Page 40 of Stolen Dreams

“For keeping this shit to yourself.”I put my index finger up and do a circle with it.“That is not fucking cool.”

“I didn’t know anything was out of the normal.”She tries to deflect as she grabs her jeans and tucks them into the side of the suitcase.“I’m only taking things for a week.”

“Whatever,” I say, thinking that we’ll just come back and get things.She walks over to the long dresser, grabbing things from the dresser and coming to put them next to her jeans.She walks back to the other side, opening her drawer and then stopping.“What is it?”

“I think they’ve been in this drawer.”She looks over her shoulder.“Usually, I have everything folded and put together by sets.”

I spring up and walk to her.“What is it?”

“It’s embarrassing.”She pushes my face away from the drawer.

“Is that?”I say, catching a glimpse of lace and what looks like twenty bras.

“Yeah, it is.”She closes the drawer, and I reach out and pull it open.“Emmett.”

“You have to check and see if anything is missing.”I try not to smile as I pick up a light pink padded bra with the matching panties that fall on the other bras.“You color code them with matching panties?”I ask, my cock getting hard.

“Would you give me that?”she hisses as she grabs her bra from me.“Not that it’s any of your business”—she puts the panties and the bra back together—“but it’s just sexy when they match.”

“Baby, if you’re wearing them…” I look down at the rows and rows of bras, thinking about what the matching panties are, especially the black ones.I use my finger to trace the lace on top of it when she pushes my hand away.“Do you see any that are missing?”

“No.”She shakes her head.“But I didn’t have the black one next to the green one.I always put the black one in the back since I’ve never worn it.”

“Why not?”I ask, and she shuts the drawers with her hip.

“I’m going to go get my toiletries.”She ignores my questions, and I grab her hand before she walks out of the room.

“Why haven’t you worn the black one?”I ask.

“I bought it for something special,” she admits, her eyes going to my lips, “and it hasn’t happened yet.”I let go of her hand.“I’ll be back.I’m almost done.”

I let her walk out of the room, my cock straining to get out and into her, which is the complete opposite of what I should do.When I watched her walk out of my house before, I felt like half my heart had left with her.I knew it was time to put a stop to all of this, heard the voice in my head loud and clear, “You’ve got poison inside you, and everyone you love will be touched by it.”

It burned through my stomach as I watched her leave instead of chasing her.Then the call happened, the second phone call in my life that stopped my lungs from breathing.Except she didn’t call me; she called Charlie, which stung, but I also understood why.

She comes back in from the bathroom with items piled in her hands, walking to the bag and opening her arms as all of the things fall inside.“I’ll be outside.”I walk out of the bedroom and pull up my phone, calling Charlie, who answers after one ring.

“Hey,” I say when he answers the phone, “everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he confirms, “we just got to the bakery.”

“How’s Lucy?”I ask, looking back at the room when I hear the sound of the drawer being closed, seeing her grabbing some bras and panties.

“She’s good.Saige is here, so Everleigh wanted to know if you would mind Lucy hanging around with them and then going to their house.”

“She doesn’t have her things,” I say.“The bag is at the door.”

“I can go back and get it,” he offers.“How are things there?”

“Okay.”I turn when I see her go into her side table and take out a couple of things and tuck them in the bag.“I’m pretty sure this guy has been going through her drawers and shit, and it’s not a stranger.”

“Yeah, I think the same,” he agrees.“Spoke to my pops.”He mentions Casey.“We’re adding more eyes at the ranch, and we’ll brief everyone that we have to on Monday.”

“Got it,” I reply, then turn around when I hear the sounds of the zipper on the suitcase.“We should be heading out in a bit.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” he offers.

“Will do,” I tell him, hanging up the phone, as I watch her wheel the case out into the living room.“Is that it?”I ask as she looks around and heads to the door to grab a couple of hats that are on the hat rack, and then she picks up her two pairs of boots.

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