Page 126 of Never Quiet

Chapter Twenty-Eight

October 2017 – June 2018

While the tears didn’t stop from the moment she left her apartment, once they were in the air on the small plane she’d chartered, Amanda broke down entirely.

Ash and Roark alternated holding her hands, wiping her tears, and forcing her to drink fluids.

She ached from the inside out, every inch of her grieving the end of something beautiful with a man who’d nourished her, fulfilled her, on so many levels for a year.

Hayden Delkin might not have been her first love but he was her greatest love. She missed him already, wanted to take it all back, and return to him.

Take him in her arms and never, ever let him go.

To save a woman she’d never met, did not know, but whom Amanda understood would die without Hayden’s influence in her life, she crushed down the pain, the regret, the wishful thinking.

It did not make the loss of him easier.

She wept painfully, constantly, and her body finally shoved her into a deep, dreamless sleep. Waking with a start as the plane landed, she realized she’d continued to cry.

Roark murmured, “It’s going to be alright, Amanda. One minute at a time.” She nodded groggily and he helped her stand. “Use the restroom, wash your face, wake up a little.”

In the small bathroom at the back of the eight-seater plane, she struggled to pull herself together. She stared at her reflection and felt like a stranger in her own body.

Outside the aircraft, she was escorted to an armored SUV. There was another parked in front of it and several men waiting to protect her.

Winston Winters might have been driven from his legitimate life and forced into hiding. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have money and resources remaining, hidden all over the world, to fulfill his plans for her.

It would be years before she’d be able to move freely, without armed protection. The thought was exhausting.

Fortunately, her modeling empire was growing rapidly enough to make the indefinite hire of protective details something she could and would do for herself and her family.

Morgan was unbelievable in his ability to negotiate large paychecks and residual income.

She greeted her people quietly and could tell that word was already spreading about her split from Hayden. They were careful with her, gentle, and soft-spoken.

Leaning her head against the seat, Ash beside her, she slept again. She thought she could sleep forever.

The vehicle stopped, the men surrounded her across the sidewalk, and she was escorted up a single flight of stairs. Two men waited on either side of the door and said, “Miss Lang.”

“Amanda. Everyone can call me Amanda.” Her voice didn’t sound like her at all.

The door swung wide and she entered the room with a forced smile as her family swarmed her in Caroline’s loft. They all talked at once, hugged her, loved her, and there were tears.

She picked up her little sister, six now, and held her harder than she should, cried softly against her neck, and pretended every tear was one of happiness.

Heather hugged her neck, murmuring her name, and Amanda thought that, with these people around her, with their love, she would make it through to the other side.

They were strong and they made her stronger. She would borrow their strength until hers returned.

It would be enough.

* * *

In her room in Caroline’s loft, a sleeping Heather curled against her side, Amanda took a deep breath and turned on her phone.

There were a dozen texts from Hayden and several voicemails. Each one made it harder for her to think clearly, to remember her reasons for leaving the man she loved.

Come back to me, Amanda.

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