Chapter Thirty-Five
Why are the lights off?
I stare at the house as we pull up. I glance at the time on the clock. I was supposed to take her to Henry and Lydia today. But today is actually yesterday. I dropped the fucking ball on Emma.
“She’s gonna be so pissed,” I groan.
“I tried to send her messages,” Jude tells me. “She shut down the computer.”
“I’m so fucked.”
“You talk about her like you’re…” Henry’s voice trails off as the garage door opens. And at first, I don’t understand. But when I follow his gaze, and I see my empty garage, I feel the strong urge to vomit all over again.
“She left,” I growl, I reach for the passenger side door of Henry’s Mercedes. I forget about my concussion and whatever I was drugged with. Fuck this. Fuck Ivan. Fuck Emma. I kick the door open so hard Henry curses, but I don’t care.
I tear out of the car, ignoring the throbbing in my head. “Emma!” I don’t know why I shout her name. I don’t know why I run into the house searching for a woman I know I won’t find.
I walk into the quiet kitchen and see the untouched note on the counter. I go straight for it and tear it to fucking shreds.
“You don’t know that she left on her own free will,” Jude says quickly as he and Henry enter behind me.
“They were all there with me. Ivan didn’t give a shit about her. It wasn’t about her,” I roar, heading for the stairs. However, halfway up, I realize something is all wrong. “Major!” I shout, my heart skipping multiple beats. Not my dog. Where’s my dog?
“Major!” I hear Jude calling from behind me, a tinge of panic in his voice. I tear through the bedroom, and as soon as I enter, I see the nightstand drawer open. The closet light is still on in the bathroom. I go to my nightstand, grunting with frustration as I immediately notice the keys and cash missing.
Emma, you little…
Anger tears through my chest. After fucking everything, she splits out from under me without a freaking word of notice.
“She left on her own,” I spin around as Jude and Henry enter the bedroom. “She fucking left me.”
“She may have just panicked,” Jude says in a calm voice. “You said you left her a note. Did you leave it where she’d see it for sure?”
“I put it on the counter,” I exasperate. “Of course, she saw it.” But I don’t actually know that for sure. I don’t know anything for sure right now.
“I’ll call Lydia,” Henry says. “She needs to know she’s alive, anyway.”
“Don’t yet,” Jude instructs. “We need to figure out where she is. She has no phone.”
“And my dog,” I groan. “Why would she take my dog?”
“Maybe she didn’t want to leave him here alone, and maybe she’s coming back.” Jude reaches out and squeezes my shoulder, but I swat him away. “That Tahoe has a tracker on it, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, of course, it does.”
“Big secrets,” Henry drawls as he follows us to the cave. “You two kept big secrets.”
“Shut the fuck up, Henry,” I snap. “You act like you didn’t stalk and basically kidnap your wife in order for her to be with you.”
“And you kept yours in the basement,” Jude reasons.
Henry’s eyes grow wide. “You kept her in the basement?!”
I give him a weary look as I punch in the code to the door. “Just until I knew she wouldn’t try to run.” I push down on the lever, and step inside, only to freeze as I flip on the light.
“Holy shit,” Jude says what we’re all thinking.
My system is fucked.
“Damn, female rage is brutal,” Henry mutters. “You must’ve really pissed her off.”
“There’s no way to track the Tahoe now.” Defeat crushes my chest. “Why the fuck would she do this to me?”
“If she didn’t see the note…” Jude steps across the mess, swooping up a monitor and the keyboard. “She might’ve thought… I don’t know. I told you she was unhinged.”
“This is not the Emma that Lydia describes,” Henry says as Jude picks up the pieces and sets them on the desk. “Not even close.”
“She’s come out of her shell, apparently.” I grab the mouse from the floor and take it to Jude’s pile. He’s going to try to patch the system back together to get a track on the Tahoe. But deep down…
I already know where she’s going.
And she’s taking my fucking dog with her.
The alleged betrayal cuts like a fucking knife, but I force a breath. I don’t know for sure if she’s going to him. She could be going to talk to her attorney. She could just need to get away for a while. Maybe she’s just mad and needs to cool off.
“I think this will work,” Jude hums as he kicks on the power. The screen is cracked, but much to my relief and anticipation, it kicks on. “I doubt she knew that doing this would make it harder to track her.”
“I wonder how long ago she left,” Henry comments, leaning against the wall. “She must be one hell of a woman to live here with you, Luca.”
I ignore him as I glance up at the clock. “She easily could’ve been gone for… thirty hours? That’s if she left not long after I did. But I don’t know when she left. I don’t know anything.” And as I admit it, worry rocks my chest. This is bad.
“Where do you think she’s headed?” Jude turns to me as the computer powers on. “You know her better than any of us—Lydia included,” he adds. “Sorry Henry. It’s just true.”
I swallow the hurt that comes with what I have to say. “She’s probably going to Jared. I don’t know why…”
“Closure,” Jude says thoughtfully. “I bet she wants closure.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’d do to whoever thought they’d kill me.” Henry shrugs. “I bet the shock value on the asshole’s face will feel really good.”
“He could hurt her,” the words spill out of my mouth with a sick feeling. “We need to get a plane ready.”
“I’ll get one ready.” Henry gives me a nod. He pulls out his phone and steps out of the room, leaving me to pace and Jude to curse at the computer.
“Why the fuck would she do this?”
“Why the hell wouldn’t she?” Jude makes a face at me.
“She was so fucking adamant about me not touching him,” I growl, rage boiling up and making head grow light. “She loves him.”
“Or she hates him, and she wants to confront him. Again, closure. It’s not really about her feelings. It’s about the fact that he hired someone to kill her, and I don’t think love has anything to do with it—maybe a little—but not because she loves him. I think she wants to hear his answers.”
“I would’ve taken her,” I exasperate. “I would’ve helped her and kept her safe while she did whatever she needed to do. She chose to do it this way. She’s choosing him.”
“You’re so fucking blind,” Jude mutters as he clicks through the computer. “She’s two hours from his house. And that’s the address she has plugged into the system.”
“Call the car,” I demand, my heart thrumming in my ears. “Call the fucking car.” She’s running right back to him.
“I don’t know if this will connect to the system in the car anymore. It’s taken heavy damage.” He grabs the headset, and fumbles with the connector.
“Plane will be ready by the time we get there,” Henry steps in. “But it’ll still take almost four hours of flight time. I have Lydia on the way there now. She’ll be waiting for us.”
“Almost connected,” Jude mutters, clicking away. “I should be able to make this happen. Here we go!” Jude pumps a fist into the air. “It’s ringing.”
My heart squeezes but the feeling is replaced by the rage of betrayal. Nothing she can say will fix the fact she didn’t fucking wait. Emma has to pay for this. She will pay for this. I’ll make sure of it. This must be why Victor warned me about love.
“You can keep calling her, but I’m going,” I growl, growing numb. “And I’ll fucking kill her for this.”