Page 98 of Forget Me Not

He stays on the line, though it’s silent as he waits for information to be relayed to him. Arnold is sitting in the comforts of his own home while barking orders at his henchmen, while I bark orders at him.

I hear the tap of his fingers while Chloe continues to hum, and I lose it. “Would you stop fucking humming!”

Her head shoots up, eyebrows knitted. “Can I leave yet?”

“Someone needs to come get this girl, Arnold. If she’s not out of my car within the next thirty seconds, I might just bury her in a snowbank and leave her ass there.”

“Shouldn’t be much longer.” Arnold’s voice comes through the speaker. “Keep that girl safe. We might need her as a bargaining chip.”

Chloe rolls her eyes and lays her head back down as she sighs heavily. “It won’t do you any good. Those men don’t give a shit about me. No one does.”

I slowly turn my head to look at her, watching while she draws a flower in the fog on the window, and something shifts inside me.

This girl, while annoying as fuck and a big wrench in my plans, could be someone else’s Rhea.

She didn’t want the task she got, but she had no choice. Much like Rhea had no choice when she did some of the crazy shit she did throughout her life.

So I keep my mouth shut and let the little brat sing her goddamn song. Even though it’s like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

“All right,” Arnold says, and I instantly straighten my back. “We’ve got a visual on Rhea. She’s safe. Bound and gagged, but safe.”

My heart pangs with agony at his words. While I’m glad she’s safe, she’s got to be terrified.

“I’m going in,” I tell him as I push open my door and step one foot out into the snowbank.

“They’re still searching for Ian. You need to stay back.” Arnold’s words are a demanding plea, but I can’t wait any longer.

“Keep the car running,” I say to Chloe. “If I don’t return, then good fucking luck getting this car unstuck.”

I was in such a hurry, I drove right into a snowbank and got myself packed into the white powder. Unfortunately, that means I have to walk a good quarter mile down the driveway to the cabin Rhea’s being held in. But a half mile is nothing when it means getting to the woman I love.

I move quickly, determined to get to Rhea as fast as I can. My feet never stop moving, even as snow rides up my pant legs and into my socks.

Ten minutes later, I’m creeping on the outskirts of the driveway near a row of trees. If this were anyone but Rhea, I wouldn’t care enough to step foot on this property. I hire people to do this shit for me. But itisRhea, and I can’t wait any longer for someone to save the woman who is my entire world.

There are dozens of footprints in the snow, going in every direction, but I pay no attention to them as I walk around the house to the back.

I pull out my phone, shooting a quick text to Arnold.

Me: Tell your men I’m coming in through the back door and to stand down.

Arnold: I’ve already made them aware. You can use any door, though. They’ve got Ian.

My legs nearly give out from beneath me as I let out a big sigh of relief. I curl over, pressing my hands to my knees, and I close my eyes for a second because this is the moment my life with Rhea truly begins.We got him, and Rhea’s finally safe.

Me: Thank fuck. Put in a call to James Duncan with the Auburn field office for the FBI. He’s been waiting for this day.

I stand up, straighten my back, and run like hell to the nearest door. Bursting inside, I immediately call out for her. “Rhea!”

Three guys decked head to toe in protective armor come around a corner, waving me in their direction. “She’s in here.”

I hear her before I see her and my lips lift in a huge smile.

“You. Can’t. Own. People.” As I turn the corner I watch as each word is followed up with a kick to the gut. Ian is bound on the floor, two men standing over him while my girl goes feral. It really is a sight.

She rips a band from her finger and I glance at the dead priest on the floor beside her. Throwing the ring in Ian’s face, she keeps going. “You have to ask a girl to marry you, dickface. And when she says NO, she fucking means it! Or did the kick to the balls mean something else to you?”

Ian just stares up at her with a mixture of shock and anger written on his face. If he’s been here watching her for as long as we were thinking, he should know she isn’t a girl to be messed with. She’s a wildcat.

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