Chapter 9
9
Steal – Thirty-One Years Old
“Please, Steal, surely you’ve found her,” Trudy pleads, and I hold in my sigh. I lean back in my black office chair as I close my eyes, willing myself to not throw my fucking phone across the room.
Every fucking day, it’s the same call from Cassidy’s mom while her sister just outright ignores me, even when at the diner, a job she’s tried to quit several times.
I’m just fucking lucky the contract Perrie signed is stopping her, I just wish she’d stop walk past me like I don’t exist because, honestly, I miss the days she’d run to me for a hug or reem my ass for not paying more attention to her sister.
I should have fucking listened to her.
“Trudy, these phone calls need to stop. It’s been four years, and Piston hasn’t managed to find her, and even Perrie hasn’t heard from her. At this point, she doesn’t want to be found,” I tell her truthfully.
Piston taught Cass well; it’s like she vanished into thin air, and every day, I die a little more inside, just going through the fucking motions without her.
My eyes go to the letter on my desk, which I read at least twice daily to punish myself, my fingers itching to grab it.
“You need to move on, Trudy. She doesn’t want to be found, and I don’t think she ever will,” I finish before hanging up, unwilling to hear any more of her babbling.
It would be alright if Trudy wanted to find her because she’s a concerned mother, but it’s not. Perrie sold the house, which means Trudy got fuck all, and Perrie has put half the money from the sale into Cassidy’s account, an account Piston is watching closely, which is how we know about the sale to begin with.
I chuck my phone on my mahogany desk with a deep sigh before I pick up the letter and torture myself yet again, that one sentence always standing out.
I love you, Colt, I always will, but this is it between us.
She’d given up on us before whatever happened in that kitchen.
I drop the letter as my eyes go to my ring finger, her name inked there, clear as day. I claimed her the day I met her, but she never claimed me back. She always had one foot out the door, and I know the club and Faith were a big part of the reason. They never accepted her because of Faith, because I fucked the bitch.
My relationship with Cass didn’t fucking stand a chance because she wasn’t willing to fight for us, for me. She wasn’t willing to smack me and put me in my place, and I know again that is my fault, but it’s a hard pill to swallow.
I took her love for granted.
“Brother?” a voice calls, but I don’t look up from my finger.
“Anything?” I question and Anchor sighs before plopping himself down in the armchair opposite my desk.
“Nothing, brother. I’ve spent all night with Piston going through the facial recognition he set up in four different states where you think she may have run to, and nothing.”
I nod and look to my right toward the wall safe where Cassidy’s cut is waiting, resignation filling me.
“Maybe she’s moved on from the club, from me,” I look up at him. “Maybe it’s time I allowed her to live the life she’s built for herself, most likely with someone else. I mean, she was going to leave me anyway, right?”
Fuck, I feel like I’m having a pity party for one.
“Fuck that!” he snaps. “We both know she wouldn’t have stayed away from you for long. She loved you, Colt. Don’t fucking give up just yet.”
I nod once, then ask, “What has Piston learned regarding Brute’s messages?”
Anchor groans. “The fucker was sick. So far, we haven’t found anything to suggest he was going after Cass, but the messages he sent some whores, begging them to call him daddy and to tie them up while he carved into their backs, including naked selfies with Faith….” He shudders, and I snort. “How sure are you he did something?” Anchor asks.
I tilt my head, my eyes going to the picture of Cass sitting sideways on my bike, head lifted to the lit night sky.
She’s always wanted to go to the countryside and see the stars without the city lights to hide them, and I fucking failed her by not taking her. I plan to rectify that if I ever find her again.
“This is Cassidy Halliwell we’re talking about, brother. She loved healing people, not killing them.” I look at him. “She was leaving me, something the brothers don’t know, other than Piston.” Anchor nods once. “So why in the fuck would she kill Brute on her way out, a brother she always avoided?”
It’s something I noticed over the years.
“It doesn’t make sense,” he offers.
I nod. “And how come the only person who witnessed it was the same person who has been trying to get Cass out of the club and my life.”
“You think Brute and Faith planned something?” Anchor inquires, his voice heavy.
I look back at the picture of Cass, the serene smile on her lips mesmerizing, and I rasp, “I think they planned for him to attack her, that they’d try and make out like she came onto him, but let’s face it, it’s not the first time Brute got carried away and assaulted a girl.”
Anchor’s eyes darken, and he nods. Anchor’s wife accused Brute of trying to rape her but, of course, he denied it, and with Anchor only being a prospect at the time, Brute’s word carried more weight than a woman only wanting a patch—their words, not mine.
Heaven was the sweetest girl anyone could meet, and the day she left Anchor, everyone saw her in a different light. She wasn’t willing to look the other way for his patch. She took their kid, whom no one knew about, and left him, club property, and her property cut on the bar where Ginger sat, looking full of herself, thinking she’d get the future VP of the club as her old man.
Anchor’s been trying to win her back ever since.
“You think he tried to rape Cass as well?” he asks with a growl, and I nod once.
“Yeah, I do,” I admit, “and I think she couldn’t fight him off. He didn’t get the name Brute because he was small, after all, he was large, and built like a fucking wrestler. I think she saw the knife and, on instinct, stabbed him. I think Faith stood by and laughed until Cass stabbed Brute, and then she panicked.” I sigh and lean back in my chair. “But that’s a lot of ‘thinks’ without proof. I just need Piston to find the evidence, because if Cass comes back into this building, then I know certain brothers will lose their lives when they try to go for her, Bull being the first. But hey, let’s face it, the man is only allowed on club property out of respect for his service within the club.”
Anchor nods, pride shining in his eyes, knowing I mean every fucking word. He confirms, “And in the meantime, you’re going to continue to act like the dubious idiot with the brothers?”
I roll my eyes at his smirk and reply, “It’s for the best. Only you and Piston can know, and right now, Acid being in the dark is for the best.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, “there will be a fucking blood bath if he finds out what we’re speculating.”
That he fucking will.
Acid’s a dark horse. Every brother believes Piston’s the one with the anger issues but they’re wrong, Acid is. I know he suffered more from his father’s abuse than Piston did. I don’t know how much more, though Piston believes his brother left him to fend for himself when Acid moved onto club property, but I’m not stupid, I know Acid was running drugs for his father behind the club’s back, to ensure his brother didn’t have it as bad as he did. I’m well aware the Killers, the pathetic gang that’s a pain in my side, is now being run by their father.
The fucker has already threatened Natalie, Piston’s wife, something she decided not to fucking tell anyone about.
Piston and Natalie both love each other but are not willing to admit it yet. Anchor and I, along with Acid and my father, have actually placed bets on when they will finally give in to their feelings.
“With trying to find that fucker of a father of his, trolling through Brute's phone, and trying to find Cass, Piston is working around the clock, but he’ll get the job done,” Anchor states.
“Yeah, but he also needs to open his fucking eyes and see how much he loves his fucking wife before he loses her, and preferably before next month, because that was my bet,” I grumble in reply, and he chuckles.
My phone beeps, and I sigh before grabbing it, only to groan out loud.
Axel: Just a warning: Annalise sent a package of several different-size dildos and vibrators, with lube, in a glitter cannon to your club. Snake also received one. I didn’t find out until three minutes ago. Good luck.
“What is it?” Anchor asks, and I turn my phone for him to read before we hear a bang in the common room, followed by the brothers’ cursing and the women’s laughter.
“Fucking Annalise….” Anchor grunts, sitting back, and I nod in agreement.
The Untamed Hell Fire’s prez, Axel, has a lot to deal with from the women in his club; they liked sending inappropriate and annoying surprises to their allied clubs.
Last week, we received a male stripper that liked cock.
Shaking my head, my eyes return to the letter, Cassidy on my mind yet again….
“Colt,” Cass giggles as I chase her around my bike with the biggest grin.
“Nuh uh, you can’t tell me you’ve got nothing beneath that dress and not expect me to have a peek,” I growl, doubling back, and catching her around her waist.
Cassidy’s laughter fills my ears, making me smile against her neck.
“I love you, Trouble,” I murmur, and she leans into me.
“Not as much as I love you,” she replies.
I grin and whisper, “We’ll see about that,” before I twist her around in my arms and slam my mouth against hers. She instantly melts against me, not caring that we’re in the club parking lot.
Fuck, she’s perfect.
“We’ll find her, brother,” Anchor reminds me, bringing me out of my head. I nod numbly as my phone rings.
Clearing my throat, I check to see who it is before throwing my phone back on my desk.
“Faith?” Anchor asks, and I nod.
“Ever since Cass ran, she’s been intolerable. She wants my cut, but she’s not fucking getting it,” I reply firmly, and Anchor nods as I relax in my chair, and he does the same in his, both of us not willing to see the mess Annalise caused in the common room despite the brothers shouting for us. Instead, we come up with different plans to find Cassidy, and find her we will.
Yes, I’m losing hope, but I will find her; I can’t survive without her.