Fuck it. He didn’t have any other way to contact her and if she’d left . . .
Maybe she left because of you. Maybe she doesn’t want you.
Anger built inside him at the idea that she’d run off and left him without a word.
“No. Not happening, girl.”
He didn’t care if she wanted to leave. He didn’t care about her reasons.
Maeve was his.
And he’d do whatever the fuck was needed to get her back.
Maeve should enjoy this time, because as soon as he found her, he was bringing her back here.
And never letting her go.
Even if he had to tie her to his bed, lock her in his room, secure her to him, that girl . . .
She was going to be his.
And running from him? Well, that just made his possessive instincts roar. Those feelings he’d thought were muted in him were suddenly all he could hear.
Find. Claim.
Mine.
The chase was on.
20
Maeve limped her way up to the huge gates of the private community that Jenner and the others lived in. She’d arrived in downtown Nashville early this morning. She’d miscalculated her funds and had ended up with just a couple of dollars to get bus fare out to here. But she’d gotten off too early and had to walk the last ten blocks. She was exhausted, starving, and thirsty. Over the last seventy-two hours all she’d had to eat was three granola bars.
Her body hated going without food and she was feeling nauseous and dizzy. She’d drunk a whole lot of water from the fountain at the bus station and yet she still felt thirsty.
People had given her a wide berth on the bus. Probably because she looked like shit. A bruise had exploded along the side of her face. She hadn’t changed her clothes in days and she was carrying a stuffed dog around. Then there was the tangled mess that was her hair.
Oh, and she smelled.
So. Bad.
But she was here now. Even though she hadn’t slept in forever, she smelled, and she missed Gray.
He’s probably already moved on. Get over it.
She shuffled over to the gate. Great, she didn’t recognize the guard working the booth. It wasn’t Lyle, who she knew well from when she’d stayed here a while ago.
The guard sneered at her. “Move along. No one here is going to give you any money.”
“I don’t want money.” She frowned, confused. Oh. He thought she was begging.
Wow. He didn’t have to be so rude.
“I’m here to see Jenner Knight.”
“He doesn’t live here.”
“Of course he does. Number eighty-three.”