Page 146 of Chalk Outline
“The world isn’t fair, so why should I play fair?”
“Fair point.”
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s not a no,” she toys.
“You can’t help yourself.” I nuzzle her hair.
“The urge is stronger than me,” she giggles. “It can’t resist you.”
“Is that so?” I carry her trembling body inside and walk to the bathroom.
“You were born to make my life so much more complicated.” She quotes me from many years ago, back when we didn’t know what we know now. “And I’m so grateful for that. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
I left her, but she still came back to me.
Chapter twenty-nine
Winona Bishop
Say Yes To Heaven — Lana Del Rey
Steam billows from the pot on the camping gas stove. The pasta is cooking, and the tomato sauce from the can is already on the counter after Reeve seasoned it and let it simmer.
“As much as I love watching you naked all day, or in my T-shirts. There are clothes in the closet for you, and I brought a few dresses here. I would love to see you in one tonight,” he says, spanking my ass as I pass the kitchenette to the library—a large bookcase filled from top to bottom with books, comics, figurines, candles, and sex-related accessories.
I have a feeling he did all of this in my tower as well. He must have planned it long before we arrived here.
“Will you wear a suit?” I ask, pulling out different books we haven’t read yet.
“If that’s what you want.”
“So, you got a suit here?”
“We’re all set. My team has helped me.”
I glance over my shoulder to see him stirring the pasta.
“Do you trust your team?” I turn my head back to the bookshelf and skim the first page of the book in my hand.
“I do. You know, I never had friends before, and trusting people doesn’t come easily. But after a while, they grew on me. I have a feeling you’re going to like them too.”
“I’m sure I will.” I place the book on top of the pile I had gathered on the small table next to the library. “How many people lived in these towers? They don’t look old or overly used.”
“They aren’t used. Your grandma wanted them to include everything a person needs. She started working on them when you were a baby; it was her secret project back then.”
So I was right, “These are safe houses.”
“Yes.”
“Is there a real underground prison here?”
“Yes, but it’s not exactly right below us.”
I pivot on the balls of my feet to face him. “What do you mean?”
Reeve leans against the counter, his hands folded across his chest, a half smile curls across his mouth, and his hair is a perfect mess. “It’s under a different side of the forest.”
