MasukChapter 23The phone was still ringing in Rook's hand, and the cold air made my nose sting while I waited to hear what Helen had to say. I told him to answer it quickly because Helen never called on Saturdays unless something important happened, and I was afraid that good news would get cold if we waited too long.Rook answered and put it on speaker so I could hear, and Helen said that she had news and that it was actually good for once. She said that Judge Morales reviewed the police reports about Mark and the blog and the bakery, and that she was satisfied that Rook and I were not responsible for the harassment and that we followed her order exactly. Helen said that the judge was willing to move the full custody review up from sixty days to thirty days because of our cooperation and because Lily's therapist wrote a letter saying that Lily was thriving with the current arrangement.I asked if that meant that I could come home sooner, and Helen said that it meant that the review would
Chapter 22The camera click behind us made my hand tighten around the key, and I turned quickly because I thought it was another blog trying to catch us breaking the judge's order. It was not a blog, and it was Mrs Kowalski standing ten feet away with her phone out and Lily peeking from behind her coat, and she was smiling like she had just caught us doing something wonderful instead of something wrong.Mrs Kowalski said that she forgot Lily's water bottle and came back to get it, and that she could not help taking a picture because we looked so nice in the snow. She showed us the photo, and it was not the hand holding or the key or anything the judge would care about, and it was just Rook looking at me and me looking at him with the burned cookie between us. I let out a breath I did not know I was holding, and Rook laughed and said that Mrs Kowalski was going to get us in trouble.Mrs Kowalski said that love was not trouble and that the judge should mind her own business, and then sh
Chapter 21The hotel phone was still buzzing in my hand when Helen called my cell, and her voice was calm in a way that told me she already knew what happened. She told me that the police traced the call to the lobby phone in my old hotel, and that the person who made it was the same security guard named Mark, and that they arrested him ten minutes ago in the parking garage with a burner phone and a stack of printed photos.I asked her what the photo of my mom's bakery meant, and she said that it was not what I thought it was, and that my mom had taken the plywood down herself this morning and had a painter put up a closed forever sign as a joke to scare Derek if he came back. She said that my mom sent her a picture an hour ago laughing about it, and that the person who threatened me just reused a photo my mom posted on Facebook because he was watching my social media.I felt my shoulders drop for the first time in three days, and I told Helen that I was tired of being scared, and s
Chapter 20The photograph in my hands felt heavier than paper should feel, and the message on the back made my blood run cold because it threatened Lily instead of me. I turned the photo over and looked at the image again, and I could tell that it was taken through my bedroom window from the building across the street, and that meant someone had been watching us even when we thought we were alone.Mrs Kowalski saw my face and asked me what was wrong, and I folded the photo in half and put it in my pocket before Lily could see it. I told Mrs Kowalski that it was nothing and that we should get Lily to the car, and she looked at me like she did not believe me but she did what I asked because she could see that I was trying to keep Lily calm. Rook was still standing across the street, and I caught his eye and shook my head once, and he frowned because he knew that something had happened but he could not come over.We walked Lily to the car that Helen arranged, and Mrs Kowalski buckled her
Chapter 19 The video of Rook with a red dot on his forehead kept replaying in my head, and I could not make my hands stop shaking long enough to hold my phone properly. I called Helen immediately because she told me to call her the second anything new happened, and I knew that a threat with a laser pointer was not something we could ignore until morning. Helen answered on the second ring, and she sounded awake even though it was almost midnight, which made me think that she had not gone to bed at all. I told her about the video, and I told her about the text that said accidents could happen and that I should keep Rook away from Lily and away from me. She told me to forward the video right now and to lock my hotel door and not to open it for anyone except the police or her. I forwarded the video with fingers that felt too cold, and Helen was quiet for ten seconds after she opened it, and then she said that she was calling her contact at the police department and that I needed to call
Chapter 18The video thumbnail on my phone made my stomach turn because the angle made it look like Rook and I were kissing in the bakery when we were only standing close together in the dark. I did not reply to the unknown number because Helen told me never to engage with a blackmailer, and I had learned the hard way that silence was the only leverage I had left.I sat on the edge of the hotel bed with my suitcase still zipped by the door because unpacking felt like admitting I was going to stay here for longer than one night. The room was clean and white and quiet in a way that made every noise from the hallway sound too loud, and I kept expecting to hear Lily call for me from the next room even though I knew she was across the city in her own bed.Rook texted me at seven twelve in the morning, right after he dropped Lily at school, and his message was short but careful because we both knew that Helen was probably reading everything we sent to each other. He wrote that Lily asked
MILA'S POV I stick out my hand. "I'm Mila Santiago. I'm a junior agent on Rick Hernandez's team at Prime Sports. Rick had something come up, but I'm here to speak to you on his behalf." His grip is surprisingly firm. My fingers feel small and soft wrapped in his, and I try very hard not to notice
JAX POV "It's been... four games without Jax causing trouble. Congrats, buddy, that's a season record!" Knox flips the number on the locker room wall from three to four, looking irritatingly pleased with himself. He steps back to admire his creation. It has been 4 days since our last incident, the
MILA'S POV Three days.Three days since the iced coffee incident. Three days since Rick assigned me as Jax Kingston's personal babysitter. Three days since I watched that stupid gorgeous man walk away after calling me "007" like it was some kind of joke.And three days since he started ignoring my
JAX POV I'm more fired than anyone in the history of fired people.That's all I can think as my arm drops back to my side, the empty cup still in my hand, and I watch the iced coffee splatter across the Florida fan's stupid face.My next thought: it's going to be hard to wash coffee out of that ex







