Her words hit me like an arrow through the heart.
“We talked about this.” I reach out to touch her shoulder. “We need to go away for a bit. A little vacation for just the two of us.”
“But we can’t.” She snaps her head side to side. “Your dad’s picking you up after school. You know how he gets when things don’t go according to plan.”
My heart sinks into my stomach. Dad’s been gone for over a decade. A classic case of stepping out for a box of smokes and never coming back.
“Mom,” I start, catching the threat of tears in the back of my throat. “I’m twenty-one, remember? You baked me a cake. We ate it together on the couch, watching old movies.”
Her eyes narrow like I’m lying.
I turn away from Mom, staring outside the kitchen window and into the night. But the fear of her seeing me cry is short-lived when I see bright white headlights parked just outside our yard.
Had it been any other car, it wouldn’t be cause for alarm. However, the sleek SUV that blends into its black surroundings isn’t what you’d see in my neighborhood.
Which can mean only one thing.
We took too long.
“I don’t remember that.” Mom’s talking more to herself than to me. “My, how time flies.”
The headlights dim, and the car door swings open. Then he steps out. Tall, broad-shouldered, and rigid in a way that shouldn’t be this hot. I don’t even have to see his face, or rather his mask, to know it’s Ghost. No one can command this sense of power other than him.
“Mom, I need you to go to your room.”
“You just said we need to leave?”
“Please. Just do it.” I’d be screaming if I weren’t stunned in awe of the goliath approaching our front door.
He disappears out of the window's view, and my heart starts pounding against my ribcage while I wait for it.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
There it is.
“Mom, go to your room.”
“Someone’s at the door. I should ans?—”
“I’ll get it.”
I wait for Mom to leave before I head to the door. By the time I reach it, my belly’s doing cartwheels, and I’m ready to collapse. I’m afraid. I should be after what happened. And his arrival at my house can’t spell anything good, either.
Yet, as I stand with my hand trembling on the door handle, fear isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Instead, heat rips through my body and settles on my cheeks like I’m about to go on a first date. I hate that I’m feeling it. After what happened at Eduardo’s place, I should be sick to my stomach and should be putting as much distance between me and Ghost as I can.
But it’s too late for that.
I open the door.
He’s standing in it the same way he stood over me last night. Those dark eyes not just looking into mine but peering through them into my soul.
He swipes a hand through the mess of black hair hanging over his forehead and pins it back. That single motion is enough for his massive arms to test the quality of his charcoal suit, and somehow it manages to pass. I can’t tell what’s happening beneath that mask, but I like to imagine there’s a smile. Twisted and delighted to see me here.
I really have lost my fucking mind.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he says.
That’s my line.
