Chapter 74: Wrong Number Aftermath: Hannah

Leslie immediately locked his arms around both Lori and me and hustled back to the car. My mind didn’t really process any of it. I was floating somewhere above the entire situation, not feeling attached or connected to it in any way. It felt so weird and unreal. Was I in shock? Was this what shock felt like? I didn’t know, and there was no way for me to vocalize what it was that I was feeling to ask for help. I let Leslie shove Lori and me inside the car and peel out of the parking lot.

"Are you okay?" Lori asked me frantically.

She grabbed my face and analyzed me, as if she would be able to see and diagnose any trauma that may have been filling my head at that moment. When I didn’t reply, she took to inspecting every square inch of my exposed skin.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked.

"I’m fine, Lori," I muttered.

Her hands squeezed the sides of my head as she stared me in the eye. "How could you possibly be okay?! Someone just tried to run you over with their car!" Lori exclaimed.

I could see the wild panic in her eyes. It was her that wasn’t okay. I could tell she wanted to cry from the shock and fright of it all, but she was pouring all of that emotion into me. She wanted to comfort me; she wanted me to be freaking out so we could comfort one another.

I just... wasn’t. I was numb.

We pulled one another in a hug at the same time. I squeezed her tightly. "I’m so sorry that happened," I whispered to her. "I’m going to make sure one of the guards stays with you at all times until this is sorted out."

"You’re worried about me?" Lori scoffed. "Hannah, I wasn’t the one who was just about killed! Are you kidding?"

"No, I’m not. I want to make sure you’re safe and sound. We will figure everything out," I assured her.

She pulled back and held me at arm’s length, her eyes once again raking over me with worry. "Are you sure you’re okay?" she asked, her voice soft and almost pleading.

"I will be," I nodded. I bit my lip then. "Can you promise me something? Don’t say anything to Lauren or Kristin yet about what happened. I need to process and talk to Roman about it."

There was a good bit of hesitance, but she eventually nodded. "Of course. If you don’t want me to, then I won’t."

I let out a breath of relief and relaxed in my seat. My eyes went out the window and watched the city slip by as we headed back to the house. For the first time in a while, my thoughts were silent. It was kind of scary, but it was nice. I didn’t want to feel overwhelmed and all over the place. I just wanted time to let it hit me. It hadn’t yet, and I wasn’t exactly in a rush for it.

When we got back to the house, I quickly parted ways and headed up to our bedroom. I wasn’t sure why, but I automatically began undressing and heading for the shower. Maybe it was my body taking control, needing a way to decompress after the weird and strangely eventful day.

Stepping into the shower, I turned the water on just as hot as it could go and found myself sinking down to the floor of the shower underneath the stream. My knees moved to my chest and I hugged them.

The evening came back to me in flashes. The smile on Lori’s face as she pointed out the ice cream shop. The squealing tires. The threat. My heart was beating so hard that I leaned back against the wall to let the water pour down over my chest in hopes it would somehow help me calm down.

I closed my eyes and focused on breathing. It was all I could think to do.

I had known for a while that it was a real possibility that people wanted to hurt us, but I guess it had never felt real until then. Maybe it was always going to take an actual attempt on my life for it to hit me.

Someone actually wanted me dead. Me. I had never done anything of note in my life other than be the overly sheltered daughter of a Macalaster. All because I was participating in a little justice on people who were getting rich by selling people.

I guess it was bound to happen. It was always a possibility. This was just how life was. That had to be okay—well, not okay. It had to be accepted and handled proactively. Same thing, right?

I groaned and let out a long, heavy breath. I didn’t know what to do.

It was time to let Roman know what was going on.

Turning off the water, I took my sweet time getting out of the shower, drying myself off, and throwing on a big t-shirt and panties. Tying my hair up so not to deal with it, I sat down on the bed and stared at my cellphone.

I should go ahead and get it out of the way; bite the bullet, pull the bandaid off.

I just didn’t want to upset him and I knew he was going to be. How could he not? Hell, we both needed to be upset. I was just struggling to process the heavy reality of it all. I was beginning to realize that I was dreading the call because telling him would make it real. Talking about it would make it real. Things weren’t getting better as we had hoped from the results of the raid. The craziness would continue.

Sucking in a breath, I lifted my phone and dialed his number before raising it to my ear.

"Hey, hun," he greeted. "Sorry it’s taking a while, but—"

"I have to tell you what happened while Lori and I were out," I blurted, needing to get it out before I lost the nerve.

He was silent for a minute, and then he muttered, "Okay. Is everything okay?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

I shook my head before I realized he couldn’t see. "No. I... When we went to leave the shopping center, someone tried to run me over. I wish I could say it was an accident, but I’ve been getting weird calls all day. The woman in the car shouted at me and it was the same voice."

"Oh my god," he whispered, sounding like he was struggling to speak and maybe even breathe. "A-are you okay? Is Lori okay? Where are you?"

"I’m fine," I assured him. "I promise. Everyone is okay. Leslie got us out of the way and got us home. I asked them not to say anything yet, I needed a bit to process... And I wanted to be the one to tell you. I’m sorry that I didn’t wait for you to get home but—"

"Don’t be sorry," he urged. "I’m glad you called. I—I," he was stammering and trying to talk, but he was struggling. "I don’t know what I would have done with myself if anything had happened to you, Hannah. I don’t."

"Well, we don’t have to worry about that right now. I’m okay," I reminded him.

"Yes," he breathed. "But someone out there wants you dead."

There was silence then. While I had been aware of that all along since the moment it happened, hearing him say it made it feel too real. Hearing the emotion in his voice, the panic and anguish, made it all finally sink in. I had been a moment away from death—and until the person was caught, I was going to always be near it.

"I don’t know what to do," I whispered, tears pooling in my eyes.

God, why did things have to be so dark and serious all the time? Why couldn’t life be normal for just a day? A single day, to get a break from it all before returning to it. Even our spa day—while the hours spent with the women in the house had been lovely, it had still been a day overshadowed by Court’s arrest and news of the raid.

This was our life now, and we had been the ones to make it that way. My breathing hitched. I brought my knees to my chest.

"Don’t panic," Roman cooed. "It’s going to be okay. I promise you that. I’ll be on my way home shortly. Just stay in the room. Are the guards all accounted for?"

"I think so," I mumbled, struggling to talk with my bottom lip quivering.

"Stay put. I’ll be there soon. I love you, Hannah. Everything will be fine," he said.

The way he said it, it was in hopes of comforting me, but also himself. He was trying to convince himself that life would go on and normalcy would one day be reached.

While I appreciated the effort, I was no longer convinced by that sentiment.