Chapter Seventeen
For the next five hours, the small bedroom became my entire world.
Jake had left just before noon, locking the door securely behind him. Before he walked out, he had checked the window locks, drawn the heavy curtains to block the view from the courtyard, and placed his spare tactical knife on the nightstand.
"Keep it close," he had growled softly, his thumb tracing my jaw one last time. "I'll be back before dark."
Now, the room was filled with long, quiet shadows as the afternoon sun began to dip behind the tree line outside. I sat on the edge of the bed, wearing his massive black hoodie, my fingers restlessly tracing the edge of the bandage on my left palm. Every creak of the old floorboards in the hallway made me jump. Every distant rumble of a motorcycle engine in
