Chapter 38
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
MATTEO
“ B oss,” Rob answers on the first ring.
“I’m on my way back from Wren’s apartment. How is she doing?” I ask as I turn the corner sharply.
I try to contain my laugh as I hear Rob’s dramatic sigh. I already know what he’s about to say. “She spent all day out by that stupid fucking pool again. I thought I was going to have a heat stroke.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” Fuck. The thought of Wren out by the pool with a bikini on sends me spiraling. What kind does she wear? String? Thong? Maybe a sexy one-piece that has little cutouts designed to drive a man to his knees. I need to remember to watch the cameras when she’s not around.
“I wouldn’t have to be so dramatic if she did things in the air conditioning. I’m too old to be sweating my ass off like this,” Rob grumbles.
“Like you aren’t getting paid to fucking do it,” I respond. “Everything else went okay though? ”
“Yeah. It was a pretty relaxing day otherwise. Oh, wait…” Rob hesitantly trails off, making me tense.
“What?”
“She is a little upset currently. At you.”
“What did I do?” I haven’t even seen her since this morning. I swear this woman is fucking crazy.
“She wanted to go get more of her stuff and then got pissed when I told her no. She stormed off after.”
“Wren doesn’t like to be told no.” She’s a stubborn thing. “I’ll be there in ten.” I don’t wait for him to respond before I hang up.
The high I had on the ride home from the anticipation of being greeted by Wren was killed immediately when I realized she wasn’t anywhere in the fucking house. In fact, she wasn’t on the grounds at all.
So you can imagine my shock when I checked the cameras and saw that little wench on the cameras sneaking out and walking right down the driveway.
“I’m sorry, Boss. I swear I didn’t know she left. The alarm didn’t even go off,” Rob says as he sits across from me in my office, looking nervous. As he fucking should be.
“The alarm didn’t go off because it wasn’t fucking set,” I grit out through clenched teeth.
Rob’s always been a reliable guy. Loyal to a fault. Keeps to himself outside of business. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever even heard him talk about a woman in his life. On paper, he’s perfect for this world, which is why I trusted him with Wren’s safety. I never expected him to be the type of guy that gets distracted by a stupid fucking baseball game .
Rob visibly swallows. “I must have forgotten to set it again when we came back in from laying out by the pool.”
“Yeah, you must have,” I mock, resting my fists on the desk as I lean toward him. “You better fucking hope I find her. And once I find her, you better fucking pray that there isn’t a single hair out of place on her head. Because if there is Rob, so help me god, I will fucking end you. But not before Gio has the chance to play, too.”
“Understood.” Rob nods quickly. “I’ll start looking for her.”
“No,” I say sharply, watching Rob tense up. “I think you’ve done enough for tonight. You’re dismissed.”
I wait until I watch Rob leave the house entirely on the monitor before I pull out a burner phone to call Cain.
“Were your ears ringing?” is what Cain greets me with.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I was just talking about you with Scotch.” Cain laughs. “Isn’t that what they say? I know it’s something fucking stupid like that.”
“Will you just get to the point?” I snap. My patience is wearing very thin tonight. The longer I don’t know where Wren is, the more pissed off, and on edge I become.
“Oh, we’re testy tonight. What’s wrong? Did Wren finally wise up and dump your stupid ass?”
“No,” I grunt. “She just… stepped out for the night.”
Cain’s laughter booms through the phone. “Meaning she fucking left your ass. Good. She can do way better than you anyway.”
“You have two seconds to tell me what the fuck you were talking about before I come over there and shoot you in the fucking dick.”
“You can’t do that to Evan, man. We have a bath planned tonight,” Cain says as his laughter dies down. “Wren is part of the reason we were talking about you. ”
“What happened?” If her ass is at the clubhouse, I’m going to lose my shit.
“Christos Galanis. You heard of him?”
“Briefly. What do you know?”
“Meet me tomorrow at the clubhouse, and we’ll talk. We saw him lurking around Wren’s,” Cain grunts out. “She actually good, though?”
Fuck.
The last thing I need to do is start a war with the fucking Greeks, but if any face is worth starting a war over, it’s Wren’s.
“I need you to ask Wiz to hack the street cameras by my house and let me know where Wren went. If he can follow her on cameras, that would make my life a lot fucking easier right now.”
“What did you fucking do?” Cain’s voice hardens. “I told you if you hurt her, I’m coming for you.”
“I’d like to see you fucking try.” I laugh without humor. “I didn’t do anything. She wanted to go to her place, but Rob wouldn’t let her. I’m assuming she left on her own just to defy me.” I’m really starting to think she gets a rise out of making me lose my goddamn mind.
“That does sound like Wren,” Cain concedes. “Call you back when I have something. Same number?”
“Yeah,” I say before disconnecting.
I last all of two seconds waiting for Cain to call me back before I’m speeding toward the other side of the city. Normally, I wouldn’t give two shits. I’ve never cared about what happens to a woman. But the thought of something happening to Wren? I would burn this fucking city to the ground .
I’m almost to The Drip when the burner rings. “You better have her location.”
“She walked into The Drip five minutes ago,” Cain answers right before I disconnect.
Whipping my car into a spot right out front, I kill the engine and sit for a second, watching Wren through the store windows.
I want to wring her fucking neck for sending me spiraling like this. If I’m being honest, I don’t even think I could do it if she betrayed the family. Those bright blue eyes that feel like they’re staring deep into my soul every time they look at me have wormed their way into a permanent place in my heart. So permanent that I know there will never be someone who can even come close to holding a candle to Wren.
Thinking I’m calm enough to go to her, I finally climb out of the car. She seems tense as if she's been on just as much of an edge tonight as I have.
Did you know I would chase you, tesoro? Are you afraid of your punishment?
The bell on the door chimes as it closes behind me. Wren stays facing the front of the line, but there’s no mistaking it’s her. I would recognize that long, thick raven hair anywhere. It’s going to feel so soft on my thighs tonight when I make her ride my cock to remind her who her knight is.
I step in line behind her. The sweet scent of citrus, apple, and bamboo surrounds me, making me feel right at home. With as much as this scent makes me feel at home, sometimes being home just pisses you the fuck off.
“I thought I told you not to leave the house without a man on you.” My voice whips out harsher than I originally planned. Maybe I didn’t actually calm down enough, if her tense body language is anything to go by.
And then what does this crazy bitch do ?
She pays.
I swear she was placed on this earth just to fucking test me. If Rob did his job correctly, I wouldn’t even be here right now listening to Wren mouth off. No, I would be at home, in my bed with Wren, fucking her brains out in a form of gratitude for officially moving in.
The last straw is when she struts out of The Drip like I wasn’t even there. I know I shouldn’t have grabbed her arm like I did, but my tesoro should know by now not to disobey me. Wren makes me all kinds of fucking crazy.
It’s cute that she thinks some random person walking by in this city has the balls to stand up to me. She should know by now that I wouldn’t hesitate to cut off their fucking hand for touching what is mine.
I should have known she wouldn’t willingly get in the fucking car because why on earth would Wren Barlowe make anything in my life easier?
“God fucking damnit!” I yell as I look up at the sound of the passenger door slamming shut and footsteps taking off. It takes a moment for the shock of what just happened to wear off as I watch Wren’s sweet ass disappear in the opposite direction.
By the time I catch up to her, I’m close to a mile from my car. She was definitely holding back on our run from a couple of weeks ago because I don’t remember her being this fucking fast.
And that’s just adding to my anger. Not only do I have to chase her down, but I have to do it at night when any fucking psycho could just snatch her off the street. She, out of anyone, should know the shadows follow you.
Like I am right now.
Her situational awareness is severely lacking because she doesn’t let out that sweet scream I’ve been craving ever since she pissed me off until my arms are wrapped around her, caging her in. Her kicks and punches just fuel me as I throw her over my shoulder before turning around and heading back toward the car at a lazy pace.
Every punch to my back makes my dick ache. Every time that stupid cat ring that she wears cuts into my skin, it makes me think about her nails racking down my back as I plow into her tight cunt.
The ride home feels like it takes forever, and the sexual tension is worse than it was after our date. Just when I don’t think it can possibly get better with her, it does. Makeup sex with her is about to be out of this fucking world. I have never been with someone this crazy that can meet me tit for tat.
I wouldn’t put it past her that she would slash my tires, the crazy fucking bitch.
She’s the only woman on this earth who can make me want to kill her, as I willingly follow her into our house with a smile on my face.
It’s time to pay her dues.