Page 48 of Deception

Chapter22

Everleigh

“There’s no threat anymore—notthat there ever has been—and I gave you all the information I have. There’s nothing else for me here.”

Gunner opened his mouth to say something else to sway me to stay a little longer, no doubt, but I held up my hand. I had shown up in his office twenty minutes ago, finally having had enough. We’d been arguing ever since.

I’d stayed another week as promised. A week that had passed as agonizingly slowly as the previous one. “No. I’m going home. Ineedto be home.”

He hung his head, and I inwardly cheered in victory. “Fine. But you need to check in every day. If I don’t hear from you by ten every morning, I’m sending someone out to you.”

“A bit of overkill, but fine. If that’s what it takes for you to let me go on my merry way, then I’ll call every day.”

I jumped in the air, feeling a spark of hope that I could finally start putting all my broken pieces together again. “Thank you. You won’t regret it.”

“I already do,” he mumbled, then waved me off when his phone rang.

I skipped through the office to find Sofie. My heart ached at the thought of not seeing her again, but I had to do this. I couldn’t stay here indefinitely. I was in limbo while at the safe house. I needed a purpose. Normality. And going home and hopefully back to work would be that for me.

Sofie wasn’t hard to find, her soft giggles echoing through the large open-plan setup. She and Carter were in the break room, Sofie putting butterfly clips in his hair. She must have also painted his nails, because they were now bright pink.

“The color suits you,” I said, approaching their little bubble. He was great with her, and I was glad she had so many people who cared for her. But knowing Lucius, he would have never left her if he wasn’t sure they would keep her safe and happy.

Carter held out his hands. “Pink has always been my color. Brings out my eyes.”

I chuckled. “Makes the blue pop.”

“You want to be my next customer?” Sofie asked, her attention on wrapping a hair tie around Carter’s short strands.

“Not today, chipmunk. I came to say goodbye. I’m going home tomorrow.”

She stopped pulling the hair that would never be long enough to fit into the tie and looked at me. “Why are you leaving? Are you mad at me?”

I rushed up to her and pulled her into my arms. “Of course not. But I don’t live here. I live in San Diego. And I have to go home.”

She sniffled into my top. “Will you come back to visit me?”

I brushed back her hair. “Of course I will. I still need to beat you at Uno.”

Her tears dried up as quick as they’d appeared and she nodded, holding out her hand. “Then shake on it. Because that means you can’t take it back.”

She looked so serious with her nose crinkled and her mouth pursed. Leaving her meant leaving my last connection to Lucius.

But I had to move on. It wasn’t healthy for me to stay here.

After a teary goodbye, I called Thea from one of the secure lines to let her know I was coming home the next day. She let out an earsplitting scream. She also insisted on picking me up, something I gratefully accepted.

The next day, I was finally standing outside San Diego Airport, waiting for my best friend to show up. And she didn’t disappoint, driving up in a bright-blue Mercedes AMG. She honked and rolled down the window. “Hey, hot stuff. You need a ride?”

I grinned at her and hopped in the passenger seat, careful not to smudge the shiny door handle. She threw her arms around me, ignoring the cars honking behind us. “I can’t believe you’re back. I was so fucking worried.”

She pulled back into traffic, earning more honks and a few middle fingers. As usual, she ignored everyone. In her life, there was only sunshine. She brushed off the haters and embraced the lovers. It made it easy to be around her and was one of the many reasons why she was my best friend.

We’d known each other since fourth grade and had been inseparable ever since. She was someone you wanted in your corner.

Even when she married a man twice her age who spent more money on a house than I’d ever see in my lifetime, we stayed close.

“New car?” I asked, taking in the new car smell. The engine was so quiet, you could have a conversation even when speeding down Pacific Coast Highway. Which was what we were currently doing.

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