Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Cyrus
S ometimes you have to pack a lifetime into one night. I’m sorry.
I read the note again. Twelve words.
Twelve words that are cutting my heart out.
Fuck.
No.
I don’t accept that.
I can’t.
The paper crumples in my fist as I growl under my breath. I won’t allow her to walk out of my life. I don’t know what the fuck is going on with her, but I don’t believe for one second that she did this on her own. Someone is pulling her strings. Her dad, maybe. This fiancé, whoever he is. I don’t know, but I’m going to find out, and I’m going to stop whatever is happening.
I thought it was a miracle when I woke up from a dead sleep. The demons from my dreams were gone. She’d slayed my inner dragons, then I realized she was gone, and they roared back into the daylight and I’m not sure they will ever be put away again. Not without her.
I pull out my phone as I flatten out the paper again. I might not like what’s written there, but it was still written by her. And that makes it precious to me.
“Hello?” Tor sounds groggy as he answers the phone.
“I need your help, bro. I need any help you can give me. Call Chance too. I need you all right now. Something shitty is going down and I need to fix it.”
There’s a pause, and I hear Natalie in the background. I’m sorry to do this to them, but I need back up because I don’t know what’s what but I know I’m bringing her with me when I find her, even if it takes an army.
“Hold on, brother.” A second later, Tor’s back on the line. “Tell me what you need.”
“You’ve got PIs on call, right? Good ones, if I know you.”
“Sure. The best. They find shithead husbands trying to hide out. I find mistresses and people with no names. Yeah, whatever you need, what’s going on?”
“Just call them. Tell them to be ready. I need to find someone.”
“Who?”
“The distraction.” I pull my hand down my beard as I think about how monumental a task this is, and how little time we might have to do something about it.
“No shit. That was fast. She’s already on the run from you?” I hear the humor in his voice but there’s not time for fucking jokes right now.
“I’m going to tell you a few things, and I need you to listen, not talk. Her name is Anna Farkas. She’s the daughter of Niko Farkas and she’s engaged or promised or some fucking thing. I don’t know who she’s engaged to. I’m going to head to their house now, but I need to know who this fiancé piece of shit is. She doesn’t want to marry him, some sort of arranged thing but there’s more to it. I don’t know the fucking details but I have to fucking find her, man.”
Tor clears his throat. “Okay, keep your head straight. I’ll call my people. I’ll call Chance. We’ll find him. But Cyrus, if she doesn’t want to be with you, if she’s made her choice, you have to respect that.”
The fuck I do. The fuck I will.
“Really? So, you’re telling me if Natalie had given you the shove off you would have just politely bowed out?” He answers with loud silence. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
I’m not going to respect anything. She doesn’t want to marry him but something smells like shit and she’s stuck, I can feel it.
One way or another, I’m getting her out of this and I’m doing it today.
“It’ll be fine,” I say through gritted teeth, trying to convince myself, knowing nothing about this will ever be fine if anything happens to her.
“Good. Pick me up on the way to the house. I’ll get Chance here. We’ve got your back, little brother.”
I drove my Suburban right through the fucking front gate of her parent’s house when my attempt to be buzzed through failed. Now, it’s me against the front door and lucky for it, after pounding for thirty seconds it opens a crack.
“Where the fuck is she?”
I slam my foot into the door jamb before the house manager can shut me out, then lean all my weight into the door, pushing him back so hard he stumbles.
Even in my fury, I catch him before he can fall, setting him right. This isn’t his fault, even if every nerve is screaming for someone to blame.
“I can’t tell you that. Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“She isn’t in the guesthouse. I already looked. So where is she? Anna! ” I call out to the ceiling, but there’s no response. I know she isn’t here. I can feel it. I just can’t feel where she is .
Chance is suddenly right beside me, his fist gripping the manager’s collar. “You think he’s scary? Now it’s my turn. If you don’t tell us what we want to know, you little shit…”
The manager squeals and flails, and I watch with satisfaction. Chance won’t hurt him. He’s a gentle giant. But he looks like a fucking walking nightmare and if this guy knows anything, he’ll spill.
“I don’t—please! They went, all of them. Oh, God, I don’t know anything!”
“Cyrus, I’m getting a call, man. One of my PIs. They must have something.”
I glare at the house manager, but fall silent as I listen to Tor speaking into his phone. He starts to grin part way through, and glances our way, shooting me an okay sign. When he signs off, he nods, then turns back to the door.
“Let’s go. I’m going to call in a favor. We’ve got a location. And a name. And I think we might just have leverage.”
Thirty minutes later, we’re through the iron gate at another estate. This one bigger, older, more fortified, but it’s not going to matter.
I slam my foot against the carved wood next to the iron door handle and the door cracks on the first kick, the lock buckling as it flies open.
There’s a group of about ten people standing in a living room to the left and they all spin and look my way.
There’s the priest, up front with a book open in front of him, eyes wide, as me and Tor and Chance step inside. No guns, we don’t need them, especially with the sheriff following us inside.
“What the hell is this? This is a private wedding!” The groom—the guy Tor told me is called Alex—looks like a furious overgrown Umpa Loompa as he turns to Anna’s father. “If you did this, I’m going to—”
“Don’t say another word, sir,” the sheriff warns, his hand on the butt of his revolver. “I’ll add terrorist threats to whatever else you’re going to be charged with.”
Anna looks frightened as she looks from Alex to her dad and back, then hisses at me, “You can’t be here. Go. Please. You don’t understand. You’re making this so much worse.”
I shake my head, ignoring her for the moment as I start towards her. She’s still glancing nervously at the groom, who I hope never got as far as saying “I do” or there’ll be hell to pay. She doesn’t understand what’s going on here, but she will. Very soon, she will.
I shove my body between them, knocking him back with my ass and grabbing Anna by the back of the neck. “Tell me you didn’t vow anything to this fuck.”
“No. But that’s not… You have to go, Cyrus,” she whispers. “I’m marrying Alex. You have to let me do this, you have no idea what this is.”
“Get him out of here!” The groom yells toward his goons standing by staring at the Sheriff and the two deputies that have just charged through the door. “It’s none of your fucking business,” He says but I’m done with him. I ball my fist and cock back, throwing all my weight behind the punch, knocking him backward then deliver another uppercut, then one into his gut as he yelps and doubles over. I glance over to see Tor stepping forward with the sheriff’s hand on his gun, shaking his head as his security guys back out of the room.
“Do you want to marry him?” I ask, only because I want to hear her say no. I know the answer already and no fucking way she’s marrying him but I want her to be the one to tell everyone. “Baby, it’s all going to be all right, but you need to tell the truth. You’re a badass, baby. I got your back, now tell them.”
“Anna?” Her mother sounds mildly amused, as I shoot her dad a glare. If he tries to step in right now, the fucking sheriff’s going to have a homicide report on his hands. “Who is this strapping young man?”
“ Mom, ” Anna offers, giving her mother a sympathetic look, then turning her eyes at me. “He’s—he’s…”
“I’m the one that claimed what’s mine already. Show them, baby.” I reach over and tug down the neckline of the white dress she’s wearing, watching her father’s eyes go wide as her mother starts to giggle uncontrollably. I point to the red and purple bite marks. “Those are my fucking teeth marking my fucking woman. And, for the record, I filled her with enough seed in one night to knock her the hell up good. She belongs to me.”
A hand presses onto my shoulder, my fists ready as I spin around.
“ I want you out of my house right now . This is a private—”
I don’t give the bronzed asshole a chance to finish.
My punch connects with his chin so solidly it sends a shockwave up my arm. But he’s got some balls, because he re-groups, gritting his teeth, wiping the blood from his chin, his eyes locked on me.
Whatever happened to this guy in prison, it toughened him up. From what Tor told me, he was a pimple faced twenty-two- year-old kid fresh out of college when his parents were going through their divorce. Oddly enough, turns out Tor represented his mom as one of his earliest career making cases. That was after Alex had already been convicted of embezzlement. His mom believed in his innocence, his dad thought he was guilty.
It tore them apart.
He’s back up, coming at me with his fists flying. I’m sure he thinks he’s coming at me with both barrels.
Fortunately, his version of barrels and mine are in two different categories.
His screech of ego-fury cuts through the air as he launches himself at me, arms flailing with light but fast punches. I knock the first couple away with my hands then realize he’s not going to stop until he’s put down.
No problem.
I make sure Anna is out of the line of fire, then come back with an uppercut. He goes back down, but he turns his head to the side, spits a tooth and a gobbet of blood, then scrambles to his feet.
Just as the sheriff and my brother get to either side of him.
“Fuck you! You think taking her away from me will stop any of this?” He isn’t even looking at me, he’s shouting at Niko. “You’ll be sorry. Whoever these goons of yours are, they’ll be sorry too. And you,” he turns to glare at Anna’s mom, “you’re going to scream before the end! I’m going to use you until you are used up.”
I ignore it all, turning back to Anna, and take hold of her shoulders.
“Say it, baby.”
She stiffens in my hands, takes one glance at Alex, then shakes her head. “I don’t want to marry him. I never did. But—”
“No buts, baby. That’s all I needed to know.” I kiss the top of her head, wrapping her into my arms, then turn to Tor. “You good?”
He nods. “Sure. Sheriff, do your thing.”
The sheriff sniffs, then lets go of Alex, and turns to Niko. “Niko Farkas, you are under arrest for the crimes of embezzlement and perverting the course of justice. Other charges may follow.”
As the sheriff reads him his rights, I pull Anna into my side.
“Sorry, baby. Your dad needs to man up on a few things. It’s the only way this ends without bloodshed.”
She nods. “I hate all of this. I hate what he did, how he put us all here.”
“I know, baby. The PI’s told me.”
I hug her tight as she watches her father being cuffed, then I turn to Alex.
“This squares everything. I’m not asking, I’m telling you. This ends now. Because if it doesn’t, you’re not going to like what happens. Niko is going down for a long time. I know that doesn’t make up for what happened to you, but you’re going to have to find a way to get good with that. We clear?”
He glares, turning to watch as Anna’s dad is led out of the room, with her mom walking behind in a daze of confusion, then meets my eyes again, his jaw working like he wants to say something but isn’t sure what.
Then it’s like all the fight drains out of him, and he sags in Tor’s grip.
And finally nods.
“I never did anything wrong.”
He closes his eyes, but he isn’t saying another word and I guess that means this whole thing is over.
The priest is gathering his things, but I’m not done.
“Baby.” I grab her and turn her back to me, dropping down onto one knee. “I’ve had this since the day I met you.” I take the box out of my back pocket, and open it up, showing her the ring. Rose gold with a five carat, flawless antique diamond I bought years ago from an estate in France. It was said to have been given to the great grandmother by a prince. Never worn because she died from fever before they could be married. Love and tragedy but this time, it’s going to happily ever after. “The priest is right here. I’m not waiting. If you want your parents to see you get married, now’s the time.”
I reach over and tug the bullshit thrift store engagement ring off her finger and fling it into the trashcan.
“Is that supposed to be a proposal? Because as proposals go, I’ve heard better.” She smiles and my heart thunders in my chest. My dick is so hard it could etch our initials into the diamond I’m holding.
I slip the ring on her finger. “I’m not asking, baby. Because I know the answer already. I’m just saying, let’s not waste time.”
She stares into my eyes, and I see the flicker of brat. Her badass wants to come out and play and I’m good with that, as soon as I get the formalities out of the way.
“You need me to convince you?” I lower my lips to her ear. “I’ll take you in the other room for a minute. Bend that sweet ass over my knee and remind you of a few things.”
I pull back, take her chin in my hand and press my forehead to hers.
She nods slowly. “You’re right. Let’s do this.”