Chapter Forty-Two

“Where are we?” Nina asked. Her sleepy eyes half open, she scanned the area.

They had been on the road for about five hours, interrupted only by a frustrating forty-five minutes as Rory exchanged their busted-up rental car for another. The near disaster with Creed had left him on edge through the entire day. Thankfully, nothing else had happened as they’d made their way to Little Rock, Arkansas.

They’d had an early lunch that had taken longer than expected. Thyra had started an argument about wanting to go shopping again. The scene hadn’t been pretty, but he’d refused to give an inch and told her in no uncertain terms to get in the damn car.

He was dead tired, and somewhat resentful toward the woman who had spent the majority of the ride sleeping peacefully.

“We’re in the outskirts of Little Rock,” he answered with little grace. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

He immediately recognized Octavia’s lilting accent and gave a mental sigh of relief. It was hard to stay mad at Octavia.

Yawning, he tried to stretch within the small confines of the car but failed. It had been a hell of a long day.

Beside him, she studied his taut expression. “You look about ready for a break, querido.”

No shit, he thought grumpily.

Across the street was a takeout place that was going to have to do for their dinner. “Let’s go and see what they’ve got. I need caffeine, or I’ll pass out. Then we’ll look for a hotel.”

“A nice one this time, please. I want to take a hot bath,” she told him, the hopeful tone drawing his gaze back to her face, fearing that Thyra had returned. But Octavia looked back at him, her guileless eyes meeting his straight on.

He relented. “Okay, fine. A nice one.”