Page 275 of Hide and Keep

Ever’s door.

Damn it. I forgot to turn those off.

My thumb’s hovering over the settings when another notification comes through, this one for her window.

So she went straight through her room to her window and is probably leaving out it right now…

That’s great. Fine. Let her sneak out. Like Arthur said, his daughter is no longer my concern.

I toss my phone to the end of my bed, out of reach.

Unfortunately, the move doesn’t keep my mind from returning to Ever and where she might be going. A party? Now that I’m not there to keep her company, to entertain her, she’s forced to seek amusement elsewhere.

Probably. That’s probably where she’s going. That’s where she went before I moved in.

Parting my knees, I stare at the device down by my feet.

As long as she’s still wearing that purple bracelet, I could find out exactly where she’s going.

I slam my knees shut, cutting off my view.

That’s the luxury of being unemployed. I don’thaveto worry about that kind of stuff anymore. I’m not being paid to care about Ever Munreaux’s whereabouts, so I don’t. I do not fucking care. She can go out right this minute and get fucked seven different ways, all of them new and different and new and—

Fuck!

I catapult my top half off the mattress, my elbows on my knees, my hands in fists on top of my ankles as I try to keepmyself from grabbing my phone and checking her location. It’s better not to know. It’s better not to care. Which I don’t. I don’t fucking care about her.

Except…

What if that’s not where she’s going? What if she’s coming…here? For me. She knows where I live. She could show up at my front door and apologize, tell me she didn’t mean anything she said. And I’d…

What? Accept that?

No. She doesn’t deserve my forgiveness that easily.

But if she did show up, I’d be willing to at least hear her out.

Is she willing to come clean?

I guess I’ll have to see when she gets here.Ifshe gets here.

I press my palms into my hairline hoping it’ll push Ever Munreaux from my head.

She’s not coming. She’s the one that doesn’t care. If she did, she would’ve saidsomething, given mesomekind of heads-up,anything. She didn’t. She wouldn’t evenlookat me.

We were fine until we pulled up—

When we pulled up…

When we pulled up, Ever stopped meeting my eyes the moment Edwin intercepted her. And she didn’t seem like she even wanted to go with the valet. It’s not surprising considering who he was taking her to—her abuser.

I snatch my phone up. I shouldn’t have left her there.

Immediately opening the tracker app, I go right for Ever’s location. She’s still on the property. I’m worrying for nothing. She’s probably just out for a run, burning off some of the frustration that comes with dealing with Arthur Munreaux.

Except her dot isn’t moving. It’s stationary as all fuck, even after I refresh the app several times. Itlookslike she’s at the cliff, just sitting there, contemplating, possibly doing something…rash and irreversible.

Shit!

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