Chapter Twenty-Eight
Link
THREE WEEKS HAVE passed and Annistyn still hasn’t gone back to the compound.
The guys have all been acting weird when I ask them what’s going on and if they’ve looked for her at all.
None of them have a concrete answer and change the subject almost immediately the second I bring Annistyn up.
Especially Viper. I know he feels responsible for Annistyn’s disappearance and has been blaming himself.
He’s starting to withdraw and spends most of his time alone when he’s not at work on the ranch.
Master did tell me about a job helping out there because one of the women there is leaving an abusive relationship and her ex has shown up in the middle of the night a few times.
None of the guys have been able to catch him at this point and at least three of them are on the ranch around the clock.
Manic has apparently been spending most of his time there while Force has taken over the running of Feral Fights in his absence.
If I were home, I’d be helping out every single day because what Roger and the other staff members are doing is great and something I will support no matter what.
I try calling Annistyn every single day even though I know her phone was left at the house.
It won’t be a home again until she’s back where she belongs.
I know I won’t spend much time there because I’ll envision her in every single room she spent time in.
I’m not even home and I see her constantly.
Even when I’m sitting alone in my mom’s living room.
This is someplace Annistyn has never been and I still imagine her walking up to me and letting me know everything will be okay.
That my mom will get better and heal and she’ll come home to me when I get back. I seriously doubt that.
Cali and Caleb have gone back to Glendale.
They’re giving me time to spend with my mom and make sure she has everything she needs before I leave her again.
When I talk to either one of them, they avoid anything about Annistyn.
The first time I brought her up with Cali, she cried on the phone and wondered what she’d done to ever make her feel as if she were a burden.
Caleb and I explained that she did nothing wrong, it’s simply how Annistyn thinks because of her past and the way she’s been treated by everyone who was supposed to love and protect her.
So, I try not to bring her up if I’m on the phone with Cali because I don’t want to hear her cry again.
I’ve never liked a woman crying and Cali is even worse because she’s my best friend.
Caleb simply ignores anything I say about Annistyn.
Yes, he’s my best friend and will usually talk for hours about anything I want.
Annistyn is the only exception to this rule.
This tells me he knows something and isn’t willing to share that information with me.
I’m hurt by this knowledge, but until I know what’s going on, I can’t blame him.
The kids aren’t happy they don’t get to see Annistyn from what Caleb has told me.
A few days ago they couldn’t find Dakota anywhere in the house.
He rushed outside while calling every member of the club to search for her.
Kylan is actually the one who found his twin.
She was sitting in one of the rocking chairs on my porch crying.
When Caleb walked up to his twins, Dakota told him she was waiting for Auntie because she missed her.
My heart shattered once again because I made one of the best little girls in the world have her first broken heart because I was selfish and didn’t take the time to place a call to the love of my life.
Yes, Annistyn is the love of my life. Bryce and Rory refuse to talk to me now when I call.
They rush out of the room and pretend to be doing other things.
Not only do I miss Annistyn every damn day, I miss the kids I’ve spent every day with.
My mom is doing really well. She spends her days relaxing and going out to lunch or small shopping trips with Sam.
She’s started to take a nap during the day for an hour or so and is allowing her body to heal this time instead of rushing back to work.
Playboy told her in no uncertain terms she would not be allowed to return until the doctor cleared her completely.
Every day, my mom takes her vitamins and I can already see an improvement in her.
She has more color in her face, eats more, and has more energy.
The reason for her nap during the day is usually because she’s stayed up later than normal with me.
Yes, she’s still disappointed in me about the situation with Annistyn and still tries to find some way to contact her.
I’ve told her Annistyn left the house and compound behind.
That she doesn’t have the phone I bought her.
My mom still tries calling her every single day.
I’ve tried to contact Roger a few more times and he has yet to answer his phone.
I haven’t even gotten a message from him.
I thought we were becoming friends, but I understand his need to be there for his cousin and protect her.
Even if it’s from me because I’ve hurt her so badly.
I just want to know she’s safe at this point.
The need to know she’s still working on herself and still eating instead of sliding back to where she was consumes me.
I’ve sent Roger a message explaining all of this and I know he’s read it. He just won’t respond to me.
Tank has called me a few more times over the last three weeks.
He checks on my mom and then chews me a new ass about Annistyn.
He told me flat out that they know where she is but he won’t tell me anything about her.
The only reason Maddie and him haven’t driven to Glendale to bring her home with them is because that’s not what she wants.
She told them exactly what she wants and is taking steps to move forward with her life.
That’s the only thing he’ll tell me. I have no clue what the hell that means, but it sent me spiraling.
I drank until I couldn’t stand and passed out on my mom’s couch with the bottle still in my hand.
Now, I’m finally back in Glendale. The first night I was home, I tried to go to my house.
I made it as far as the front door before I froze.
Knowing Annistyn wouldn’t be inside with some random show on the TV or music playing while she worked or cooked made it impossible to open the door and step inside.
For hours I just stood on the porch, staring at the door as if it held all the answers I needed.
Caleb and Viper found me standing there.
It took some time, but they managed to get me away from the house and to the clubhouse.
I wanted to drown my sorrows, but I remained sober.
Caleb and I sat at our usual table in the back of the common room with Viper and Master.
None of them talked to me as I stared straight ahead without seeing anything around me.
Stepping out of the garage on my break, I pull out my phone and call Roger. I doubt he’ll answer, but I have to try. I won’t stop until I hear from him my girl is okay. That she’s safe somewhere and won’t be hurt by my lack of actions.
“What do you want, Link?” Roger answers his phone, the tone of his voice annoyed as I pull it away from my ear and look at the screen because I’m surprised he actually answered the phone.
“Where is my Pixie, Roger?” I ask him after the shock wears off and I can find my voice again.
“Your Pixie? Are you fucking kidding me with that shit, Link?” he questions and I know he’s got a glare on his face even if I’m not in front of him.
Roger doesn’t take kindly to anyone hurting his cousin and will defend her until he takes his last breath.
“You fucked up, Link. Broke something in my cousin that I don’t know how you’ll ever fix it.
Everyone in that club broke something in her because they treated her like an outsider.
For the first time since you rescued her, she felt as if she were back with her aunt and uncle.
That she was a burden to everyone there. ”
“What? Why would she feel that way?” I ask, shock filling my voice as I come to a complete stop in the middle of the parking lot.
“Are you fucking dumb, Link? Annistyn put herself out there and was getting to know the men in the club. She was opening herself up because she knows how important the club and those men are to you. Annistyn understands how you feel about every man there and knows they are your chosen family. Even on the days she was scared to be surrounded by so many large men, Annistyn still made an attempt to stay at the clubhouse for you. When you didn’t come home and she was scared something happened to you, she walked to the clubhouse on her own and walked into a sex fest. Something she’s never witnessed before because that’s how much you mean to her.
“Instead of answering her question about where you were, she was told she wasn’t an ol’ lady and no one would tell her anything.
Every single man there has heard you call her yours and yet they treated her as if the Feral girls are more important than she is.
At least that’s how she felt because the girls are there constantly and they know more about you than she does.
It broke something in her soul and there is no coming back from that, Link,” Roger says with anger filling his voice and I realize how badly I fucked up with my Pixie.
“Is she okay, Roger? Is she still eatin’ and doin’ what she has to do for herself?” I question him, walking again toward the picnic table we have under a tree.