before I cut it from you.”

His hand hovers near his pocket, and there’s the slim oval outline of a folded knife in there.

People give us curious glances as they shuffle around us and continue about their days.

“Careful, Noah. People have seen us together. You’re not going to want to cause a scene, are you? It wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do.”

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