Page 126 of Renegade Rift

The more I scan the article, the worse it gets.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The details are all wrong, but the message is clear.

I look up at Mercer and thank God there’s nothing but understanding in his eyes.

“Go, we’ll catch up later.”

“Yeah, okay.” I fumble, my hands searching to make sure my phone and wallet are in my pockets. “You with us on the away series tomorrow?”

“No. I’ll be training here at home, but won’t officially start with the team until next season.”

“Wait what? I thought?—”

“Go, we’ll talk about it later.”

“I—” Shit. I want to be here for Mercer and figure everything out and be the one to welcome him to the Renegades, but also Juliet needs me, and I?—

“Go, Ford.” Mercer’s hands grip my shoulders, and he spins me toward the door. “I’ll be here when you get back from Philly.”

By some miracle I manage to grab a cab without any issues, and the entire ride home, all I can do is silently chant the same three things over and over again.

Get home to Juliet.

Make sure she’s okay.

Fix this.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

FORD

Dread consumes every inch of my body as I wait for the elevator to deliver me to the seventeenth floor. Thoughts of what I’m going to find sprint through my mind like a marathon runner.

Has she seen the article yet?

Is she freaking out?

What if she wants to leave over this?

She claimed me as her family in the cemetery. And I’ve claimed her as so much more since then. She wouldn’t just throw that away, would she?

Fuck.

I rub my sternum with a shaky hand. It does nothing to alleviate the weight that’s settled there or the way my heart thunders against my ribcage.

Logic tells me I’m on the cusp of a panic attack, but I won’t let myself go there.

I can’t.

Juliet needs me.

I need to fix this.

I couldn’t care less whatThe Foul Linesays about me, but when it comes to Juliet, I won’t stand for anything less than the truth. And even then, to the public, the truth will look like I swooped in as soon as Tyler died and stole his wife.

Which maybe I did. But that was never my intention.

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