Page 48 of Unspoken Lies
EMIL
So many cards stacked on each other to create a delicate house of them, so many secrets that I’m keeping. They’re all catching up to me a little sooner than I planned.
I didn’t plan for Rachelle to stay hidden forever, just like I was only humoring my son by allowing him to rot in prison. There are different lessons that are being taught for some, while I’m trying to protect my stepdaughter from spiraling out of control.
Nacio and Liliana are closing in on the drug dealer, which has held my full attention. Unfortunately, it’s causing my cards to fall around me.
Rachelle, it may be time to come out into the light and stop hiding. Fuck, I hope I’ve given you enough time to heal.
The issue is, how do you possibly move on from being buried alive?
JARED
“You didn’t get roofied did you?” I ask, sighing as I struggle to help Elijah up. Theo frowns as he wraps his arm around his back and hauls him up.
“No, I swear,” Elijah mumbles.
I got a text from Emil fucking Reyes five minutes ago, just as the club was beginning to wind down for the night. At first, I thought I was in trouble, then I panicked at the simple message that we needed to collect an unconscious Elijah.
The man is so fucking cryptic, I think he does this shit on purpose.
“Start again and take a breath,” I order as we begin to walk back to the store.
Elijah is deathly pale as he does as I ask before shaking his head. “I think I’m going to be sick,” he groans.
“Fuck,” I rasp before hanging him forward into the street so he can puke. His gasping breaths sound like it hurts as his body shudders. “For real, you’re freaking me out, Elijah.”
“Sorry,” he croaks out. “I should be good now. I just need some water.”
“Brea already clocked out for the night, so let’s go into the shop,” Theo suggests, easing Elijah into an upright position so he can leave him with me so he can unlock the shop door.
We came out of one of the side doors to find him, so we avoided the mystic shop completely.
“I was taking a break to take a walk up to the pizza shop so we’d have food to take home tonight,” Elijah explains. “We really like that place, and I’m craving pizza. Anyway, there was thisgirl that walked past me. She wore her hair in those two cute buns on top of her head, and I could see her face clear as day as she walked beneath a streetlight. I swear, I think I’m losing my mind.”
The last part is stated with a groan as I ease him into a chair in the shop.
“I think those are called space buns, though I’m not sure why,” I mutter. I have a disturbing feeling he’s hallucinating seeing Rachelle again, which is very bad. “Why are you holding onto your side?”
The question forced him to focus, and he makes an annoyed face as I lean against the wall to gaze at him. There are traces of shadows underneath his eyes, his mind working overtime now that Ignacio is out of prison. He’s still not sleeping great.
“She hit me with her stun gun, and then it was lights out,” he grunts. “I swear, it was Rachelle’s fucking nose, her lips, her voice. Why am I seeing her and talking to her if she’s not real? Fuck me, it hurts.”
Leaning forward to pull up his shirt, I can see the marks left behind from the stun gun. I wouldn’t be surprised if it bruises.
“We all can’t be having a group hallucination,” I say, wincing in sympathy at his side. It’s right underneath his armpit too. Whoever this girl is, she was shorter than him based on her reach.
“Hey, I almost forgot the new girl started tonight," Theo says, having turned on a lamp in the store. “At this time of night, foot traffic is pretty light. I wonder if she’s who you startled. You’re a big guy, Elijah. I bet you scared the shit out of her.”
“I’d have scared her just the same if she was Rachelle,” Elijah pouts.
My lips twitch because despite the subject matter, he’s still cute.
Theo goes through the papers on the desk before picking up what must be the new girl’s employment paperwork. There’s also an NDA within it. I wonder if she thought anything of it.
“Her name is Rachel Thompson,” Theo mutters, his eyes grazing over the text.
“I will refrain from stating the obvious about that stupid fucking name,” Elijah grumbles.
