“I don’t! I would never do that to her. I love her, goddamn it. And now she’s at home, thinking I’ve been in bed with this slut.” I was about to lose it. Jinx stepped up.
“Get the two of them out of here. Have the prospects take them back to their room. We’ll deal with them later. They both better be there when we get done,” he warned them. Sarge marched them out of the room. I sat down and held my head.
“Come on, call her. Explain what happened.”
“She’s never going to believe it, Jinx. She had a fiancé who cheated on her. She almost didn’t give me a chance because of him. I swore to her I would never do that to her. She’s going to leave me, I know it.”
“No, she’s not. If she does, then you just get her back. Call her, then get on the road home. We can handle things here. Go,” he told me. I slowly went back to the room I was staying in. I swallowed the bile that was creeping up the back of my throat. I took a deep breath and dialed. It went straight to voicemail. Shit!
“Zara, baby, it’s Luca. Please call me back. I know you got a picture from my phone. I want to explain. It’s not what it looks like. I swear. Call me as soon as you get this. I’m on my way home. I love you, Hellion. Please.” After leaving the message, I sent her a text. No answer. I then called Bull.
When he answered, I wasted no time telling him what had happened. He was swearing by the time I was finished. “Get back here as soon as you can. Don’t kill yourself doing it either. I’ll send one of the guys over to her place to see if she’s there. Did she have to work today?”
I thought about it. “No, she was supposed to be off.”
“Okay, then she’s likely there. We’ll keep watch until you get there. Ride safe. It’ll be alright, Demon. We’ll make sure of it,” he promised. I wish I could believe him. I threw my shit in my bag and headed out. My brothers were waiting for me. We said a hasty goodbye. Jinx gave me a man hug, then we were on the road. It was a four-and-a-half-hour ride back to Hunters Creek.
We stopped long enough to gas up. I tried to call her again, but still no answer and straight to voicemail again. I called Bull. He said the guys were outside her place but hadn’t seen her. He also said they’d knocked, but she didn’t answer. By the time we made it back, I was ready to lose my mind. I knew in my soul, she wasn’t going to listen.
When I pulled up outside her house, I saw Joker and Maverick sitting out in front on their bikes. They came over to me as I parked. They gave me a hug.
“She hasn’t come out. We tried calling and even banged on the door. No answer. Not sure if she’s in there or not. Bull told us what happened. Fuck, we’re sorry, man. That sucks. But she’ll calm down and listen,” Joker said. I knew from his expression he didn’t really believe it.
“Thanks. I need to check on her. You guys can go. I’ll see you later.” They tried to stay, but I sent them off with Payne, Tank, and Player. I didn’t need anyone to witness this. I knocked on her door. When she didn’t answer, I shouted her name. Nothing. Deciding the hell with it, I took out the key she’d given me a few weeks ago. I opened the door and went inside.
It was dead quiet. I knew as soon as I entered, she wasn’t there. I raced to her room. Inside, it looked like a tornado had ripped through there. Clothes were scattered all over the place. I could see clothes were missing. I ran into the bathroom. Her makeup and personal care stuff were gone as well. I sank down on the edge of the tub.
She’d left. She’d left, and I had no idea where she was. How in the hell did I get her back? It would take a miracle. I started to pray. Please God, don’t let this be the end. I love her. I need her. Please help me find her and convince her I didn’t cheat on her. When I could stand, I left the house and got on my bike. I needed to find out where she went. Outlaw should be able to help.
At the compound, I parked my bike and ran inside. It was now early afternoon. Most of the guys should be at work, but it looked like they were all here. They were looking at me with compassion.
Bull was the one to say something. “She wouldn’t talk to you?”
“She’s not there. It looks like she left in a hurry. Her stuff is all over the place, but I can tell some of it is gone. She’s not answering her phone. I need Outlaw to see if he can track her using her phone.”
My brothers swore. Outlaw nodded. I rattled off her number, and he walked off. I knew he was going to check it. I dropped down on one of the chairs and held my head. I wanted to throw up. The knowledge she was out there hurt and thinking I’d cheated was tearing me apart. Everyone left me to my misery. I don’t think they knew what to say.
I can remember how upset my brothers were when they’d had shit happen and they almost lost their women. Hell. Ajax hadn’t known where his was for three months. There was no way I could go that long without seeing and talking to her. I’d blow my fucking brains out.
A hand on my shoulder had me looking up. It was Outlaw. “Sorry, Demon, she has her phone off. I have a tracer program running. As soon as she turns it back on, we’ll know where she is. Any idea of someone she might go to, anyone from her past?”
I shook my head. “No, she hasn’t talked about anyone. I know when she left her old town, she left everyone behind as far as I know. God, what am I going to do?”
“You’re going to hang in there like I did,” Ajax said as he sat down beside me.
“I can’t be like you, Ajax. If this goes on for three months, I might as well blow my brains out. No way can I stand it that long. Why does this shit seem to happen to us? You with Jessica, the shit with Reb and Madisen. Even Bull and Ace had issues with Jocelyn and Devyn. And don’t get me started on the Dublin Falls’ guys.”
“Because when we love, we love hard. We’re attracted to feisty, hotheaded women. Ones who don’t take crap from us. Even when the crap isn’t real, and they only think it is,” Bull added.
I couldn’t say anything. As the day wore on, I got more and more despondent. They tried to give me hope. I finally went to my room so I could be alone. I tried over and over to call and text her. Not one single answer. I begged her to at least call someone, so I knew she was okay.
As evening became night, I went looking for alcohol. I was stopped by my brothers. “Nope, not happening. We watched what the hell happened with Ajax and the others when shit got ugly. No way. You’re not going to drown yourself in the bottle. She’ll eventually call or use that phone. When she does, you need to be in good condition to go after her. If you don’t want to talk, we can play pool, darts, or just sit with you.” It was Tank telling me this. I gave up without arguing. I knew they’d make sure to lock me down if they had to. I settled down for a long night.
It wasn’t until two days later that we found out where Zara was. I’d gone to the hospital the day after I returned and found her gone. All they would tell us is she’d taken an emergency leave and they couldn’t say anything else.
When Outlaw came running into the common room, he told me she was in the last place I ever expected her to be. She was in Mexico. I looked at him dumbfounded. Why in the hell would she be in Mexico? Did she decide to take a vacation? When I said this out loud, he shook his head. He was frowning.
“No, I don’t think she’s on vacation. Not in this part of Mexico.” He held up his laptop. Then he sat down and opened it. A couple of taps and he had a map up. It showed Mexico. He pointed to an area in the central part of the country south of Chihuahua.