Chapter 12 Keaton
Chapter twelve
Keaton
D
riving back to the hotel, I can’t help but be furious about having to waste my money, time, and resources.
The trip out here was just a power play for Caruso Enterprises.
We’re a fucking cybersecurity company, so digital signatures should always suffice, but some people we work with demand in-person meetings, usually to ask any additional questions or attempt more negotiations.
Today there were no questions or negotiations.
I simply got the signatures we needed to make this happen and then was expected to sit and chat while sipping on overpriced scotch.
Dealing with this company, though, is what led me to meeting the woman I haven’t been able to get out of my mind all morning.
After seeing what my dad’s death did to my mom, I had absolutely no desire to let someone wreck me in the same regard.
Relationships just weren’t a thing for me and that was that.
Now this beautiful, curvy goddess has entered my world, and I will do anything in my power to make sure she never leaves it.
The thought should scare me, especially how suddenly it happened. I should be skeptical of how easily we got along. Don’t get me wrong, I generally get along with people, but usually there’s some flaw that you notice in others. With Anna, there’s literally not a damn thing about her I would change.
I toss my keys at the valet and jog through the lobby to the elevators, eager to get to my woman.
It’s been hours since I had to leave her this morning and my cock aches to be buried back inside of her.
If I’m lucky, she will let me feast on that delicious pussy of hers first. I doubt she’s still sleeping, but if I’m lucky, her friends aren’t in town yet and she stuck around.
Swiping my key, I rush to the bedroom, only to find it empty.
“Anna,” I call out, glancing around the room and noticing her things are missing.
Shit.
“No, no, no,” I mutter under my breath, my chest tightening in panic. I look everywhere for any trace of the woman who captivated my mind, body, and soul, but the only piece of her I find are the white cotton panties I tore from her body last night. Pocketing them, I sit at the end of the bed.
Rocking back and forth, my hands buried in my head, my brain searches for some possible way to find my girl. We talked about how she and her friends were going to go all out this weekend, but she didn’t mention a single specific event. Hell, she didn’t even tell me where they were staying.
Stewing in turmoil, my phone begins to ring with a conference call from both my brothers. “What?” I bark.
“Whoa, big bro. What’s wrong?” Camden asks, concern clear in his voice. He’s a gentle giant, taller than both me and Lincoln, but a helluva lot kinder than either of us, too.
Lincoln, ever the pessimist, says, “Did you not get the contract signed? Were you late to the meeting, motherfucker?”
“I made it to the meeting. Got the contracts signed, then did the whole schmooze routine like a good little puppet.”
“Thank fuck,” Linc says. “So was your asshole greeting just because of the hangover you’re still nursing?”
“Hangover? You got drunk? Mr. Responsible? Mr. All Work and No Play?” Cam teases.
“I don’t have time for either of your shit right now, I need help with something.”
The line goes quiet for several moments.
It’s not like me to ask for help. As the oldest, I tend to take on the problems and try to fix them without disrupting my family in the process.
When Mom couldn’t take care of my brothers anymore, I stepped in.
When my brothers and I needed an opportunity in our small town, I got our business started.
Cam’s teasing was officially over. “Shit. What’s wrong? What can we do?”
I take a second to consider how deep into detail I want to go regarding my situation with Anna.
“I met this girl last night on the flight. Her name is Anna, and we spent the night together here in my room. This morning I had to leave for the meeting, but she was still sleeping and I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or get her number. I need to find her.”
“Why do you need to find this girl, Keat? Did she steal from you?” Lincoln asks,
“What? No of course not,” I realize I’m immediately defensive of her, but also not entirely sure she didn’t steal from me. I didn’t even think of considering that as an option because there’s no way the Anna I met last night would do anything like that.
Camden’s voice takes on a different pitch, “Lincoln, has Keaton ever asked us to find information on any of his past hookups?”
“You know baby bro, I can’t recall him ever giving enough of a shit about them to so much as get their number. I wonder what’s different about this one.”
“I have a few of their numbers, asshole,” I mutter. Though, he kind of has a point.
“So tell us, Keaton, what’s different about this girl? What makes her special enough to seek out?” Lincoln presses, sounding ever the smug asshole he truly is.
“I can’t really get into it right now,” I dodge, “I just need help finding her.”
“Does Anna have a last name?” Camden asks.
Yeah, mine.
“I don’t know it,” I admit. “But like I said, we were on the same flight. Think we can somehow pull the logs to get her information?”
“Brother, we are a cybersecurity company. Our whole mission is to stop the kind of shit you just asked us to do,” Lincoln chastises.
“You don’t think I fucking know that?” I’m off the bed and pacing my room at this point. “I wouldn’t ask for this if it wasn’t important.”
“So, it’s imperative that you find this girl, to the point you’re asking us to do some illegal shit, but you can’t tell us why she’s so important to you?” Camden asks calmly, the mediator of our bunch.
My stomach is in knots. I feel like I’m trapped in one of those hourglasses where the sand is pouring down on me. Every second that passes without her is another grain drowning me in my grief. That grief turns into anger at my brothers for slowing this process down.
“Would the two of you stop dicking around and help me find my wife?”
Shit. I definitely didn’t mean to let that detail slip through, but here we fucking are, I guess.
“Your fucking what?” Lincoln shouts through the phone. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
Camden once again tried to diffuse the conversation, “Umm, Keat, can you say that again?” He laughs, “Kinda sounded like you said your ‘wife’ there for a second.”
I groan and damn myself for losing my temper and confessing the secret I meant to keep until she was officially with me. Living in my house. Sleeping in my bed. Under me every night.
“I did. We kinda sorta got married last night.” I go over the details from the night before with my siblings. I smile through the pain when I think of the way her face lit up in that little chapel.
“Do you think Elvis is gonna marry us?” Anna giggles and it’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
“The king might be a bit busy, Baby, but if you want Elvis to marry us, I can see what we can do.”
She shakes her head, that gorgeous smile lighting up her face. “As long as I get to be with you and keep feeling this way, I don’t care who it is that marries us, but maybe we can at least have him sing at our wedding. We are getting married in Vegas, after all.”
Anna walked down the aisle to Can’t Help Falling in Love while wearing a little white dress she had picked out in the chapel’s store. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And she was mine.
“Keaton? Did I lose you?” Camden’s voice crashes me back in the present and the memories of my beautiful bride fade.
“Sorry, what was that?” I ask, obviously having missed something.
“How do you ‘kinda, sorta’ marry someone?” Lincoln asks.
“I guess you don’t. Legally, Anna and I are married.” I stand from the bed to find the paperwork from the chapel last night. Surely her name is on there somewhere and with a full name, we are more likely to locate her.
“You married her after what, just a few hours? How much do you know about this girl? I’m going to assume you didn’t have a prenuptial agreement signed, with this being a drunken wedding. We need to move forward with an annulment to protect your assets.”
“Protect his assets?” Lincoln fumes. “You mean our assets? His dumbass decision has put the fucking company in jeopardy? What if we fucking lose everything? You want Charlie out on the fucking streets, Keat? Way to fuck everything up.” There’s a click on the phone and I see that he’s hung up.
There’s no way Anna would be cruel like that, not the Anna I married. She is the sweetest, most caring, and wonderful person I have ever encountered in this life. Hell, this is probably just one giant misunderstanding and she’ll be running back into my arms as soon as we meet up again.
“Keaton, I hate to say this, but Lincoln wasn’t wrong when he said she could come after the company. A drunken wedding could easily be granted an annulment, but we have to move fast.”
I take in Camden’s words. I was a bit reckless when it came to marrying Anna last night.
I mean, who marries someone they’ve known for only a few hours?
But the thought of losing her for good? The thought of acting like last night never happened?
My stomach churns and I know I can’t let that happen.
Locating the papers I was searching for, I find her full name beside my own.
“Keith, Cam. Anna Keith. And no annulment. Just help me fucking find her.”