Chapter 26
While my father steals glances at me and tries to engage me in conversation, I grow more restless by the minute. It’s been two hours already. I sent Bailey three texts, but they all remained unanswered. Fuck it all. Standing up from the armchair in the living room, I pace by the window before coming to an abrupt stop. “I have to go.”
“Hunter.” My father pronounces my name with authority, and I cock my head at him. I can’t pinpoint the look on his face, and that makes me even more nervous.
I squint at him. “Do you know something?”
He avoids my gaze. “I… it’s a very delicate situation.”
Unease runs rampant through me. I cup my neck and snap. “Well, bloody tell me already.”
He purses his lips. “Cassandra asked for my discretion.”
Fucking perfect. You do not disregard the matriarch’s wishes.
“I’ll find out on my own,” I say, not bothering to say goodbye as I get in my car and speed up the hill. It’s not Samuel who answers the door but someone else from the staff.
“Mister Prescott.”
I try to regulate my tone but fail as I ask through gritted teeth, “Where is Bailey?”
“Miss Fairchild is not here. And neither is Miss Langley.”
What the fuck is happening here?
Raking a hand through my hair in frustration, I go back to my car, anxiety messing with my head like nothing else.
Split, I watch the tracker, seeing she’s in town, and from the address, she’s at her parents’ place. If they even think of hurting her, they’re going to get acquainted with a side of me that only waits to unleash on those assholes.
Trying to calm down, I tell myself she’s fine. That she will call me and recount everything. Heading back to campus, I park my car and check my phone again, but there’s still no reply.
Shoving it into my jacket, I shut the door behind me and march straight to the bar with six pairs of eyes following me.
“What’s wrong?” my sister inquires, her voice laced with concern, while Celine tilts her head, studying my face.
Pouring myself a tumbler, I down it in one go, but that doesn’t help ease my frayed nerves. “Bailey isn’t answering my texts. All I know is that she’s visiting her parents with Cassandra.”
As I watch Celine, her brows knit together, and she sighs. “I’m sorry. Mom didn’t tell me anything.”
“What the fuck is it now?” Blake asks in a harsh tone.
“These fucking secrets,” grumbles Dane.
Abi taps her chin, deep in thought. “Hmm. It must be big.”
I have no fucking idea, but it drives me insane.
“Calm down. Cassandra knows what she’s doing, and I trust her judgment. Bailey will come back, and she’ll tell us everything,” Kaden says. It’s like he and Cassandra have an ongoing plan to support each other. I guess with their roles, they must.
A slight consolation is that we vowed never to keep life-changing secrets from one another. Transparency is how we’ll lead the legacy of the Family. We can only do that when there are no secrets.
Celine pats the spot next to her, and I drop on the couch, anguish weighing me down. She places a hand on my thigh in silent support. Her touch has never bothered me because ever since she appeared in my life, I have seen her as just another member of my family.
“If she’s with Mom, nothing will happen to her.”
That doesn’t help me calm down, either. If I am not there to see that Bailey’s fine, nothing will help. Torn between just driving there and assuring myself she’s okay, and waiting for her return, I remain seated.
The first thing Cassandra did when she took the reins was ask the group if they wanted the chips implanted during their initiations removed. Kaden, Abi, and Blake hopped on the opportunity. I think it was a stupid decision. If something happens to one of us, it would be the easiest way to find each other. Apparently, they felt too violated.
There’s not even a sliver of guilt at keeping that one secret. It involves my woman, and I will not lose her. But this is the perfect moment to knock some sense into them.
“About the chips.”
“What about them?” Kaden asks, pinning me with a hard stare as if we had this talk, and once was enough. I can’t let it rest, though.
“If we were all chipped, we would know where Bailey is right now. Instead of sitting around like a bunch of incompetent assholes, worrying our asses off.”
The silence that falls over the group encourages me to continue. “We should all get chipped.”
Blake’s brows almost shoot to his hairline. “What the fuck, man?”
“Our asses are a hot commodity. Those two bastards made sure of that. We’re not safe in the shadows anymore like we used to be. We’ll be in the public eye, leading the companies of the Family.”
“Hunter’s not wrong,” Celine says, and I’ve never appreciated her siding with me more than I do right now.
Blake crosses his arms over his chest, his features stoic. “It’s a power tool potential enemies could use against us.”
“By fucking who, if we’re the only ones who know? It would give us some peace of mind. We went through too much shit already to let the past define us. We’re changing the rules, aren’t we?” I insist, knowing deep in my bones that this is the right thing to do to ensure our continued safety.
Abi shares a look with Dane. “If I think about it, I wouldn’t mind that extra security measure.”
I watch my sister and Blake, waiting for their input.
“I’d rather avoid a repeat of what happened to us,” Mia says softly, and Blake pulls her to his side.
Kaden rises to his feet. “Fine.” His gaze sweeps over each of us, lingering on me for a moment longer. “I will agree under one condition. This information will never leave this room. And I want the chips programmed to monitor our vitals—all the damn time.”
He won’t hear me complaining.
“What about Bailey?” I ask.
“Bailey listens to the voice of reason, and she’ll be the one who will program them.”
Feeling a little lighter, I nod as I head to her room. Her scent envelops me, but it does little to help ease me. Love comes with worrying and missing someone, even if it’s only been hours. While I hate feeling so damn crippled, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Time passes in a blur of unease as I pace around, watching the dot on the tracker moving. By the time I drop down in Bailey’s chair, the sun has long since set, my phone clasped in my hand.
Soon, she’ll be here, and everything will be all right once again.
There’s a knock on the door, and when I whip my head in that direction, Kaden steps inside.
He stares at my phone. “Where is she?”
I don’t want to pretend and don’t even care that he knows, but I’m still curious to see what happens next.
“Hunter, I know my team. I was sure you’d put a chip in Bailey the moment we had ours removed. I would cross every damn boundary to keep Celine safe too.”
“Did you?”
“I’m watching over her 24/7, but maybe a chip will help curb my constant concern.”
I can’t call him a damn creep because I am the same way.
“While my responsibility lies with the Family, Celine is my priority. So, I am asking you. Who would you choose?”
“Bailey,” I answer, not even pretending to think about my answer.
“Duty is one thing. Love is another. There’s only a perfect match when they serve the one you can’t live without.”
An understanding passes between us, and when I see the dot finally moving, I say, “They’re going back to the estate.”
He tips his chin in a strained nod. “Good. Soon, we’ll know what the fuck is happening here.”
Kaden walks to the door and says over his shoulder, “Tell her the truth. Secrets just create an unnecessary strain in the relationship.”
“You would know.”
“I learned my lesson. Learn yours before you fuck up.”
With that, he leaves, and exhaustion presses down heavy on me, but the bed holds no appeal without her. Nothing does. Everything feels so insipid, and time drags by so slowly it’s as if it stops to enjoy my turmoil.
When my phone pings with a text, my heart races, pounding in my ears, almost deafening me. The relief that floods me when I see her name has me dropping on the edge of the bed.
I’ll never stop loving you, but I need some time alone. Please understand. I’m so sorry.
All the life drains from me as I read her text. What the fuck am I missing here?
My fingers fly over the keyboard. What happened?
Fuck texting. I press the call button, but it rings four times before she finally picks up. The silence that greets me delivers a sucker punch to my gut, stealing all my breath.
“Bailey, angel, talk to me.” I can hear my own desperation loud and clear, just like I can hear her muffled sounds and her shuddery breaths. “Fuck this. I’m on my way.”
“Please. No. If I see you, I can’t do what I must do.”
I don’t fucking like the sound of that at all.
“Can you promise me something?” she whispers, her voice barely audible.
Gulping, I say without a second thought, “Anything.”
She sniffles. “Don’t hate me. I love you so much, Hunter. I wish… It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry.”
When the call disconnects, the phone slips from my hand and crashes to the floor. The sound resonates with the abrupt shift, leaving me desolate. With my face buried in my palms, I ponder what could have happened. But the muffled voices outside the door pull me out of my catatonic state.
Blake and Mia are in the hallway. My sister is dressed for bed in matching shorts and a top, while Blake looks ready to go out. I thought he’d stopped fighting. He casts a look my way before kissing my sister and heading downstairs.
When my sister notices me, her expression falters. She swallows hard, opening and closing her mouth as if searching for the right words.
Why is everyone acting so damn strange? My mind races with possibilities, each one more unsettling than the last.
“What is it?” I ask in a rough tone, losing my patience.
“Bailey called Blake.”
Three words that sever my heart from my chest, the organ beating its last tudum, tudum on the floor. I lean against the wall to support myself. She wants his presence, but not mine.
“Hunter,” Mia says, approaching me, trying to console me, but there’s no way. While I am realistic enough to accept they have known each other all their lives and have this strange bond where they would do anything for each other, I needed it to be me she wanted there with her.
“Hunter, she loves you. Just talk to me, please.”
I know that, yet I can’t stop spiraling down the rabbit hole of misery. Fuck, love makes me so damn vulnerable. I feel pathetic.
“It’s okay. Go to bed, Mia. I am fine.”
I even plaster on a fake smile. Making sense of how I actually feel is impossible at the moment.
She offers me a small smile in return. “I’m here for you.”
“I know. Thank you, sis,” I say, trying to placate her.
I go to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water. I gulp it down in one go, but my thirst has nothing to do with a biological demand. I want to douse the fire burning my insides to a crisp.
“I always sense when something is up with you,” Celine murmurs, concern etched on her face, as she hugs me from behind.
I sigh, exhausted. “Love sucks.”
She hops up onto the kitchen island, gauging my reaction. “Jealous?”
I nod, ashamed of myself but incapable of changing it.
“Hurt?”
I nod again.
“Blake and Bailey have always been very close. And whatever happened, it must involve him as well.”
I slam my palm on the counter, losing my composure by the second. “I just wanted to be there for her. With her.”
“Love is not always smooth. But tell her about how you truly feel when you see her. Communication is the key.”
I shake my head, trying in vain to clear it. “I can’t even make sense of that right now.”
“Together you will. In the meantime, we can spar. I miss that,” she offers. I am sure it’s more about getting my mind off things.
It seems like forever ago—when we would train every day for hours, preparing for a mission that changed drastically after we moved here.
As we take the steps to the basement, she says, “What are we betting this time?”
I arch a brow. “First, you have to land a good punch.”
She huffs. “You asshole. I’ll show you a good punch. You’ll have two black eyes and a broken nose.”
Celine mumbles the entire way to the gym, and as she tapes her hands, a smile tips the corners of my mouth. It’s good to unwind a bit. Watching her, I’m reminded of the bond we share—a connection that runs deeper than friendship, even though we’re not blood-related. She’ll always be there for me, just like I’ll always be there for her.
Some things change, evolve, shift, or alter. Others remain the same, like anchors to keep your sanity intact and hold you together when life throws a curveball, threatening to knock you out.
“Ready?” she asks, taking a fighting stance—legs spread, arms up with her fists protecting her face.
“Have to hurry before the knight comes to save you?”
She smiles. “Shut up. I don’t need saving. I can take your ass down just fine.”
I taunt her, loving to rile her up. “Sure, keep dreaming.”
Our friendship has always involved bickering, and that knowledge eases me. In my disarrayed state of mind, I need every rope to cling to my sanity.
“But we don’t have much time, just so you know.”
That cracks me up, and we don’t waste another moment.