Chapter Thirteen

Kealen

What the fuck was that about?

Allie flew out of my office like she had just woken up from a bad one night stand she didn't want to remember. And I was left standing in the buff, completely at a loss for her sudden departure.

Resting a hand on my desk, it was still warm from where her body had been just moments ago. A waxy hue clouded the clear lacquer, shadowing the exact position of her ass and back. Dropping my head, I ran my fingertips across the silhouette.

Something's wrong.

What was the message?

Whatever it was certainly shocked her enough to make her hightail it out of here. Storming over to my pants, I dug out my phone. I had to find out what was going on.

Scrolling to her name, I tried to call her, but she wouldn't answer. Hitting the button again, I let it ring until her voice sprang up letting me know she wasn't there.

Fuck! Come on, Allie, answer!

I dialed her number over and over again, pacing anxiously in my office. I didn't like that she wasn't answering. I was getting angry and worried, hating that I didn't know what was going on with her.

Clicking the button again, I was going to try one last time. If she didn't answer, I was going to go look for her.

The ring was long, drowning my brain in white noise. Her voice popped in and I almost hung up, I came close, lifting the phone away from ear.

“What?” she asked, her voice short and gruff.

“Allie, are you there?” Slamming the phone back to my ear, I wasn't sure if I was actually hearing her or if it was just my mind playing tricks on me.

“What do you want, Kealen?” She sounded angry and depressed. The sadness worked its way through the receiver, hardening my heart.

“Tell me what's going on, Allie.”

“I don't know what you want me to say.”

“What the hell is wrong? Talk to me, maybe I can help. But you need to tell me.” Pounding my feet, I walked in a tight circle. This wasn't making any sense, none of it.

I thought things were going good, where the hell did this come from?

“Did you do it?”

“Do what?”

I heard her breathe out into the phone, the heat off her exhale was enough to burn my ear. “Don't bullshit me, Kealen. Did you do this?”

Stopping short, I held my hip and glanced at the ceiling. “Do. What?” I asked again, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

I hadn't done anything to hurt her in anyway.

“Fine, maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Either way it doesn't matter, I can't see you anymore.”

“Allie,” I said, waiting for her to respond. “Allie. Allie!” Yelling into the phone, the silence was torture. I wanted to hear her voice again, I wanted her to let me in on what the fuck she was dealing with.

But she was gone.

What the hell was that?

She just tried to cut ties, she broke off what I thought was turning into a great thing. Clenching my jaw, it twitched to the side as I clutched the phone in my hand.

I wasn't about to let her walk out of my life this way. It came out of nowhere and for no reason. Allie might be willing to give up on this, to give up on me—but I wasn't.

If she wasn't going to tell me why, if she wasn't going to let me in. . .

Then I'd find her and make her.

I didn't even have to think twice about it, tugging on my pants, I slipped my feet into my shoes and looped my shirt around my shoulders.

I have to find her.

Snatching the keys off my desk, I left my office, shirt flapping against my bare chest. The cool morning air hit my chest, forcing me to look down.

Shit. My fingers scrambled to push the small buttons into the tiny slits as I ran across the street to the parking garage.

The flash of yellow zipped by me, horns blazing as I tossed them a hurried hand and broke into a slow jog.

Nothing was registering, not the cars, not the other people on the sidewalk, nothing. I had this horrible feeling Allie was in trouble, everything else around me didn't matter.

I had her, all of her, and now she was gone. Vanished like a mythical creature I had been searching for, only to wake up thinking it was all a dream.

This wasn't a dream and I wasn't going to stop searching. I wasn't going to lose her, not again.

Where the fuck do I even begin?

She could be anywhere in this city, where the hell do I start?

The tires screeched as I flew out of the garage, my foot weighted like a cement block in my shoe. Glancing in the rearview mirror, a plume of white smoke dissipated into the air, leaving dark black tracks on the pavement.

Fuck, what the hell is she doing?

Twisting my head from side to side, I tried to make out her face in the herd of people that were swarming the sidewalk, but I knew it would be like finding a needle in a haystack here.

People were a dime a dozen in this city, they were spilling in from every direction; men women, short, tall; too many to pick out one single face.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. I was on a mission, I had one goal and one goal only—find Allie.

Taking a sharp left, I headed in the direction of the airport, dreading the idea that she might have had the split second decision to get away for good.

I couldn't. . . I wouldn't let her.

The vibration radiated up my thigh again, forcing me to dig the phone from my pocket. Maybe it's her.

Thumbing the button, I slid the message open, and my eyes bugged out from my skull. My throat went dry as I tried to swallow, scratching my flesh raw on the inside. As I stared down at the screen, my lip curled from the rage billowing up deep in my core.

It wasn't Allie.

The words sent my head into a tailspin, forcing me to pull over to the side of the road. Squeezing the phone in my palm, I scrunched my face, punching the steering wheel over and over again.

I never wanted to see that message, I never wanted to hear from them again.

'We're back on. Be here tomorrow morning, eight am, don't be late.'

And I knew. . .

I knew why she ran.