He ignores my sarcasm. “Who is he really?”
“His real name is Richard Peterson. Comes from Alabama. His parents still live there. Had a full scholarship to UCLA and finished joint top in his class.”
“Joint with Lucia?”
“Yep.”
He’s a massive gamer too. Got his own YouTube channel with over half a million subscribers.”
He shakes his head and frowns at me. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“Beats me, amigo. People like to watch other people play video games for some reason,” I shrug.
“Why has he taken her, Jax?”
“I’ve picked through the stuff Jessie sent me and the best I can figure is he’s obsessed with her. Jessie tracked his activity and he checks her social feeds all the time, even though she barely uses any social media.”
“She ever spoken to you about him before?”
“He was one of the guys she led you to believe she was dating, remember? She realized you had me checking up on her and she decided to have a little fun with us. I checked him out and there was nothing at the time. Lucia said he was a buddy of hers and had no interest in her that way, and vice versa. Seems she was wrong.”
“If he’s touched her—” he growls.
“I know, amigo,” I agree because I feel exactly the same. The self-proclaimed god of deception is about to meet his fucking maker.
We carry on driving in silence for a while. I stare at the red dot on the screen, worried that if I look away it might disappear and we won’t find her.
“You truly love her?” Alejandro’s voice breaks through the silence.
“Yes. With every fiber of my being.”
“Why her though, Jax?”
“You’re seriously asking me that?” I frown at him. He, of all people knows how incredible she is.
“Yes. I know she is beautiful and smart and kind, and amazing. But you have dated hundreds of women. Why decide my twenty-one year-old daughter is the one for you?”
“I don’t know why it’s her, amigo,” I tell him honestly. “It just is. I think about her every second of every day. When something good, or funny, or anything happens, she’s the first person I want to tell. When I’m not with her all I can think about is getting back to her. The thought of never seeing her again makes me feel like I can’t breathe. I would die for her happiness—I know you know what love like that feels like.”
“I sure do,” he sighs.
“I’m sorry that I betrayed your trust, amigo. You are my brother and I love you, but I can’t imagine a life without her.”
He shakes his head in exasperation but he doesn’t say anything further and we get back to focusing on finding our girl.