Fourteen.
Ethan
The instant I crossed the threshold, a chill ran down my spine. Something was off. The house was silent.
Too silent.
“Ashlee,” I called out.
Nothing.
I went into the front room expecting to find her with Luna, but I only found the black kitten asleep on an empty sofa.
“Where are you, Ash?” I murmured to myself. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
I walked to the bottom of the stairs, calling out for her again and being met with silence.
I released a growl as I went into the kitchen, my phone already in my hand ready to call her or Mags. Maybe she went to see him. And then I saw it, the handwritten note on the counter.
Ethan,
Please forgive me, but Hannah and Grace asked me to come out tonight. I need a girls night out, so I've gone. We're only going to have a catch up and some drinks in a club.
I'm sorry that I'm telling you this way, but I know that you won't understand. I can't be caged, and I'm feeling it. I need to go out and be free.
Please don’t worry.
I love you.
Ashlee.
My fist clenched around the letter, crumpling the paper as my heart pounded. Rage? No, what surged through me was a sharp, bitter disappointment. How could she not trust me enough to share this? The betrayal cut deep, a wound I hadn't expected.
How was I caging her? I'd given her everything. She was my fucking wife, not my captive.
I released a growl as I slammed my fist on the counter.
I dialled her number, but when it went to voicemail, I began to worry.
I hung up and called Mags.
“Ethan?”
“I need you to come over.”
“What’s happened?”
“Please, I don’t know what to do.”
“Coming right now,” he replied.
I dialled Ashlee's phone again after he hung up, once again going to voicemail. “Ashlee, please baby, just tell me where you are. Call or message me. Let me know that you’re okay.”
I was beginning to panic. Was she purposely ignoring me or had something happened?
It didn’t take long for Mags to enter the room, his eyebrows drawn in concern. “What’s happened?”
I held the letter out to him.
After he read it, he frowned. “Fuck, have you rang her?”
“She’s either ignoring me, or something has happened.”
He nodded. “I’ll track her phone.”
I'd forgotten that he could do that. “Please. I just need to know that she's okay.”
It took him a few minutes, and then his frown deepened. “Her phone's here.”
“What?”
“She must have left it.”
I rushed upstairs, storming into our bedroom, and sure enough, I found her phone sitting on the side
“Fuck,” I roared.
It took every ounce of control to not throw it across the room. Mags was still in the kitchen when I went down, his eyes showing how worried he was about her.
“Do you have her friends numbers?”
“What?” I frowned.
“Hannah and Grace, can you call them?”
“Oh, I have Hannah's number,” I said.
I pressed dial, letting out a frustrated groan when it went to voicemail. I typed out a message hoping that she'd reply.
After a few more failed attempts, I threw my phone onto the counter. “How could she do this to us? I've given her everything and she's saying that she feels trapped.”
“Ethan, I don’t think she meant it like that.”
“Then like what?” I snapped. “She wrote that she's feeling caged.”
“Well, she hasn't been out since we got back. She's always with one of us.”
“Why couldn't she have just spoken to me? I would have arranged something for her, because I'm not trapping her. She has the freedom to do whatever she wants, but I just need to know that she's safe. She needs to take some precautions whether she likes it or not.”
“Ethan, I'm sure she's fine. She was probably just scared of you saying no,” Mags said softly.
“She could have spoken to me,” I mumbled. “Her happiness is everything to me. She's everything to me.”
Mags released a sigh. “She’ll be back later. I'll wait with you.”
He poured us both a drink and we sat in silence waiting. I tried ringing Hannah a few more times, but she was either not receiving my calls and messages, or they were ignoring me.
I wasn't sure what was worse. I just wanted to know that my wife was safe. Why couldn’t they understand that?
I was lost to my thoughts and Mags left me to it when my phone suddenly rang. I couldn’t grab it fast enough, my eyes lighting up when I saw Hannah's name across the screen.
“Hannah, where are you? Where's my wife? Put Ash on.”
“Ethan, fuck, you need to get here now,” her panicked voice sounded.
I felt the colour draining from my skin. “Hannah, I need you to slow down. Tell me what's happened? Where's Ashlee?”
“That's the fucking problem, I don’t know.”
“What?” I hissed.
“They took her, some Russian guy took her. He had a gun, forced her into the car and nobody tried to stop him. He knew who she was.”
“Fuck,” I cursed. “Where are you?”
“Outside Hooligans club. We were about to call for a cab home.”
“Fucking Hooligans,” I shouted. “What the fuck are you thinking? That's on the edge of their land!”
“Ethan, we didn’t know.”
“Which is why she should have spoken to me!” I roared.
“Hey, I didn’t know she didn’t talk to you before she turned up at mine. Just get here, okay. We don’t know what to do.”
“Fine, we're coming.” I hung up and ran my hand through my hair.
“Ethan, what's happened?” Mags asked.
“The Volkovs have Ashlee. They turned up outside the club with a gun and forced her into a car.”
“Where were they? Please don't say Hooligans.”
“That's the fucking problem. They went there.”
“For fuck's sake,” Mags snapped.
“Hannah and Grace are waiting for us there, let’s go. I'll call Ro in the car.” We needed help if we had any chance of getting Ashlee back in one piece.
Rage burned through me as I thought of my wife. Disappointment didn't even begin to cover it. If she'd just spoken to me, I could have told her that Hooligans was outside our territory. My fury wasn't directed at her, though. It was aimed at myself. Whatever the hell I had done to make her feel caged had driven her to leave like that.
I was livid.
I dialled Ro's number while Mags drove us towards the club. By all rights, we shouldn't be going anywhere near there, but the girls needed us.
“Ethan?”
“Ro, we need you to meet us at Hooligans.”
“What the fuck for?”
“Because the girls thought it was a good idea to go clubbing there without telling anyone. The Volkovs have taken Ashlee. Hannah and Grace are still there.”
“Are they okay?”
My eyebrows drew together at his concern for them. “Ro, Ashlee's been taken,” I growled.
“Right, yes, I'm coming now.”
I hung up and closed my eyes. This was a fucking disaster.
“She’ll be okay, Ethan. She's survived everything so far.”
“I can't help blaming myself for this. What did I do wrong for her to not trust me enough to talk to me?”
“This isn't anyone’s fault, pal. She didn't come to me either.”
“Then why has this happened? So much for this marriage going as well as I thought it was,” I mumbled.
Mags released a sigh. “We’ll get her back, Ethan.”
I prayed that he was right because I would never forgive myself if something happened. There would be no point in me living anymore without her by my side.