32. ZANE
ZANE
I stir awake, feeling confused when my arms feel a bit too empty. Usually, when we sleep, Ava is wrapped around me like a clingy koala bear. With a sleepy groan, I reach out to her side of the bed and come up blank. Puzzled, I’m forced to open my eyes and sure enough, I’m alone in bed.
The sun rays streaming through the curtain let me know that it’s been morning for a while, and the alarm clock confirms it. No wonder she’s gone—it’s ten AM.
I can’t remember the last time I slept in like this, but I blame the pain medication given to me at the hospital—they’re equal to tranquilizers. I took some after dinner with Ava yesterday, and I don’t remember much after that. I do remember the incredible sex we had in the bathroom though.
A jab of pain sears through me when I try to get out of bed.
I knew this leg injury was going to be a hindrance.
I wasn’t in this much pain yesterday, and I know I did this to myself.
I shouldn’t have tried to be macho and have sex in that position after leg surgery, but it was so worth it.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat—hell, I’ll be doing it again soon.
Recalling that the bottle of pills is in the kitchen, I drag myself out of bed, limping all the way to the other room. My breakfast is in the microwave as always, so I decide to eat first before I take the painkillers.
My cabin door slams open just as I’m swallowing my pills, startling me, and they nearly go down the wrong pipe. Ella storms in, completely ignoring me as she rushes to the bedroom. I hear multiple doors open and close as if she’s on a treasure hunt.
“I miss the days when you were too scared to come in here,” I call out.
She walks back into the kitchen, out of breath, her eyes wide and red as if she’s been crying.
“Is everything okay? If you tell me what you’re looking for, I’ll help you search or just tell you where it is,” I offer.
“Is she here?” she asks, her voice cracking.
“Who? If you’re playing hide and seek with Daisy again, this is the last place she would hide,” I answer, wondering why that would make her cry.
“Not Daisy, you fool—Ava. Is Ava here?!” she repeats, a bit louder and more terrified.
I set the glass of water down when I realize that she’s not playing around.
“No, I thought she was with you,” I reply.
Ella gets even more hysterical. “Oh God! She’s really gone.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, but she’s too busy freaking out to answer me. I approach her and grab her arms, shaking some sense into her. “What do you mean she’s gone?”
“Ava’s bedroom is empty. I thought she moved her stuff here to be closer to you, but it seems not,” she explains, more tears falling down her cheeks.
No! This cannot be. Ava wouldn’t just leave like that, not without telling me.
“Call her,” I demand, trying to think where my phone is.
“You don’t think that was the first thing I tried? Her phone is off,” she replies, then turns to me with an accusing gaze. “What did you do?”
Her allegations don’t sit right with me. “What do you mean, what did I do? Nothing.”
“You must have done something—she wouldn’t leave without telling me unless you did something to upset her,” she insists.
“I didn’t do shit,” I yell, hating that I have to defend myself in the first place.
Or did I?
“What did you guys do last night when she brought you the fruit bowl?”
I think back to how wonderful yesterday was. “We had sex in the shower—“
She holds her hand up to stop me. “TMI.”
“You asked.”
She rolls her eyes at me and urges me to go on. “After that?”
“We cuddled in bed watching a movie, had dinner, and slept,” I summarize before she accuses me of saying too much.
“And?”
“I woke up alone in bed, but I thought she was in the main house because I had overslept.”
“So you really didn’t do anything?”
I think back and come up blank. Ava did seem a bit off, but she’s been like that for days, so I thought it was just her usual blues. I didn’t think she was planning on leaving me while I slept.
“Are you sure she’s really gone?” I ask, clearly in denial.
“Where else could she be?”
“Let’s go check the camera footage from last night,” I suggest.
“Good idea,” Ella agrees, turning to leave.
By the time I grab my crutches and get outside, she’s already halfway to the house.
“Keep up, slowpoke,” she yells after me.
“I don’t know if you recall, but I broke my leg,” I shout back.
When I make it to the security room in the basement, that’s accessible with the elevator Jace had installed for himself, they’re already watching the footage.
“She actually left,” Ella cries as we watch Ava get into a cab at four AM.
My jaw clenches in anger when it dawns on me that she really did leave. Why? I thought we were happy? About to be happier after I proposed.
“How did no one hear any of this?” I grit out, turning to Jace and Ella, who live right here in the main house.
She has more than two bags, plus her guitar, and had to make three trips. How did they sleep through all that?
“It was four in the morning, and you didn’t hear her leave your side,” Jace scoffs.
“I was knocked out by the pain meds. What’s your excuse?” I retort.
“I didn’t expect anyone would be leaving the house that early,” he ripostes.
“No one is to blame—she must have left for a reason, so you need to go after her,” Ella demands, turning to me.
“No,” I reply, turning to leave the security room.
She chases after me. “Why not? Why are you so heartless?”
“Did we just watch the same video? She left without saying goodbye in the middle of the night—does that look like someone who wants to be chased after?!”
She gets in the elevator with me, biting on her nails before she looks up, having gotten an idea. “What if her family got to her? They might be blackmailing her.”
That’s a huge possibility, but it doesn’t excuse her leaving without saying anything.
“Then she should have stayed and told me—she knew she was safe with me!” I bellow.
“Zane, please,” Ella pleads just as the elevator doors slide open.
We step out and run into Beck.
“I just heard. I’m so sorry, dude,” he expresses.
I ignore him, brushing past him, headed back to my cabin. I need to be alone so I can process all this.
“Beck, make him go after her,” I hear Ella beg him.
He better not try.
He does speak up, his next words stopping me in my tracks. “Ryder delivered.”
I turn to him slowly. “Really?”
“Yes, they arrived well-packaged earlier this morning. They’re in the gym,” he explains.
“Perfect—I’ve got some anger to work out,” I grit out as I change my direction.
“What is he talking about? What did Ryder deliver?” Ella questions as she follows Beck and me to my burned-up gym.
I haven’t had time to fix it yet, and I probably won’t. There’s no point since I won’t be needing it ever again—my riding days are over, for good this time.
Two of my ranch hands are watching the door, and they step aside, opening it to let us in. The room still smells like smoke even though it’s been more than a week since the accident. The fire was localized to the area around the mechanical bull, so the rest of my equipment is still intact.
I’m not here for an inspection though—my focus is on the three sacks at the corner of the room.
Ella gasps behind me since it’s clear those are bodies in there.
“Are they who I think they are?” she whispers.
“Yes,” Beck confirms for her.
I snap my fingers at him, and he quickly jumps into action, pulling the three sacks to the middle of the room. He unties the knots, and three heads pop out, all gagged, beaten up black and blue.
Two days ago, I called Ryder and asked him to track down Ava’s family for me.
The police were taking too long, and I couldn’t stand to see Ava live with so much fear because of them.
In the end, they’ve won because she’s ended up leaving me.
It looks like Ryder had his fun with them before delivering them to me.
“Cole!” I call out to one of the ranch hands by the door.
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring me a welding torch.”
My words cause their eyes to widen in fear, which is exactly what I’m going for.
“Yes, sir.”
I set my crutches aside and turn to my sister. “El, you might want to leave for this part.”
“You’re not gonna kill them, are you?” she whispers fearfully.
“They tried to kill me twice and almost succeeded. He stalked your best friend for a year, making her life a living hell to the point where she almost starved herself to death, and she tortured Ava her whole life. Do you really care if I do?” I ask, pointing to each individual.
“You’re right—they belong in hell,” she spits at them. “But I don’t want to watch.”
She kicks Estevan on her way out, which makes Beck laugh. It looks like he’s sticking around.
Cole comes back with the welding torch, and after he sets it up for me, I dismiss him—it’s better if there are no witnesses to this. I crouch in front of them and watch their eyes widen in dread as I switch on the flames.
“You really thought I’d let you get away with attempting to kill me? I’ve got to give it to you though—how you managed to sneak into the ranch is still a mystery, so kudos to you. But you should have stopped there. Releasing Brutus from the bucking chute was a step too far.”
I should have listened to Ava when she warned me about her family coming after me, but since I was lucky to escape with my life after both attempts, I’m going to make them pay.
“This is for trying to kill me and for all that you did to Ava. Now, who would like to go first?” I ask them—not like they can answer.
They try shuffling back, but they’re tied so tight, they can’t move.
“How about you, the rapist,” I say as I turn to Estevan, who has new injuries on top of the ones I’d already inflicted on him.
Nothing they can say will make me go easier on them, so I don’t bother removing their gags. I also want to keep the noises they’ll make to a minimum.
True to my word, I start with Estevan, burning off his eyebrows, eyelashes, and patches of his hair. His father is next, and I leave Ava’s mother for last.
By the time I’m done with all three, they have pissed, shit, and thrown up all over themselves, but I don’t care. I leave them without a single hair on their bodies, and I’m surprised that they’re still alive at this point.
“What do we do with them?” Beck asks after taking a turn on them as well.
“Have Duncan drop them off with the police. I’d love to end them right here, but they’re not worth going down for murder. Call the family lawyer as well—make sure they’re charged with Ava’s harassment and attempted murder,” I reply before exiting the gym.
It feels good, having exacted revenge on them like that. They’ll try pinning their assault on us, but our lawyer will take care of that.
As for Ava, I hope she’ll come back once she gets the news that her family is no longer an issue.