Given her billionaire ex’s access to things, he had to wonder if the guy was monitoring Ana’s phone, had been able to get the new number due to the length of their conversation.
Either way, he didn’t want it ringing and waking Quinley up. Not until she’d rested enough to piece herself together.
He’d call Cole, get the details and let them know Quinley had quieted. Then, maybe by the time she woke up, they’d know what to do next.
Cole answered halfway through the first ring. “Tell me everything you know.”
ChapterNine
Quinley woke with a gasp and bolted upright in the bed, desperately sucking in air as she tried to sort out the remnants of the nightmare from her current reality.
She was alone in her bedroom in the cabin. In the mountains. She wasn’t hanging off the balcony in her ridiculous wedding dress, staring up at the faces of Rhys, his family and hers, and countless nameless people, begging them for help as her grip slipped. Begging as they cheered and chanted for her todie, die, die.
She buried her face in her hands and rubbed hard, trying and failing to scrub away the terror she’d felt in the dream. That lingered now as her conversation with Ana returned.
People wanted her dead.
How was she supposed to handle that? She couldn’t be casual about it. She’d certainly never threatened to kill anyone andmeant it.
These people did.
They actually meant it. They wanted her todie. And while she’d accept responsibility and blame for hurting people, beg for their forgiveness, do whatever she could to make peace with Rhys, she didn’t deserve death threats.
She got up and entered the bathroom. After emptying her bladder, she stared at the shower and decided maybe it might help clear the last of the terror-filled cobwebs from her brain.
She stripped down, hating that she didn’t have fresh clothes to put on when she emerged, but that couldn’t be helped. At this point, she wondered if she would ever leave this cabin. Because honestly? She didn’t want to.
She wasn’t sure how long this feeling would last, but she felt safe here. So long as she stayed away from the television and off the phone, she could hide in her bubble and pretend.
The hot water did wonders for the anxiety bombarding her senses. She used the blessedly provided soap and shampoo and conditioner and scrubbed until her skin pinkened and her hair practically squeaked.
She’d been so exhausted last night that she’d just gone to bed, collapsed even though she hadn’t slept well at all and tossed and turned all night. But now freshly scrubbed and wedding-hair-product free, she stood beneath the spray and reveled in the heat, wishing she could just sit on the shower floor and let the water rain down.
That wouldn’t solve the many problems she faced though.
Sighing, she flipped the taps and cut the water, her gaze watching the last drips fall before the coolness of the room left her reaching for towels.
She wrinkled her nose at the thought of wearing her underwear another day so instead she went commando in the sweatpants and quickly donned the T-shirt before she washed her panties in the sink and left them to dry.
Adding the borrowed sweatshirt meant unwrapping her hair from the towel. She finger combed it as best she could. Too bad a comb wasn’t also included in the welcome basket.
Hair the best she could make it, she lifted her head and caught sight of herself in the mirror above the bathroom sink. Dark half-moons shadowed her eyes, and her face looked haggard and weary despite the nap.
She wondered how long she had actually slept, but a glance at the highly placed and narrow bathroom window revealed it was still daylight.
She opened the bathroom door and forced herself to cross the room to the bedroom door. The memory of Elias barging into her room and scooping her into his arms vaguely registered, but she had little memory after that.
Only of him holding her. Soothing her.
Lord have mercy, what a mess. Eliashadto regret not leaving her behind in Carolina Cove. In Wilmington or Leland or any of the other towns they’d passed on the way here.
She took a breath and quietly twisted the knob before she could chicken out and hide away beneath the covers for the rest of eternity.
She wasn’t an ostrich. She couldn’t bury her head and pretend her actions didn’t have consequences or that she wasn’t facing them now.
She found Elias in the living room, looking grim and…concerned?
“You look a little better rested,” he said softly.
