Broken Empire : Ravenwood Elites Book 3

1. MASON

MASON

“We needto find Winter before she does something stupid like try to hurt herself again, especially since that video is fake,” I tell Riley with an edge to my voice.

Thegirls all explode with questions and I hold my hand up to quiet them before I explain how I staged the whole thing to make that video look real. And now I’m paying for that shit.

They’rerightfully pissed on her behalf by the time I’m done talking, and I don’t blame them. ButI don’t care about what they think of me or any of their feelings right now. AllI care about is going after my girl. I just hope to fucking hell that she’ll let me explain everything to her and then give me another chance like she was going to before this video shit came back to bite me in the ass.

Idon’t know what the hell happened, and it’s bothering the fuck out of me. I’ll have to get to the bottom of it once I get things settled with Winter. I know, for a fact, that I deleted that fucking video right after I showed it to her because I didn’t want what’s happening now to happen at all. I just wanted to hurt her at the time, but not let anyone else see that shit.

NowI’m fucked!

I’mnot sure how someone could have gotten a copy of it, but I’m going to find out who the fuck did. WhenI do, that person better be ready for the hell I’m going to unleash on them.

Theyare going to be sorry for fucking with me and what’s mine. I know none of my boys would ever do that shit, so it has to be someone else. They were the ones who were telling me not to make the stupid thing in the first place, but my hardheaded ass didn’t want to listen. Now look at this clusterfuck.

Istill can’t believe that some asshole would post that shit online for everyone to see. Then again, I know this is all my fucking fault.

I made it so easy for people to hate her.

Fuck! I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from being a dumbass.

Theactions of this asshole just fucked up any progress I might have made with Winter so far, and that alone makes me want to slam this person’s face into a wall. It wasn’t much progress because she’s hardheaded as fuck, but at least it was something. She was finally beginning to soften up toward me a little, and now all of that was down the drain. I know she’ll just see this as another betrayal on my part.

Way to fucking go, dickhead!

Whythe fuck did I even make that stupid video in the first place? Oh, that’s right, I was filled with hate and so much rage that it clouded my fucking judgment. I wasn’t thinking straight. Even though it was staged, I damn well made sure it looked like it was.

Noweveryone who has seen it will no doubt think it’s real as well. Damn, I really know how to fuck shit up…

“Find out who the fuck jumped her and I’ll deal with them as soon as I can,” I tell the guys, pissed as fuck that someone thought they could put their hands on her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find out who did that shit,” Nate says as Royce and Beck agree. I give them a nod before turning to Riley.

“Put your hands on her again and I don’t fucking care if you’re my best friend’s sister. I will fuck you up,” I grit through clenched teeth before turning and walking away from them.

I’msure Beck will want to chew me out later for what I just said to his sister, but he’ll just have to wait. My only priority right now is finding Winter. I’ll have to settle for dealing with all that other shit later. Especially the person or people in this school who touched her when I made it clear that she was off-limits and fucking mine.

Why can’t shit ever go right?I think as I quickly make my way to my car. I get in, start the engine, and peel out of the parking lot as fast as I can. I dial my PR firm and put it on speaker as I drive toward her apartment.

“Hello, Mr. King. How can we help you today?” my PR consultant asks as she answers the phone. Like she doesn’t already know.

“I want anything and everything about WinterCrowne pulled off the internet and contact all the news stations covering the story. Threaten to sue those assholes if they don’t get it offline and file the suit if you need to so they know we’re not fucking around. I want it done within the next hour. Make sure they know that if they post or run any other shit about her, I’ll be coming for them,” I grunt into the phone.

“Sure thing, sir. We’ll start sorting everything out right away,” she tells me, and I hang up the phone. I mean, it’s the least I can do for my girl, right?

Idrive like a bat out of hell to get to her apartment, not caring about traffic laws. I just need to make sure that she’s fine and I need to do that with my own two eyes. Thankfully, I don’t get pulled over.

Mygut aches at the devastation I saw in her eyes earlier, before she ran toward the car and away from me. Once again, it”s caused by me.

Ifelt gutted and fucking angry at myself, even more so than how I’ve already been feeling recently. AllI’ve been wanting to do lately is make it all up to her, but something or someone is always getting in the way of that, which makes it that much more frustrating.

Icome to a screeching halt and park haphazardly in the underground garage to our building and rush out of my car, heading straight for the elevator. I’m impatient as it makes its way up to her floor. Is it just me or is this shit taking forever today? When it finally reaches her floor, I bolt for her door and, using the keys I had made, I open it and quickly step inside.

“Winter! Baby, are you here?” I yell as I step into the apartment.

I’mbarely through the door when I get blindsided with a fist to the face. I let out a curse as I look up to find Hunter standing there with a mean-ass expression on his face. If looks could kill…

Igrab a hold of my jaw. It hurts like a motherfucker. Great, one guess as to why he’s talking with his fists instead of using his words. I’m thinking he’s already seen the news, which isn’t all that hard, since it’s currently making headlines on all the stations in Ravenwood. Just another thing for me to be pissed about. I let out a groan before he starts to speak a moment later.

“What the fuck, asshole? What the hell have you been doing to my sister when I wasn’t here?” he asks as he cocks his hand back and swings. I barely duck down in time to avoid his hit, but it doesn’t look like he intends to give me a break. In the next moment, he’s coming after me again. I don’t want to fight him, even though I know I deserve a beating. But now is definitely not the time.

“Would you stop trying to punch me and just listen to me for a minute? Things aren’t the way they seem. Just hear me out, okay?” I plead with him to listen, putting both my arms up in a surrendering motion. It takes him a moment of staring me down before he nods his head for me to go on. I let my guard down, glad he’s willing to listen to what I have to say, and he uses that opportunity to clock me in the face again.

“Motherfucker!” I grunt through the pain that splits across my face. He’s lucky I know I’m in the wrong here or I would have hit his ass back. “What the hell, Hunt? Would you just fucking listen and stop throwing punches?”

“NowI’m ready to listen.”

“You’re such an ass!” I grumble with an eye roll when his damn smirk makes an appearance on his ugly mug.

“You’d know all about being one, wouldn’t you? You have one minute to start before I deck your ass again, pretty boy. IfI don’t like what the fuck you’re saying, then you should be aware of the fact that I know how to hide a fucking body without ever getting caught or anyone ever finding you,” he growls.

Forsome reason, I know the asshole is telling the truth. I let out a sigh and decide to go with the honest to God truth and bear everything to him from the beginning to end. Well, everything that happened up until this point, emphasizing the fact that the video is fake since that’s my latest fuckup.

Idid, however, leave out a few minor details since I’m sure he’d actually kill me if I mentioned anything about the way I fucked his sister with hate and anger and how I used her body against her. Even though she loved some of it.

Shit, Mase, don’t go there. Now is not the time to be thinking with your dick. He listens and calls me an asshole and a few other choice words. I say nothing in response to any of it because I’m all those things and so much more.

I’monly telling him all this shit because I know he cares for his sister and I don’t need him getting in the way when I beg for her forgiveness. It hasn’t been that long since he told her that he was her brother, but the bond between them formed instantly. I see the way he treats her and the way he talks to her. They’re as thick as thieves. I’m sure if he tells her to stay away from me—after everything I’ve done—she’ll listen to him.

Iknow he has the power to make her disappear and make it hard for me to find her, even though I’d burn the world down to find her. I’m hoping he sees my side of this whole mess but also, I hope he sees how sorry I am and how much I want to make her world bright with love again. He’s still angry by the time I’m done pouring my heart and soul out to him, which is what I expect.

Wego back and forth arguing for a while until I’ve convinced him that I fucking love her and would die for her. Only then does he begin to cooperate.

“Fuck! I hate your ass right now. What you did was fucked up!” he shouts at me.

“Don’t you fucking think I know that, dickhead?” I snap.

“You don’t fucking deserve any part of her. Not even one of her fucking smiles or a single hair on her head,” he sneers.

“I know,” I say with a sigh, feeling my chest ache at his words because I know they’re all true.

“ButI’ve seen the way she looks at your stupid ass and, knowing what I know now, I have half a mind to hide her from you. It might hurt her for a while, but eventually she’ll probably forget you even existed,” he tells me.

Ihate to admit how much my heart bleeds at his words. I don’t even realize I’m rubbing my chest until I feel my hand there and see the smirk on his face, like he knows what’s happening inside my head.

“I’d find her. I’d search every corner of the fucking world and burn it down because no one is taking her away from me,” I tell him with all the seriousness I can muster. We stare at each other for a few moments before he nods.

“I still want to kill you, but it’ll have to take a backseat for now. I’m worried about her because of all this latest shit. I’m giving you one last chance. If you fuck it up, then I will keep my promise and make sure you never find her.”

“Yeah, whatever. Great.” I roll my eyes. “Now where is she? Is she in her room?”

“What?” he asks in a confused voice.

“What do you mean, what? Isn’t she here?” I question, panic filling my voice. I thought she left to come here after she got in that car.

“No, she’s not fucking here, dickhead! Wasn’t she with you?” he asks with venom in his voice.

“Ah well… she was there in school when the video got leaked. WhenI went to find her to explain the video, she ran away and got into an Uber. I thought she’d come here, but clearly she hasn”t?”

“She has not,” he deadpans.

“Fucking fuck!” I yell. “We have got to find her! I don’t want anything happening to my baby,” I say and almost sob at the thought.

“You say that like you haven’t done the worst of it all,” he snarks.

“Not the time, dickhead,” I grumble.

“I’ll fucking help you look. Though when we do find her, it’s going to be up to her if she even wants to see you. If she doesn’t, you better fucking back off until she’s ready or maybe she’ll never want to see your dumbass again. Who knows? But the decision will be up to her, got it?” he questions.

“Yes. I fucking got it. Just as long as you don’t give her any input and fill her head with shit against me!” I snap at him.

“Me? I would never,” he says with a smirk.

“Fine. I agree with your stupid terms. Besides, she loves me. She won’t not want to see me,” I grumble. I agree with the stupid ass because it’s better than nothing and the longer we’re here talking shit, the longer it’ll take for me to lay my eyes on her.

Thepossibilities of what she could be doing right now are scary. I don’t know where her head is at right now. She could be fine or she could be trying to hurt herself for the millionth time because of me. That worries me the most, but it also makes me hate myself just a little more. I hope my words about her loving me will still be true once we find her.

“I don’t see why. I’d have left your ass to die alone a long time ago,” he grumbles.

“Would you stop with the insults and let’s go find my girl!”

“As long as you remember everything I just said. If she wants you to leave her alone, you will.”

“Yes, I fucking will, even if it will kill me if that”s what she wants,” I tell him, though I’m not sure how true my words are because I can’t leave her alone. She’s mine and she’ll always be mine.

Weboth nod at each other, confirming that we have an understanding. A second later, he gets up and walks out of the room before coming back in with his laptop. He opens it and starts doing whatever it is he’s doing, while I pace the room. AllI hear is the clicking of keys for a few seconds before he’s finally speaking and putting me out of my misery.

“Her tracker says that she’s in Arizona and it’s moving,” he says.

“What?” I ask, dumbfounded for a moment. “How could she possibly be?—”

“She’s obviously on a plane,” he says, rolling his eyes. “IfI had to guess where she’s going, I’d say?—”

“London!” I say, cutting him off. “I have to go now! Are you coming?”

“Obviously. Who else is going to kick your fucking ass if you say one wrong thing to her?” he asks. Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes.

“Let’s fucking go then, asshole,” I grumble, already pulling my phone out to make the call to my pilot.

“Hey, I need a flight to London, like now,” I tell my pilot as soon as he answers the phone.

“I’m on it. Two hours’ time will be the earliest we can fly since this is last minute and all,” he tells me.

“Fine. See you soon,” I say before hanging up. I hate having to wait, but I guess there’s nothing else I can do.

Weboth leave to grab our passports. Hunter goes to his room he has here in Winter’s apartment and I go across the hall to my apartment that I rarely use since I basically moved myself in with Winter.

Twominutes later, we meet each other in the hallway and then make our way down to the parking garage. I head for my car, with Hunter following behind. We both get in and then I’m taking off for the airport.

Mypilot greets me when we get there and lets me know that they’re just refueling and it’ll be less than an hour wait since they got the go ahead to leave early. I thank him and then take a seat next to Hunter in one of the chairs in the private hangar. I’m anxious to get to her.

Iwonder how Winter got her flight so fucking fast when I wasn’t too far behind her. But then again, I realize that her company is as huge as ours and she must have used one of her connections to help her get out of here faster. I could also use mine, but since we don’t have much longer here, I figure it’d be useless to call in a favor now.

Timepasses and we finally get onto the jet. I let out a breath when it finally takes off. I can’t wait to be close to her again. I have no idea what mood she’ll be in when we find her. Actually, that’s a lie because nothing says I’m fucking pissed like leaving the country to get away from someone. All the dumb shit I pulled keeps coming back to bite me in the ass.

She’sdefinitely developed a sassy side since I began fucking with her. She’s no longer my quiet and shy girl. She’s my warrior princess now, well, whenever she needs to be. ButI have to say that I do love that side of her. It’s hot as hell.

Whenthe jet reaches cruising altitude, I make a call to get a car at the airport ready for me by the time we land, and I’m assured that it’ll be there. WhenI’m done with the call, I look up to find Hunter looking at me.

“What’s your plan, lover boy?” Hunter drawls. I can see the amusement on his face. He’s definitely getting some sort of pleasure from watching my anxiety ramp up as the time ticks by. Though, I don’t blame him because I’d have probably done the same if I were him.

“Plead with her to listen to me and then fucking beg for her forgiveness for being an asshole,” I say, shrugging, while hiding my emotions away. I’m fucking terrified that she won’t give me the time of day and won’t even want to listen to a word I have to say. I’m having cold sweats at just the thought of that happening.

“Well, I hope she at least makes it difficult for you,” he says with a smirk, and I roll my eyes at him.

“Gee, thanks, asshole,” I mutter.

“My pleasure.” He grins.

“Where do you think she’ll be?” I ask.

“I’d say CrowneHotel would be the best bet. I don’t think she’d want to stay at the mansion alone, and that would be the only other place she’d stay,” he tells me. That makes sense.

“Okay. We’ll check there first.”

Weboth settle into silence after that, doing our own thing as we wait for the flight to get to London. My thoughts are occupied with all the things that are weighing me down. I know the only reason that Hunter didn’t murder me while we were at the apartment is because he knows me a bit and knows that I was a wreck over a girl for a long time. We just didn’t know the girl in question was his sister at the time.

We’vefought with each other a few times in his fighting ring and we’ve even chatted a few times, too. So, he knows I’m not totally crazy. Plus, ever since all that shit went down in Aspen, I’ve been trying to make things right with her, and I’m hoping he saw that. I hope he knows I care about her even after the bullshit that’s been happening lately.

Itfeels like it”s been forever when we finally land. We both get off the jet and head down the stairs and onto the tarmac. A uniformed officer leads us to the customs office. It doesn’t take long to get through, thankfully, and in no time, we’re making our way out toward the front of the airport.

Assoon as we step outside, I see a man in a suit standing there with my name on a sign, and we both make our way over to him. He greets us and motions for us to follow as he leads us to the SUV before handing me the keys.

Ithank him before Hunter and I both jump in and then we’re off in no time. I start to make my way to the CrowneHotel, my nervousness increasing the closer we get to our destination.

“Don’t be nervous,” Hunt says with a smirk.

“Easy for your ass to say. She loves you and I’m skating on thin ice at the moment,” I grumble and he just chuckles.

“That is true,” he says, still laughing. The ass!

Wepull up to the hotel a few moments later. The ride took a little over thirty minutes to get here from HeathrowAirport. I park across the street from the entrance to the hotel and, just as I’m about to get out of the car, I see Winter step through the doors.

Shegets into a car that was already there waiting and a moment later the driver takes off. I put the car in drive again and pull out behind them. We keep following until we start to pass by the cemetery and I know this is where she’s going.

Thedriver parks, and then she gets out of the car and starts to walk to where her father is buried. I park a few cars behind hers and just sit there and wait while keeping an eye on her. I want her to have some time alone with her dad. She’s walking and not even looking around, completely unaware of anything that’s happening around her.

“You want to go have a few minutes with her?” I ask Hunter.

“No. I’ll come back some other time,” he says, with a weird expression on his face when I look over at him. I have no clue what that’s about, but maybe he isn’t ready to go see his dad’s grave yet. Who the hell knows? TheCrowne siblings are a bit cray cray when they want to be.

Ilook back out the window to keep an eye on her and even from here I can tell that she’s crying and my heart breaks at the sight. Fuck! I hate seeing her in tears. I just wish I could wrap her up in my arms and take all her pain away at this moment, but that’s highly unlikely because I don’t think the pain of losing a father will ever go away. Added to the fact that she certainly won’t want me, of all people, next to her right now.

Thougha few minutes later I’m out of the car when I see some guy along with a girl approaching her. I start to move, not even waiting to see if Hunter is following behind me or not. I don’t know who these people are so I need to make sure that she’s not in harm”s way.

Isilently make my way through the cemetery, not wanting to spook any of them, glad that this one is filled with big headstones and mausoleums so that I can hide behind them. I’m being careful and not running in there guns blazing because I have no clue what I’m walking in on.

Ihear footsteps and know that Hunter is behind me. I look up and over at Winter. She’s talking to the two of them, though she’s kept a safe distance away, which I’m glad for.

Wesneak up until we’re behind one of the mausoleums that’s the closest to the two people but still hidden so that we can hear what’s being said. I’m just in time to hear the guy confess that they drugged her, acted like he was having sex with her, but he wasn’t actually doing anything with her. He then told her that it was all a ploy for me to find her like that, in a compromising position. My father was the one who orchestrated it all.

My father?

Whenhearing my father was the one who did this, who set things in motion I feel like the wind gets knocked out of me, causing me to slump back against the wall of the mausoleum as static fills my ears and spots dance in my vision. The words ‘my father’ keep ringing inside my head. Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the actual fuck?

Thenthe realization that she was right this whole time knocks into me so hard I think I’m about to faint or some shit. She never cheated on me and when she said she didn’t know what happened that night because she couldn’t remember a thing, she wasn’t lying.

She wasn’t fucking lying!

AndI didn’t believe her. I didn’t fucking believe her…

Mymind goes back to all the things I did to her after I saw her that night and spin around just in time to fall to my knees and throw up the contents of my stomach right there on the grass in front of me. I remember all the things I’ve said to her after too and…

Ifeel wrecked by all the lies I believed because I didn’t use common sense to realize that deep down in my very soul, I knew she loved me and wouldn’t have cheated on me for that reason. I did so much, hated her too much and almost fucking destroyed her because of what I now know are lies. WhatI should’ve known were lies.

Andnow she hates me and I honestly don’t blame her because I was a complete despicable asshole toward her. I just hope that I can somehow make all of this up to her.

Ifeel fucking hopeless and like my world just imploded on me. Is this what she felt like when I didn’t believe her? WhenI hurt her? WhenI said so much hurtful shit to her? Fuck! I close my eyes as the pain of it all takes over my body. It’s so intense, it literally feels like I’m dying. If it hurts this much right now, I can’t imagine how much it hurt for her, especially when I added to that pain almost daily. I swallow down the bile threatening to come up again because this is a clusterfuck and I’m reeling. I hurt my baby when she didn’t even do anything…

Rightnow I’m afraid that there’s nothing I can do to fix this, fix us and that thought alone is soul shattering. She’ll never forgive me, not after what I’ve done…

Itune in to the conversation again, just in time to hear them tell her how much my father paid them to destroy our lives and, in this moment, I want nothing more than to destroy my father for everything that he’s caused and everything he made me lose.

Howcould my own fucking father do this to me? The betrayal stings and just thinking of the word betrayal makes me think of how I betrayed Winter and I feel like I should just fucking shoot myself in the head for all the pain and agony I caused her. Maybe then she’ll be at peace. At least if she was, it would be worth it.

ThenI feel ashamed because I basically did the same thing to her. I betrayed her and recorded it, and now it’s online for fucking everyone to see. Just then, a thought hits me. Fuck! After everything that’s just come to light, I know without a doubt that it was my father who leaked it because he has access to the television system which is connected to the entire house and since the video was there for a few hours, he could have gotten it at any time before I showed it to her and then deleted it. Motherfucker! How the hell could I have been so fucking careless? Oh, that’s right, I wasn’t fucking thinking.

ThenI hear them blame her for their actions because she had so much money and they didn’t. I’m instantly angry. Like, what the fuck?

Shesounds absolutely gutted and broken when I hear her tell them that she would have helped them, had they only asked. Now it’s my turn to feel absolutely gutted and broken when I hear this guy’s next words to her.

“If he loved you, then he wouldn’t have doubted you, no matter what he saw. Didn’t you explain it to him?” he asks her.

“That may be the smartest thing you’ve ever said. I guess he didn’t love me then because he fucking ruined me because of your actions!” she cries out and that’s what finally gets me up onto my feet again. I wipe my mouth and move, but by the time I’m out from behind the mausoleum, she’s already halfway out of the cemetery, running toward where her car is parked.

“You good, bro?” Hunter asks.

“No. I’m not fucking good, dickhead! I royally fucked up the best thing in my life because of lies and fuck! You were right, man. I don’t fucking deserve her,” I say as we both start to make our way out of the cemetery and back toward the car.

Hunterdrives this time since I don’t think I can with the state I’m currently in. He drives fast until we catch up to her with only a few cars between us, following her back in the direction of the hotel.

“Do you have anywhere where you can hold those two?” I ask Hunter and he eyes me with a raised eyebrow.

Ididn’t even think about them as we were leaving the cemetery because all I wanted was her. But now that I’ve had some time to think, I realize that I don’t want them to get away with this. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have done all the shit I did. Granted, I know I’m also at fault here and the blame isn’t solely on them.

“What do you have in mind?” he asks.

“I’m going to fucking murder them, but I’m going to make it hurt a little first,” I say with all the seriousness I can muster.

“And you’re fine with admitting that to me?” he asks.

“Come on, man. Don’t even play. I know all about your MC, the illegal fighting ring that you’re running, which isn’t even the only one you have, and your brother and his friends are assassins, so…” I trail off while he’s grinning like an idiot.

“Done your research, I see,” he says with a smile. “And yes, I do have somewhere to hold those assholes. I already texted my men to get them for me. They did fuck with my sister after all, so I have some stakes in this pony show here.”

Whenwe get to the hotel, Hunter walks straight for the elevators and we head up to her floor. He takes a key for her suite out of his pockets. I don’t even bother to ask him how he got that shit. My main concern is getting to her right now. There’s no telling what she’ll do when she’s in this state after everything she just heard.

Wewalk into the suite and don’t see her, but then I hear the shower running, and I make my way in that direction. I gently push open the bathroom door so as not to spook her, but she doesn’t even hear me because she’s sitting on the shower floor sobbing. She’s under the spray, shivering, and I quickly walk in and turn it off.

Devastatedhazel eyes look up at me, and all I want to do is hold her. Her long waist length blonde hair is wet. Though this is her natural hair color, she had it black for some time. I love her blonde hair better since it suits her more and I was glad when she changed it back a couple of weeks ago. Her face is scrunched up with pain filling her eyes. It’s not as round as it used to be. It’s sunken in a bit. She’s lost a lot of weight, and I hate the fact that that’s my fault as well.

“I don’t want you here. Leave,” she says in a voice that sounds cold and dead. I instantly don’t like hearing her sounding like this. It doesn’t suit my angel.

Iignore her words and lift her up into my arms and out of the shower before placing her on the bathroom counter. I grab the towel and start to dry her skin before placing a robe over her.

Mytouch is gentle and I see the moment a flash of something a lot like agony washes over her because in the next instant she’s jumping off the counter and running out of the bathroom. I follow after her and we end up in the living room, where she’s sobbing and clinging onto Hunter for dear life.

“I want him to leave!” she cries to Hunter. He looks up at me with a torn expression on his face. He knows how I feel about her and what I’d do to keep her. But he also made me agree to his demands before we left and he’ll cater to her needs no matter what and right now she needs me to leave.

“Fuck that shit! You’re mine, babe, and I’m never giving up on you. You’re my whole fucking world and I can’t live without you!” I tell her, but it seems like my words just make her more upset.

“You were living fine without me when you were making my life hell for something that I didn’t even do,” she whispers through broken sobs.

“I-I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t know,” I whisper out, my voice sounding just as broken as hers does.

“I kept telling you that I didn’t betray you! ThatI was sorry! ThatI never cheated on you! I fucking begged you to believe me and all you did was call me a fucking liar, a whore, and a slut! Do you remember all the sick and twisted shit you did to me? I’ve never hated you more in my fucking life than I do right now, MasonKing! I despise you!” she screams at me and even though I deserve all her pain and anger, her words cut me deep as fuck as she flings them my way.

Shethrows more of her words, her pain and her anguish at me and I stand there and take them all because I deserve them.

“I don’t fucking care what you say right now because I know you’re in pain. You’ll always be mine and I will fight tooth and nail to keep you, even if I have to fight you for you,” I finally growl at her before pulling her out of Hunter’s arms and slamming my lips down on hers. I just need her to remember how it feels every time our lips are on each other’s.

Shemelts into me for a moment, but when she catches herself, she wrenches away from me. She stomps away and goes to her room, and, like the sap I am, I follow behind her. She pulls something out of a safe before walking back toward me and slamming the envelope against my chest.

“Here, read that if you want to know what happened to your mother,” she says before walking away and leaving me standing there with a puzzled expression on my face.

Withoutthinking, I rip into the envelope she just gave me and start to read. I see some pictures and go for those first. There are some of her mother and my father with a doctor in Ravenwood. WhenI begin to read the report, the picture gets clearer. My father was the one who got my mother sick. Whatever he was giving her, and that was what eventually killed her.

Myentire world crumbles as I read all the shit he’s done over the years and I feel sick. I can’t believe that the man I call a father could or even would do such a thing, and I had no fucking clue.

Istumble out of the room on shaky legs to ask Winter where she got these from, but I don’t see her. I instantly panic because when she disappears, nothing good is ever the outcome.

“Winter!” I yell as I start searching the suite. She isn’t anywhere here. Hunter comes out of one of the rooms looking concerned.

“She’s not in there with you, is she?”

“No.”

“Then she’s fucking gone!” I shout.

“What the fuck? Why didn’t you keep an eye on her?” he shouts. “Okay, no need to panic! Let me just look up her location.”

“She gave me some papers that just flipped my whole fucking world upside down, so I was a bit preoccupied!” I snap.

Wewere both occupied, so I have no idea how long ago she left. I was engrossed with the papers she gave me and I thought she was in the living room. I didn’t think she’d leave.

“Got it! She’s just outside the city, heading for the country area,” he says before we both sprint for the door. We get in the car and begin to follow her. A few moments later, Hunter looks at his phone again to make sure that we’re on the right track. “That’s weird. She just stopped.”

“Maybe she stopped to get her bearings together since she knows she’s not supposed to drive when she’s like this,” I say, hoping that I’m right. Either way, he steps on the gas. Ten minutes later we come to a screeching stop where her location stopped and is still pinging from and he’s barely in park before we’re both hopping out of the car.

Theguardrail is busted open and when we run over to that spot, we see her car at the bottom of the small hill. Hunter and I make our way down as fast as we can to get to her. We don’t know what state she’s in. The car isn’t too banged up, so I’m hoping she isn’t injured too badly.

Thoughwhen we make it to her car, it’s empty and there’s no sign of her. We quickly look around the surrounding area in case she tried to crawl away from the car to go find help or something and passed out maybe, but the only thing we find is her necklace in the grass.

There’sno Winter here.

She’sjust gone…