It took a total four days for me to start feeling like my old self. I’d slept through the first two days just getting over the funk that had seeped into my body and then the next two days were more of being a couch potato where I was groggy and did nothing except brush my teeth and eat. By the end of the week, I was on edge, Kayson had cabin fever, and I didn’t have time to entertain him. I had work to do, orders to catch up on, and no time to go anywhere. Not to mention that I had just found out there was a law enforcement ball coming up, and they were currently accepting bid proposals for an event planner. I had been dying to try to find a way to break into the business and didn’t want to blow this opportunity. I still needed to come up with an original idea, prepare the budget, and get it over to the committee before the deadline.

My phone rang at the same moment Kayson walked into my sewing room. I held a finger to signal one moment while I answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Yo. Get dressed. We will pick you up at four. Piper’s got a few deputies who’ve agreed to stay at the range and help us with our shooting practice.” Stella asked, but I didn’t respond. “Did you hear me? Be ready at four.”

“Yes, I heard you. I didn’t know that you were asking. I thought you were telling me.”

“Bite me. Ciao.”

I hung up and looked over to Kayson. “That was Stella, it seems that Piper . . .”

“I heard. Stella talks kind of loud.” The corner of his mouth lifted into a grin. “Go have fun. I was coming to tell you that Getty called, and I’m returning to work on Monday. It seems as if Brandon has gone on a sudden vacation.”

“Y’all don’t actually believe that, do ya?”

“Not for one second. We have deputies watching his home and his office.” Kayson wrapped his arms over my shoulders and rested his chin on my head. “Carter and I are heading up to Sixes. Why don’t you have the girls drop you off there and we can head home together.”

“Sounds good,” I agreed and returned to sewing.

At four o’clock, Kayson and I were standing in his driveway. His hands were on my waist and I was promising him for the fifth time that no, we aren’t doing any Catwoman stuff.

It was only four of us tonight, Leo, Stella, Piper and myself. Everly was working, and after last week’s drug incident, Vivian wanted to stay at Sixes.

Instead of taking us straight to the range like I’d expected, Piper and Finn, an officer from SWAT, lead us to a building with wall to wall mats.

“Before we practice our aim, we are going to try a few grappling techniques. These”—Piper held up two, nine millimeter handguns—“are fake guns, but are weighted as if they are loaded. I will hand you one, then I’ll try to take it away from you, do not let me take it away from you.”

That was how our night began–grappling, but then we moved on to things like how to use hand-to-hand combat in close situations to redirect the line of fire. With each lesson, I felt more like the badass wannabe that I had imagined when I watched my first episode of Sons of Anarchy than I did the helpless woman I’d somehow turned into.

By seven o’clock, my arms ached, every muscle in my body was tired, and all I wanted was a long hot bubble bath. Okay, I wasn’t as badass as I thought.

“Can y’all drop me off at Sixes. Kayson is going to take me home.”

“I’m starved.” Stella patted her stomach. “I can freeload a meal off him as well.”

Piper pulled out of the gun range and headed toward downtown.

Deciding that we needed to talk about the big ol’ pink elephant in the room, well car, “Any other ideas on how to track Brandon? I hate that the rain ruined your phone contraption, it was a brilliant idea.”

“Fuck no. I’ve been racking my brain. I can’t think of anything without putting you in danger,” Stella slammed her hands against the roof of Piper’s car. “I still have over twenty-hours of recording, but nada, nothing interesting on a single second. No weird visitors, no coming or going at strange hours, zip. I think he knows he’s being watched.”

“It really was ingenious,” Leo patted Stella’s head as if she were dog.

“I think it is time for us to back off. Kayson’s been working nonstop on this case even while on leave. He is going to figure out the connection.” Piper assured me. “Until then just stay by him or with one of us.” She reached into her purse. “And I didn’t give this to you, technically you’re supposed to have a concealed carry even for pepper spray but no one will say a word if it’s used in defense.”

When we pulled into Sixes and traipsed into the bar, a warm feeling of comfort washed over me. This was my tribe, my family. I had finally found them, but what I didn’t find or rather see was Kayson.

“Hey, Carter? Where’s Kayson?”

“Women, you can’t trust ’em. One minute they’re all over you and telling you they love you, and the next minute . . .” Carter finished a bottle of Yuengling and set the empty beer down on the edge of the table. “They’re gone. Just like that.” He tried to snap his fingers. “No word. No goodbye. Poof,” he said as he held a closed hand in front of my face then opened it as if mimicking something evaporating.

I looked at Stella and asked, “What the fuck?”

“Holy fuck, he’s drunk. I’ve never seen him drunk.” Stella gave me a quizzical look as I scanned the room for Kayson.

“Hold on, I’ll go see if his truck is in the parking lot.” Leo got up and headed out the door.

“Poof.” Carter gave me that strange hand gesture again and continued to stare at his beer.

“Carter, has Kayson been here?” I tried getting at least that much information from him.

“He’s my best friend.” Carter’s words totally slurred. “Love. Fucking love that man. But women, don’t ever give them your heart, take it from me . . .” Carter held his hand out and made that poof gesture again.

“Truck is not out there,” Leo reported as she came back in. “I’m going to go ask Vivian.”

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through to find his name and pressed call. It only rang once when a woman answered.

“Hello?” Her sultry voice low and out of breath, and a fist wrapped around my heart and squeezed.

“Who is this?” Stella leaned in to hear who was on the other line.

“I’m sorry, but can you call back later, Kayson’s kind of busy right now.” I looked at Stella and she mouthed the word, “Gigi” and I nodded.

“Gigi why do you have Kayson’s phone?”

“Oh shit, Ariel? You weren’t supposed to know, I shouldn’t have answered.”

Click.

I looked at Stella, “What the fuck.”

“Not supposed to know what? Why is Gigi answering Kayson’s phone?”

Carter let out a low laugh, “Don’t worry, she’s wasting her time. Kayson isn’t interested in her. Gigi has been trying to get into his pants for years, but she wants a ring to go with that badge, and it ain’t happening. Kayson won’t marry them. They’re just pussy until he tires of them, then poof.”

“Will you stop with the mother fucking poof?” Stella grabbed her brother’s hand and held it to keep him from making that stupid gesture. “What do you know about Kayson and Gigi?”

“I’m saying that Gigi’s wasting her time with him. He won’t marry her. He loves this one.” Carter tossed a half-wave half-point at me.

“Can someone bring me a bottle of water?” Vivian ordered her crew.

“Not that it matters. He’s Greek. He has to marry a Greek woman. Christine has it all planned out. You know how close that family is, he wouldn’t go against her. Fuck, I think he’d have to turn his back on them or something. All four of the boys have to marry in their family’s church; their mother has had the whole thing planned out since the day they were christened there. Gigi isn’t Greek. She isn’t marriage material. So, she’ll just go . . .” He tried to raise his hand, but Stella held it firmly down on the table.

I turned and looked at my friends, completely confused.

Kayson had never said anything to me about any of this. His parents liked me, they approved of me, but from what Carter was saying, they probably didn’t approve of me for their son in the long run. I thought back to when I first met his family and all of the photos lining the wall. They were all photos of beautiful sun-kissed olive toned Greeks, and I most certainly wasn’t Greek.

Carter’s drunk diarrhea of the mouth continued, “He just uses women. Not that I’d blame him. I’ve used her a few times. I’m not looking for anything serious, so I don’t care. But he uses them until he finds a woman he can marry. That’s what Kayson wants. Not me, I gave my heart away once, and the bitch never gave it back.”

Carter kept talking, and my head kept spinning, faster and faster with each word.

I reached over and grabbed Stella’s arm. “I’ll be back, going to the restroom.”

“Okay, let me come with you.” She started to stand.

“No. Stay. I want a few moments.” I held out my hand, trying to find balance. “Please. Let me try to take everything in. You see if you can’t figure out what the fuck your brother is talking about, okay?”

Stella nodded. “If you aren’t back here in five, I’m coming in.”

I walked into the bathroom and rested my hands on either side of the sink and closed my eyes. I was happy, ten minutes ago I was fucking happy, and now I was my fucking Mama all over again. Pulling out my phone, I dialed Kayson’s number once again and listened when it connected, but no one answered.

I heard background noise, was that a television? Then I heard the distinct sound of heavy breathing, sex-sounding heavy breathing, moaning, heavy-fucking-breathing.

Reaching in my pocket, I ensured my keys were there then yanked the door open and fled to the main area of the restaurant to beg Piper to take me to my apartment. I stopped when I overheard Leo reading from her phone.

“There are three obstacles that some couples may find insurmountable. A Greek must be married in the Orthodox church. Ceremonies must be performed by the priest. The bride and groom must be Eastern Orthodox.”

That wasn’t me. I was raised Baptist, Southern Baptist to be exact. The air in the room seemed to be sucked out by a vacuum, and I took short shallow breaths just to stay conscious .

“How—” Deep breath. “How could I be so stupid?” Without anyone seeing me, I turned and fled out the back door of Sixes, leaned over, and threw up my nonexistent dinner. Once I could stand straight again, I walked to the corner and opened my phone to the Lyft app so I could call for a car. Walking three blocks away from Sixes and away from the sympathy that I was sure to see in everyone’s faces. I waited for the trademarked pink mustache car to pick me up and take me back to my apartment, my empty, bare, naked, fucking apartment.

By the time I hit the stairs to my apartment building, I was crying and had the fucking hiccups, which were racking my body. I could barely see through the tears to unlock my door, but I managed.

I unlocked my apartment door and dropped my keys when a vice like grip yanked my arm and pulled me inside. At the sound of my door shutting behind me and the gentle click followed by the clunk from the heavy deadbolt turning to lock I realized that I was fucked.

“It’s about time you return home. Are you tired of playing the little slut?” Brandon’s words were cold.