“Where’s Sabrina?” I asked carefully, my eyes taking in the space and realizing that there were a few things missing. One of them being Sabrina herself.
“Um,” Shine said from his perch next to an empty seat, glancing around. “She said that she needed to go to the bathroom. But that was at least” —he looked at his watch— “thirty minutes ago.”
I sighed. “She left.”
There was silence behind me and then, “Why?”
I looked at Cannel and said, “Most likely because the moment I took you into my room to talk to you, these assholes” —I directed my thumb at our brothers— “told her why you were upset. She was already having problems with the need to do this anyway. They just gave her the excuse to follow her gut.”
Goddammit.
I’d almost had her exactly where I wanted her.
Yes, I knew that sounded bad.
But I liked the fact that she was dependent on me.
My phone rang before I could even think of what to do next, then my friend Hunt said, “Missing something?” the moment I picked up the phone.
I sighed. “I am.”
“She’s at a hotel,” he said. “I was doing my thing, changing shit where it needs changing, and got a hit on the credit card that I started tracking when I noticed that there were some suspicious charges on it. Like a fuckin’ bail bondsman. When you get there, ask her if this fucker has a credit card in her name. I’m about to transfer all this shit over to his name and his social security number. But also ask her if she wants the truck that’s in his name since I’m showing that she paid it off. Oh, and there were some credit cards that were paid off in his name as well. I’m guessing she did that, too. Mention to her that he has twenty grand in a savings account that I just transferred over to her name. It’s in her bank with Chase, in a savings account.” He paused. “Fuck it. I’ll transfer the truck over to her, too. Seems fitting. Oh, and don’t forget you owe me a couple of beers after this. I had to take an extra ten minutes tracking this twat waffle down.”
With that, he hung up, leaving me shaking my head.
“Where is she?” Cannel asked quietly.
“A hotel,” I answered. “I’ll see you guys later. Clean up after yourselves and lock the door.”
With that, I headed to the hotel she’d disappeared to. And was glad that it was not only at the end of the hallway, but on the top floor.
Fewer people to hear what was about to happen, that was for sure.
CHAPTER 16
I’ll get gas in the morning is one of the worst decisions you can ever make as an adult.
-Words of wisdom
SABRINA
There was a knock at the door, and I sighed.
“Food,” I whispered, struggling out from under all the blankets that I’d piled on myself the moment I walked through the door.
I opened the door, expecting to see my Chinese food.
And that was exactly what I found.
Along with a very irritated Price holding it.
I opened my mouth and closed it before blurting, “What are you doing here? And how did you find me?”
He pushed me aside and walked past me as if I hadn’t been holding the door partially closed with my body.
I stumbled backward, looked up and down the hallway, and then slammed the door closed.
“Why did you leave?” he asked, all but tossing my food down on the counter.
I crossed my arms over my chest, very much aware that I’d just taken a shower, and the only thing I was wearing was a pair of shorts and his sweatshirt—the one that I’d never given back at the beach.
“I left because your sister’s mental health is more important to me than staying where I wasn’t wanted,” I said. “And I’m not marrying you because you feel some obligation. I’ll be just fine.”
“Just fine?” He laughed humorlessly. “You’re barely holding your head above water, Sabrina.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I may be, but I’m treading it. Who cares whether I’m barely holding it above water or not?”
“I do.” He crowded me.
I stepped back until my back hit the door, and he followed me, his predatory gait making my breath hitch in my throat. My heart was pounding so hard that I wouldn’t be surprised if he could hear it. And there were things going on below the belt that were making me want to do bad, bad things to him.
But surely, that wasn’t where we were going. Was it?
Then he stepped the rest of the way into me, and I realized that what I was feeling, and what he was feeling, were more in sync than I realized.
How did I know that?
With his body so close to mine, it was almost impossible not to feel what he had going on below his belt.