“Fuck,” he grunts under his breath. “She knows.”
“Knows?” I question. “What the fuck does she know?”
He doesn’t have time to respond as she already on us. “Jace King,” she yells at him as she slams her fists into his chest and tries to push him back. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” he tells her as he tries to capture her hands so she’ll stop trying to hit him.
“Babe,” Cole says as he grabs her and hoists her back away from Jace. “What the hell is going on?”
“She’s gone,” Rylee says with venom in her eyes as she stares at my best friend.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Jace grunts, clearly knowing exactly what she’s talking about, but as for me, I’m lost.
“I went over there because I hadn’t heard from her all week and she’s fucking gone. She wasn’t there,” she yells. “You did something to her.”
It’s about then I realize it’s got to be about Cami. Nothing else could possibly bring that look to Rylee’s eyes, and nothing else could make Jace look so fucking sick. Jace doesn’t respond and it’s clear something really did happen.
“Babe,” Cole says in a soothing voice, trying to calm her down. “She’s probably just busy. Maybe she was at her store. Did you check there?”
“She’s not at her store,” Rylee demands. “She’s. Gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Jace repeats in frustration.
At that, Rylee pulls a slip of paper out of her back pocket and slams it against Jace’s chest. “She’s on a fucking plane trying to get as far away from you as she possibly can.”
“Over my dead fucking body,” he grunts as he rips the note out of her fingers and instantly begins scanning through it. “Fuck.”
His hands ball into fists and the note gets scrunched up in the process. Rylee shoots forward again just narrowly slipping through Cole’s fingers and slams Jace in the chest. “What did you do to her?” she demands.
Jace lets out a frustrated groan and storms away. Rylee tries to go after him, but Cole grabs onto her arm and hoists her back while I watch in shock as Jace storm over towards his office, punches a hole through the wall and kicks his door in before grabbing the computer off his desks and launching it across his office.
“Fuck,” I cringe before noticing the note on the ground. I bend down and scoop it up. Whatever was in this note was enough to have Jace lose his fucking mind.
As I uncrumple the note, Cole pulls Rylee into his arms. “I wanted to tell her,” Rylee says into Cole’s chest.
“I know,” he murmurs as he runs his fingers down her hair and over her back. I find myself wondering what the hell she wanted to tell her that is so damn important, but it’s not my place to but in with my questions right now, and besides, there’s way too much going on to change the topic.
“She’s going to miss it,” she cries. “I need her here. I can’t do it without her.”
“She’ll be back soon,” Cole tells her. “She’s not going to miss anything.”
At that, Rylee pulls back and looks up at him. “Six months,” she tells him with a broken voice. “She’ll be gone for six months.”
“Fuck,” Cole grunts under his breath before leading her away.
With that, I look down at the note.
Rylee,
Please don’t hate me, but I kind of did something.
I knew you’d be the first to come over here and find this note so you need to know that I’m so sorry. I love you so much, but I had to do it. What I’m about to tell you, please know that it has nothing to do with you. You’re my best friend and I hate that I’m about to hurt you, but I need to do this for me.
I have to get away. My heart is hurting too much and I don’t like the person I’ve become over the past year and a half. I need to figure myself out and remember the woman I used to be. I can’t go on the way I have been, wanting and needing something I’ll never get. I love him so much, but it’s never going to happen.
I need time away from life and time away from him. I need to forget about him and the only way I’m going to do that is by leaving for a while.
I’ve booked myself accommodation for the next six months at every beach resort I could possibly find and in every beautiful city over the world. I know we talk about traveling together all the time and I’m so sorry that I’m doing it without you, but this is something I feel I need to do on my own.
I’m sure you’ve probably noticed my phone and iPad on the counter… I’m leaving them here on purpose. I don’t want to hear from him while I’m gone and I’m assuming the second he finds out I’m gone, I’ll be swamped with missed calls, messages, and emails. So, I’ve deactivated my email as well, but I’ll set up a new account when I get there to check in with you.
I know it’s a lot to ask, but while I’m gone, could you check in on Style Me Crazy every now and then to make sure the girls haven’t destroyed it?
Shit, Rylee. I know you’re mad with me but please remember that you’re my best friend and I love you with everything I’ve got.
I know this trip is spontaneous and probably not really thought through, but know that I need this more than you could possibly understand, hell, more than I even understand. I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you about this first, but I knew you’d try to change my mind and I knew that it would work.
Please remember, that Jace is one of Cole’s best friends and while I need to get space from him, you don’t. I know you well enough to know that you’re going to blame him for all of this, so take it easy on him because it was my decision to leave, not his.
So, anyway, my plane leaves in a few hours. I love you so much and I promise that I’ll check in with you as soon as I can.
Be safe.
Cami xx
Oh shit.
I consider going to Jace, but after reading that note, the guy is going to need some time to himself. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s booking a flight right now, though, it’s not like he’d know where she is or where she’s planning on going. The only information he has is that she’s gone because she needs to forget about him.
He has no way of contacting her and that fact alone would be driving him insane.
In the note, she had admitted that she loves him and I’m sure he knows that already, hell, it’s as clear as day when you look at the two of them together, but I don’t know if she has physically told him that before. It couldn’t have been easy for him to read.
With a sigh, I head back down to my office. There’s not a lot I can do for Jace right now. He needs time to come to terms with it before I can approach him and check that he’s doing ok.
I drop into my chair and neatly fold the note before sliding it into my desk drawer knowing that he’ll probably want to read it a few more times.
I let out a sigh as I lean back in my chair. I suddenly don’t have that same excited motivation that I had when we walked out of the lunchroom with our ideas on the new beginner self-defense class.
Instead, I find myself wondering how I’d react if that was Lex wanting to get away, leaving me with no form of communication and a broken heart. I’d be a fucking mess.
I don’t know when or how, but at some point over the past few months, I’ve started falling in love with her, and while the idea of sharing my life with someone is terrifying, it’s equally as exciting, and I realize, that no matter what happens, I’ll never be letting her go.
I try my best to motivate myself to get back to work, but it’s just not happening. Instead, I grab my shit and head out to the main part of the club for my own workout while thoughts on how the hell I’m going to tell Lex that I love her are swirling through my mind.
I want to do something special for her as I feel that she hasn’t had a lot of special in her life, especially over the past few years. I mean, from what I understand, she had it tough with her ex and then, of course, all those miscarriages. I can’t even begin to understand what that woul
d have been like. I’ve never been in that position, but I’d assume for a family it would be devastating.
I want to somehow give her the world, I just need to figure out how to do that.
I slide the weights onto the end of the bar and get myself in position for a chest workout. I rest my hands on the bar and take a deep breath. As I’m preparing to lift the bar, my phone vibrates in my pocket.
Saved by the bell.
I release the bar and dig through my pants until my fingers curl around the cool metal of my phone. I pull it out and see Lexi’s name across the screen and grin to myself.
I hit answer and bring the phone up to my ear. “Hey, babe. What’s up?”
Chapter 21
Luke
Her sniffle comes through the phone and the sound has me sitting straight up with my workout completely forgotten. I mean, is she crying right now? Not once in the few months that we’ve been together have I ever heard her cry.
Sure, when I told her about Iraq, there were tears in her eyes, but that was different.
“What’s going on?” I demand, desperate to know what could have possibly happened to have her in tears.
Before she’s even answered, I find myself pushing my way through the doors of Rebels Advocate in my need to get to her and make everything ok.
I hear her take a breath to try and calm herself, but the broken sound in her voice rips my heart to shreds. “Jeremy was here,” she finally tells me.
“Shit,” I grunt. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you again?”
“Yeah, he pushed me, but that’s-”
My blood boils. “I’m going to fucking kill him,” I grunt, cutting her off. How dare he lay a hand on my woman. I consider turning my truck around to go and teach the mother fucker a lesson, but she needs me right now. The lesson will have to wait.
“That’s… That’s not…” she can hardly get the words out and I feel myself straining to hear what she’s trying to tell me.
“What is it, babe?” I question as I start up my truck and peel out of the parking lot. Images are flashing through my mind of what state she could possibly be in right now. I mean, is she in shock after he hurt her? Did the fall cause her to bleed? Fuck, is she bleeding too much?
“Are you bleeding?” I rush out as the image in my head is almost too much to bear.
“No, I… I did my drip just before. I should be ok, but…” she takes another breath and lets it out. “He was threatening to take my house and I told him he’d never get his hands on anything of mine ever again. And after he pushed me into the counter, he stole my truck.”
“Shit,” I curse.
A sob rips through the phone and has me shattered inside. “I couldn’t get it back,” she tells me.
“It’s ok,” I say as I pull my truck around in an illegal U-turn. “What’s his address?”
“What?” she shrieks. “You can’t go there. I’ll call the police. They can get it.”
“Good, call the police and make a report. Now, what’s his address?” I repeat.
“Luke,” she demands.
“Babe,” I say. “I’m hanging up right now and calling Caden. I’m getting your truck back whether you like it or not. By the time I’m done talking to him, I better have a text message from you with his address. Got it?”
She lets out a deflated sigh. “Fine,” she says. “Just don’t do anything stupid.”
“I can’t promise that, babe,” I tell her. “Go get yourself checked out by a doctor. I need to know that you’re not bleeding internally.”
“I can’t,” she says. “I haven’t got a damn truck.”
Damn it.
I think it over for a second. Rylee, Cole, Jace, and Cami are all a bit busy. I’m about to take Caden. Imogen will be working. “Try giving Charli a call. She has plenty of staff. I’m sure she’ll be able to take some time away from the salon to get you checked out.”
“Ok,” she says. “Be safe.”
“Alright, babe. I’ll see you later.”
I end the call and instantly get Caden on the phone. “What’s up?” he says after the second ring.
“Dude, I’m almost back at Rebels. Lexi’s truck was just stolen by her ex. I’m going after it.”
“I’ll meet you out the front.”
Sure enough, thirty seconds later, I pull up by the doors of Rebels Advocate and Caden instantly gets straight into my truck. “Where are we headed?” he asks, as I step on the gas.
“Here,” I say, handing my phone over so he can read the address on the text that just came through from Lex.
“Oh yeah,” he says. “I know this area. It’s about a half hour drive.”
I’m not sure how much of a head start her ex has got, but I’m assuming he’s driving fast. Caden points out where the hell I should be going and I fill him in on everything that just went down with Cami and Jace.
We navigate right to the fucker’s front door and I cringe at the house. It looks as though it hasn’t been looked after or cleaned in years. The lawn is overgrown, the paint is coming off. There’s a fucking hole in the deck and bottles are scattered all over the place.
I find myself wondering if this is the house Lex lived in when they were together, but then put the thought to the back of my mind. I don’t want to know. I have more important things to be worrying about right now.
Lexi’s truck is sitting in the middle of the overgrown lawn and I find myself pulling up right beside it. It’s clear the fucker is here and I try my best to reign in my anger as I hop out of my truck.
Caden and I walk straight up to the front door and I kick it in, not bothering with the formalities. After all, I’m assuming he barged his way into Lexi’s home like he did the previous time, so why shouldn’t I do the same thing?
Jeremy sits on his lazy ass with a beer in hand and the second we walk through the door. He flies to his feet. “Hey,” he yells. “Get the fuck out.” As he turns and looks at us properly, he starts to recognize me. His eyes widen before a scowl sets itself into his features. “You can’t be in here.”
“I can be where ever the fuck I want to be,” I tell him. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s your fucking choice, but no matter what, I’m not leaving without that truck.”
“It’s my fucking truck now,” he spits.
“I guess you’re going with the hard way.”
As I walk towards him, Caden takes off in a different direction probably to see if there’s anyone else in the house or if Lexi’s keys have been put down anywhere, though, I have a feeling they’re right here in the fucker’s pocket. He isn’t about to put them down. He’s probably proud of the fact that he’s taken something from her. Proud of the fact that he couldn’t be stopped. But that’s not going to last for long. The fucker is about to learn that Lex is a woman he can no longer mess around with. She’s not his anymore. She’s mine.
I walk toward him and the closer I get, the further he narrows his eyes on me. “Just fucking try it,” he says as though a scrawny twig like him has got any chance against me, a trained fighter and a soldier.
Yeah right.
I scoff as I get closer and the sound has the anger bubbling up inside him. The second I get close enough, he swings. It’s predictable and sloppy as shit.
In one easy move, I grab his arm, twist it up behind his back and slam the fucker into the wall. “Now, you’ve got something that belongs to my girl,” I tell him.
“Fuck you,” he spits with his face smooshed against the wall.
I pull him back just a tiny bit so I can slam him against the wall again. I tighten my grip on him and grin at the fact that with one tiny flick of my fingers, I could snap his wrist like a fucking twig. “Tell me, Jeremy. Do you enjoy hurting defenseless women?”
“I didn’t hurt nobody,” he says.
“So, Lex was lying when she said you pushed her into the counter,” I scoff.
“I didn’t fucking touch her,” he snarls.
“Yo
u see,” I say. “The issue here is that Lex can’t lie about it. The proof is all over her body. You should know better than that. You were fucking married to her.”
“I’m still married to her. She’s my fucking wife and I’ll do what I please with her.”
I slam him against the wall again, purely for the fact that I don’t like hearing that they’re technically still married. “She’s your wife by a technicality. She doesn’t love you. She can’t stand the sight of your pathetic face. She’s my fucking woman, and the second she can, she’ll be severing every damn tie she has to you.”
“She’ll come running back,” he promises. “That little slut can’t resist me.”
Nope. There’s a lot of shit I can handle, but hearing another man call my girl a slut is more than I can take. I pull him off the wall and in one quick move, my fist comes arching up into his stomach.
The fucker doubles over with a groan and falls to his feet before throwing up the contents of his stomach all over the dirty carpet. I scoff at the sight. He’s fucking pathetic.
I walk around his living room as he crouches on the ground on his hands and knees, hurling up every last drop.
I walk by his television and see something with Lexi’s name on it. Its covered in food scraps and had rings all over it from where drinks have been put down and spilled. I pick it up and dust it off before making my way back over to Jeremy.
Caden appears from a hallway and shakes his head. “I got nothing,” he tells me.
I nod. I didn’t expect him to find the keys in this shithole anyway and that knowledge has me grabbing Jeremy by the scruff of his shirt and hoisting him to his feet. “Where are the fucking keys?”
“I don’t have them,” he spits.
Well, that’s a load of shit. The fucking thing is parked just outside the window. My fist comes up and slams into his stomach for a second time. He gasps for air, but I don’t release him. I’ve had enough of this place already and I’m ready to get the fuck out of here. “Where are Lexi’s keys?” I demand again.
Luke: Rebels Advocate (Book 3) Page 15