Chapter 3
LOCKE
Fuck. What was I thinking?
Inviting a girl here. Letting my guard down. And… she’s gone?
I reach for the other side of the bed, but all I feel are ice-cold sheets. Part of me expected her to still be asleep, wrapped up in the blankets. I even had my “I’m heading back to LA” excuse ready to go. Instead, all I’m left with is a faint trace of her perfume on the pillow.
A quiet laugh slips out of me.
She left first.
Bold. I’ll give her that.
I rub my eyes and sit up, noticing the sun high in the sky through the window. I overslept. Too much whiskey and the events of last night hit me harder than I thought.
I need a shower.
I step in, twisting the handle just enough to shock myself awake. The water needles down my skin; it clears the fog the whiskey left behind, but not the memory of her. Her nails making trails down my back, her mouth against mine, her arching into me.
Most women linger. Hoping for a second round, a breakfast invitation, some excuse to stay in my orbit a little longer. To take advantage of my status… or my wallet. That’s why I stopped trying. But her? She slipped out as if she had never even been here.
I turn off the water and step out, feeling marginally more awake. My ego should feel fine about this. Hell, I should be relieved. But something about it doesn’t sit right. No one has ever walked away from me first.
I quickly run a towel through my hair before knotting it around my waist as I turn toward the dresser. Still trying to wrap my mind around the audacity of this woman. My hand reaches for the watch I remember leaving here last night but brushes against smooth wood instead.
I shake my head. I really overdid it last night. The watch must be somewhere else. My eyes scan the room, snagging on every surface. The nightstand is empty, and so is the desk. Surely, I would have remembered putting it in the safe.
I blink, then blink again. My heart is hammering in my chest now. I left my cross right next to my watch last night, and my new knife. These aren’t things I would carelessly misplace. I know where I left them, and now they’re gone.
And so is she.
The realization creeps in, curling tight around my ribs, making it hard to breathe. She knew exactly what she was doing.
A low, humorless chuckle slips past my lips before I can stop it. I’m not angry. Not really. I’m actually kind of impressed. The sheer nerve she must possess to do this to someone like me.
The watch and knife are replaceable. The chain… that’s different. That’s a line she shouldn’t have crossed.
I should be pissed; any normal person probably would’ve called the cops by now. That thought doesn’t even cross my mind.
I drag a hand through my damp hair, letting my thoughts settle. Then I move toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, admiring the city stretching out beneath me and the beginnings of traffic in the morning haze.
Where did she go? The question gnaws at me, sinking in deeper with every second of silence. How far could she be by now? My jaw aches as my teeth clench together, and I pace alongside the massive windows. She thinks she slipped away. But no one slips away from me. At least, not for long.
That truth steadies me. I will find her. Because I don’t lose, I don’t get played. The tightness in my chest eases.
This isn’t over. Not even close.
And I will see her again.