4
I’m sat on the sofa in Gage’s living room, holding the same beer I’ve been nursing for over an hour. I’ve spent more time in the main house these past couple of weeks than in the time I’ve been working for Gage.
I want to be here in case there’s any news or if they need my help. Somehow I feel closer to her here. I met her for the very first time in this house when she literally crashed into my life, head-butting me in the chest and since then, my heart has beat only for her.
I shouldn’t want her, and for over a year I’ve convinced myself that I’m okay with the thought that she’ll never be mine, but not anymore. Not since that kiss at her birthday party months ago. In all my years, I have never experienced a kiss like that and I knew in that moment there was no going back. No amount of distance I put between us will ever be big enough, because I always find my way back to her.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t notice when Reese, Rafe’s girlfriend, takes a seat next to me, flicking her flaming red hair from her face as she draws her knees up under herself.
“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?” she asks with an empty smile.
“Is it that obvious?” Am I that easy to read?
Her lips twist. “I think about her a lot too, not in the same way, obviously.”
“And that’s supposed to mean…?”
She cocks her head. “Come on Alec, you think we’re all so blind that we don’t see it. You’re in love with her.”
She must see a flash of panic in my eyes at her question, because she lays her hand on top of mine. “It’s okay, I won’t tell. But I always noticed how you’d look at her, how your eyes would always find her, even in a crowded room. Always so protective.”
“Didn’t do a very good job though, did I?”
“You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Alec. You couldn’t have known that man would take her and—” I know exactly where her mind went because her chin starts to wobble. “I miss her so much. You know, sometimes I go into her room, her things are just as she left them… and I… I just cry.” Her voice cracks as she buries her face in her hands.
“Reese, hey. Look at me.” I pull her hands away and her eyes lift to mine. “I swear to you, I’m going to do everything I can to find her. Even if I have to go to the depths of hell to find her, I’ll bring her home.”
A tear slips down her face as a sad smile touches her mouth. “She’s not going to be the same is she?”
I shake my head slowly. “No. But she’s strong, she’ll overcome what happened to her with time and we’ll all be there for her to help her through it.”
A sniffle catches both of our attention and we spin around to find Ivy, Rafe’s five year-old daughter standing in the doorway, tears pouring from her eyes.
“Ivy?” Reese jumps up from the sofa and rushes to her, lifting her into her arms and bringing her back to the sofa to sit on her lap. “Sweetheart, what happened?” Reese asks, brushing the little girl’s raven hair from her face.
“I was playing a game on Daddy’s phone”—Sniff—“and a message popped up so I clicked it and there was a picture of Auntie Sierra.”
“What?” Reese and I say in unison, our eyes meeting in a shared look of terror.
“Auntie Si was crying,” she continues, before she begins to wail. “Is she okay? I want Auntie Si. I miss her. Why was she crying?”
“It’s okay, baby.” Reese’s attempts to calm Ivy only fuel her cries as she buries her face in Reese’s neck.
“Ivy, where’s the phone now?” I ask.
She sniffs, rubbing her eyes with her hands. “The kitchen.”
I bolt to the kitchen, finding the phone lying discarded on the marble counter top. The photo in question fills the screen and my stomach rolls, my footsteps faltering. I know exactly what I’m seeing, but my brain refuses to process it.
Having not heard anything from Austin for over three days, I’d allowed myself to hope that it meant he wasn’t doing anything to hurt her but with the silence I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried. Relieved that she might have had a moment’s peace, or worried that Austin had done something she couldn’t come back from. At least with a photo, it proved she was still alive.
But as I stare down at the photo in front of me, and as much as I hate to even think it, a deep dark part of my mind wonders if she’d be better off dead.
“Alec?” Reese asks, coming to a stop behind me. She must have left Ivy in the living room to come and find me. She peers over my shoulder and gasps, her hand flying up to cover her mouth to stifle a cry.
It’s a close up of Sierra’s face. Her beautiful toffee brown eyes are red and raw, tears staining her face as the unmistakable shape of a penis stuffs her mouth, choking her. Her eyes bore into the camera, like a silent plea for help. Like she knew we’d see the photo.
There’s a caption attached to the picture. It reads: Your Hudson whore takes cock so well.
I dial the number that sent the photo and unsurprisingly, it’s no longer recognised.
I drop the phone onto the counter and lean against it, letting my head hang forward as I breathe out a heavy breath to quell some of the rage surging through my veins, but it’s no use.
A heavy red cloud descends over me, filling every single cell in my body, and before I realise I’m doing it, Rafe’s phone is in my hand and I’m smashing it against the marble. Shards fly in every direction as the crunch of glass and metal fills the space. I’m unstoppable.
Reese is somewhere behind me crying as I smash the phone over and over again until all that’s left is a million tiny pieces. I don’t stop until there’s nothing left in my hand but a dozen tiny cuts in my palm.
No one will ever see that photo again. Reese, Ivy and I will have to live with that image forever, but no one else ever will. Not if I can help it.
“A—Alec?” Reese’s voice is hesitant as a gentle hand touches my arm.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No it—it’s fine. I get it. I just… Sierra—” Reese’s voice cracks and without thinking, I wrap her in a hug and she clings to me. “Bring her home, Alec. Please bring her home.”
My jaw clenches, my teeth grinding. “I will. I promise.”
I’ll bring her home, or die trying.
We both turn as the sound of footsteps enter the kitchen but come to a halt. Rafe stands in the doorway wearing a frown, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Reese.
“What’s going on?” Rafe’s eyes drop to the floor where what’s left of his phone lies in tiny pieces. “Is that my phone? What’s happening?”
“We’re running out of time, that’s what’s happening,” I say, slapping the black silicone case that once held Rafe’s phone in his hand as I storm out of the kitchen without another word.
I’ve got to get out of here.