Chapter 58
I went homelast night after everything with Titus and Ari. I needed to give her space, and honestly, I needed some thinking time, so I got started on the nursery. I cleaned the room of the boxes and placed them in the spare room. I stripped the wallpaper and painted the walls with an off-white paint. I had no idea how Ari wanted to decorate but I thought if we had a blank canvas, it would make it easier for her. I worked through the night and ignored the way my body cried for sleep. I wasn”t giving in. I couldn”t. I had too many emotions plaguing me. And now, I was driving to the hospital with Ari”s favorite coffee and pastry. I”m nervous but excited. She won’t forgive easily, she is her father’s daughter after all.
Pulling into a space, I pull the sun visor down and slide the little cover across and wince when I see my face. One eye purple, lips swollen, and nose bruised and crooked. He definitely broke it. Sighing, I grab the coffee and slam the car door shut. Paying the meter, I slowly walk into the hospital and ignore the way people stare at me. I have no idea if they”re even going to let me in the ward after yesterday, I mean, I wouldn”t. Me and Titus were possessed. Anger got too much, and we snapped. It was going to happen. Of course it was. But I never thought he would walk away from me; I never thought our friendship would be over that quickly, but here we are.
Walking into the ward, I head for her room. I don”t look at anyone, don”t speak to anyone, just keep my head down but as I approach, people are standing outside her room. Two of them people being Kyra and Becca. Their voices quieten down as I approach, and I see worry etched into Kyra”s face.
I ignore it, pushing down the gut feeling that something is wrong and walk into the empty room.
“Where the fuck is my wife?” I turn out of the room and my eyes are on Kyra.
“We have no idea, I thought after yesterday you or her dad may have taken her.”
“Why would we take her out of hospital when we know she has to be here?” It doesn”t make sense.
But then it does.
Fucking Titus.
I knock Kyra out the way, throwing the coffee and pastry in the bin as I run out of the ward.
“Where are you going?” Kyra calls after me.
“To find my fucking wife.”
I boot my car all the way to Titus’s house. No fucks were given. Pulling curb side, I rush out and bang on the door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I am frantic with worry, but I’m also so fucking angry.
He doesn’t answer.
Bang. Bang. Bang. I thump my fist against the door. Amora opens the door, wide eyes filled with shock.
“Keaton, what is it?”
“Let me in.” My tongue is harsh and I don’t mean for it to be, well I do, but not with Amora.
“Calm down, you’re scaring me.” Her voice is quiet.
“Move out the way Amora or I’ll…”.
“Or you’ll what?” Titus roars from behind his wife, moving her out the way and tucking her behind him. “Finish what you were going to say.”
I let the anger simmer for a moment, wanting to be careful how I respond.
“Where’s my wife?” I am desperate, you can hear it in my fucking voice. Titus’s concrete facade soon softens, brows furrowing.
The longer this goes on, the more frantic I become.
“What?” Titus’s voice softens slightly.
“Arizona. Where is she?” panic claws at my throat and I can tell by the way he is looking at me that he has no fucking idea what I am going on about.
“In the hospital?”
I shake my head from side to side, heart racing beneath my chest.
“What?” and the realization hits him. He is grabbing his keys and shoving me back but not before giving Amora a kiss.
“She”s not there.” I swallow the bile down that is threatening to spill.
“Not my Sunshine, fuck,” he shouts.
Titus closes the front door behind him and we jog down the steps towards his parked Jeep. Titus”s phone is pressed to his ear, and I know he is on the phone to Kaleb.
“We”ve got a problem, Arizona’s missing, meet you at the office. Get Nate,” he cuts the phone off just as he slams the car door shut. I climb into the passenger side and my fucking heart is thumping so hard.
My phone buzzes and I see Kaleb”s name.
Kaleb
It”ll be okay, brother.
I lock my phone and my throat thickens when I see the photo I snapped of her a few weekends ago in the kitchen. She is standing in front of the large window, wearing a cream cropped tee and black leggings that sat under her bump. She”s holding a bowl of cereal and smiling at the camera, and I choke back, not wanting the tears to fall. Especially not in front of Titus of all people. I”ve got my own shit going on in my head, I would hate to know what is going on in his.
He punches his finger on the screen of his car as it dials Xavier”s name.
“What?” the bite to his British accent makes me stiffen in my seat.
“Arizona is gone,” Titus just about manages. He chokes up, fist balled and pressed against his lips.
“That cunt,” Xavier growls
“Meeting at the office.”
“I”ll be right there,” I can hear him moving around, “I’ll grab Killian too,” and then the phone cuts off.
The drive is short and quiet. Both of our minds are in overdrive, and I don”t know about Titus but I am terrified.
Titus abandons the car in his spot and we”re the first ones here. I follow Titus to the elevator, and we ride up in silence. There is so much I want to say but I don”t. I stay mute and keep my thoughts on Arizona.
She will be okay. She has to be.
I stroll into the office, hands in my pocket and Titus rushes to his computer. I feel like a spare part. I have no idea what to do. I don”t get involved in their operations much. I offer up a hand when needed but I crunch numbers. Not the same in working out a kidnapping. That”s Titus and Kaleb. Nate too I suppose. He is the brains behind it. Will know the ins and outs.
“How certain are we that it”s this Wolfe guy?” I squeeze the words out my tight throat. Wish my heart would slow. Feel like I can”t catch a breath.
Titus is bent over his desk, fingers on his keyboard when he turns his face to look at me.
“One hundred fucking percent.”
I grab the bin from the floor and empty the contents of my stomach.
“Shit,” Titus groans, tutting as he walks past me to grab me a bottle of water from the fridge. He passes it to me and gives me a solid, hard, pat on the back and I swear he shifts a lung.
“Thanks,” I grumble, opening the top and drinking half the bottle.
I feel like such an idiot for acting like this. She is Titus”s blood, and he is cool and collected. Or is he? Beads of sweat appear on his brow, the vein in his neck throbs at a fast pace proving that his heart is racing just like mine is. He is agitated and fidgety. Fingers keep tapping, foot keeps shuffling and when he eventually takes a seat, his leg is bobbing up and down.
Kaleb bursts through the elevator and paces himself over to me with four long strides, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.
“We will get her back,” he breaks away, hands on my cheeks as his eyes burn into mine and all I can do is nod. I heave in a deep breath and flashbacks from when Reese was taken plague me. My chest is hollow. Have never felt an emptiness like the one that consumes me in this moment.
He moves to Titus and gives him a shoulder squeeze and only then do I see the facade slip, the tears spilling in his eyes and when my brother consoles him, he breaks.
“Come on now lads,” Xavier chimes walking in with Killian, “it aint a fucking funeral, is it? We will find the weasel cunt and end him before he can even lay a finger on Arizona.”
“Would he hurt her?” I ask as Killian gives me a pat on the shoulder.
Titus and Xavi look at each other before their eyes land on me. They don”t even have to say anything. I forgot Titus had to live with him and witness how he treated Amora. The man was as evil as they come.
I hadn”t even noticed Nate sneak in. He was already deep in his computer.
Titus sits back down, and he looks wrecked all of a sudden.
“What time did you last see Ari?” Nate asks me and I hear a breathy sigh from Titus.
“Last night, me and Titus got into...”
“He didn”t tell me Ari was in hospital, I only found out because Amora had an appointment with Dr Kyra. Conversations were had and that”s how I found out my daughter was on bed rest in hospital.”
“Wait,” Killian stammers, “she”s in hospital? Is she okay?”
“She”s...” and I am cut off by Xavier.
“Enough of the pleasantries for fuck’s sake, so, Nate, in answer to your question it was last night.”
“Time?” Nate scrubs his face.
“Four? Maybe? I don”t know,” I slide down the wall and drop my head.
“Well, this is fucking brilliant. Nate, bring up the CCTV from four onwards. Kaleb, call Kyra.”
“I”ll do it, I already have her number saved,” Killian says, and he already has his phone to his ear.
Kaleb just stares and Xavier gives a shrug of his shoulder.
“Okay, so yeah, both tweedle dee and tweedle dumb were at the hospital at four thirty,” Nate says and Xavier and Kaleb walk round to the screen. Me and Titus don”t move. What a sack of shit we are.
“Fucking hell,” Xavier laughs, shaking his head.
“What a punch,” Kaleb pushes his tongue into his cheek, “nice for not hitting back brother, top man.”
I roll my eyes, side eyeing Titus.
“I did wonder how you got the shiner Keaton,” Xavier looks over the desk with a soppy smirk on his face.
I flip him off.
“Fast forward,” Kaleb says, leaning down so he can look at the screen closer. “Okay, so I am assuming that”s Kyra?” and I stumble to my feet and walk across the room to look.
“Yeah,” I sigh and all I focus on his Arizona. She looks so sad.
“Okay, so Kyra leaves and that”s around eight. Then Arizona goes back to sleep.”
Kaleb is giving me a run-by-run commentary and I know he means well, but it just makes me feel even more of a dickhead than I already feel.
“Stop,” Xavier bellows and we all freeze. “Nate, skip to the hallway camera for a second.”
Nate does as he says and starts the recording again. I have no idea how our little whizz kid even knows how to hack into the computers and CCTV. Freaks me out to be honest.
“Do we know if Ari had any way of meeting Wolfe before without realising?” Kaleb asks, rubbing his chin just as we see the cunt walk down the hallway of where Ari”s room is.
And I know I am going to get beaten again as soon as these words leave my mouth.
“She was a cam girl.”
All eyes are on me, along with Killian who walks over at the right time.
“What?” Titus is up from his chair and raging.
Fair.
“She was a cam girl,” not sure why I am repeating it. I”m sure they didn”t need to me to say it again.
“The fuck,” Titus spits coming for me but Kaleb steps in front of me, pressing his hands onto Titus”s chest.
“Not now,” he growls at Titus, but Titus is too far gone. Eyes stuck to me.
“I never interacted with her on there, I was tempted, but didn”t.” and Kaleb turns to look at me as if to say what the fuck are you doing. “But I did used to sign on to keep an eye on her. She had two followers. Me and someone called TallDarkandHandsome.”
Seeing as I am spilling all, I may as well continue with my downfall.
“I didn”t connect the two when I bumped into her in Prestige.”
Three. Two. One.
“Prestige?” Killian asks, Kaleb”s eyes widen.
“Thought she was in med school?” Xavier asks.
“So did I,” Kaleb slowly lets go of Titus but as soon as he does, Titus tries to run for me again. This time Killian and Kaleb hold him back.
“So did I until I didn”t,” I rub my lips together and my chest aches. “I had no idea, decided one night to pop in and that”s when I saw her. I was so fucking angry and shocked. Dragged her away to one of the private rooms where she explained all. Made me promise not to say anything...” I pause and level my eyes on Titus”s, but his are still filled with rage. So much rage, hate and venom and it”s all aimed at me. Can”t blame him. He will hate me after this, but to be fair, if I was in his shoes, I would hate me too.
I would loathe me.
I”ve betrayed him. We both have.
“Weeks passed and one night she comes home and she”s out of sorts. Spooked even maybe,” I run my hand round the back of my head when I think back to the night where she gave everything to me. The night that everything changed. “She made a comment...” and I pause, this is too far even on my account.
“What did she say?” Killian asks.
I look round the room, they”re all staring at me, waiting for me to tell them but I”m not sure if I can. Not even for my sake or Titus”s, but for hers.
“It”s not really something that I think she, and Titus will want you all to know.”
“Tell us,” Titus grits, jaw clenched and fuck his jaw must be killing him. He hasn”t unclenched it since he came for me.
“She came home marked from work; I went feral. Hated that someone had laid hands on her, but she assured me it was nothing. She wanted to drink herself into oblivion. I told her I was always there for her if she needed someone. I made her promise that she would talk to me if something happened. She agreed,” my stomach knots, “we ended up drinking, we played some stupid truth or dare game I think.”
“What are you, fucking twelve?” Xavier bursts out but I ignore him.
“She told me that she lost her...” and I watch as Titus”s eyes close and I know this must be awful for him to sit and listen to.
“Thinking back, not long after that she stopped going online and after Vegas, she deleted her account.”
“Do you think the private client was Wolfe?” Kaleb asks and he and Killian have both let Titus go now.
“I think he was,” I swallow the large lump that has formed in my throat and my stomach drops at the realization.
“Here!” Nate shouts, pausing the screen.
And on the screen is Wolfe, pushing Arizona out in the wheelchair. The most chilling thing is he knows we would watch this. Because he is staring straight down the lens of the CCTV camera, smiling the most sinister and evilest grin I have even seen in my life whilst my wife and the mother of my children is unconscious.
I fucking screamed, scaring myself. My lungs burning. Sadness turned to fucking venomous rage and I was ready to burn the fucking world to ashes to get her back. And I knew I would have these men behind me every fucking step of the way, ready to destroy anything that stood in our way.
Hell hath no fury like a man who is about to lose the love of his life.