Damn it.
“Her house.”
Alex glances over at me as he backs off the drive.
“You serious?”
“You got any other suggestions?”
His lips part as if he has, but then he quickly closes them once more.
“He’s gonna fucking kill you, man.”
I shrug, resting my head back and letting my eyes close as he shoots down the street and back in the direction of the city.
My phone burns a hole in my pocket, but I leave it where it is for now. Calling in the troops is inevitable, but I need to talk to Dawson first.
If my suspicions are correct about who ran us off the road last night, then he might have more intel than I do.
If he doesn’t, then I guess we’ll both go in all guns blazing to get our girl back.
Assuming he doesn’t put a bullet through my head first, of course.
My heart pounds so hard as I come to a stop in front of Dawson’s front door that it feels like it’s relocated all around my body. But I refuse to let my concern show on my face. That motherfucker is as blank and fierce as it always is.
“Any last words?” Alex helpfully asks from behind me a beat before I press my finger on the bell.
“Fuck off, wanker.”
“Perfect. I don’t even need to write that one down.”
Heavy footsteps thump my way a few seconds before the door is unlocked and pulled open.
I don’t say anything as Dawson glares at me. His lips part, ready to say something, but he doesn’t seem to be able to find the words as he looks over my shoulder and only finds Alex waiting in the wings.
“I’m sorry, D. I didn’t—“
He takes a step back and opens the door wider.
“You should probably come in.”
I glance back at Alex. He hesitates as I take a step forward.
“Come on,” I say. “We’re gonna need all the brainpower we can get.”
As I walk down Dawson’s hallway, my eyes find Piper at the other end dressed for school. It’s the first time I realise that I have no idea what the time actually is.
“Theo, are you okay?” she asks the second she sees me, her brow wrinkling in concern.
“I’ll be better once we fix this shit,” I tell her, following Emmie’s dad into his living room.
He gestures for me to sit but he doesn’t join me. Instead, he just paces back and forth on the other side of the coffee table.
“What’s going on?” Piper asks, looking between the three of us.
“Someone ran me off the road and—”
“You were meant to bring her home to me,” D barks out, his voice low and deadly as he takes a step toward me, his fists curled tightly at his sides.
“I know. I was. We just needed to stop to—”
“To what? What could possibly be more important than bringing her home, Cirillo?”
I blow out a long breath and drop my head into my hands, pushing my fingers into my hair and pulling until I realise my massive fucking mistake when the pain from my wound makes my eyes fucking water.
“I found her in the Wolves den in Lovell.”
He glares at me before looking up at the ceiling as if he’s praying for strength.
“She’d been taking acid. She was off her face.”
Slowly, Dawson lowers his head. His face is a mask of fury and he directs it right at me.
“Because of you,” he spits out. “She was off her face, trying to forget, because of you.”
I swallow roughly, more than aware that his words are true.
“What happened at school yesterday, Cirillo? Why was she suspended? Why did she run in the first place?”
“I know, D. I fucking know,” I bark out, pushing from the sofa so I’m on equal footing with him. “But I had nothing to do with this. I was doing the right thing. I was taking her to get stitched up, and then I was bringing her home to you.”
“Stitched up?” he gasps, the blood draining from his face.
“It was just a graze. Unlike the motherfucker who had his hands on her,” I mutter.
His lips part, mimicking a goldfish, but he must decide not to comment on that and instead focuses on the issue at hand.
“Okay, so…” He scrubs his hands over his head before focusing back on me again. “You were run off the road?”
“Yeah. It was a black SUV. Blacked-out windows. I had no clue who was driving. When I finally lost control, we came off the road. Flipped a few times, I think.” I shake my head, desperately trying to remember what happened between coming off the road and waking up with her gone. “I got knocked out.” I point to my head. “When I came to, she was gone. No fucking sign of her.”
“Her phone?”
“Still in the car in her bag. Dead.”
“Fuck,” Dawson hisses, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.
Piper rushes over to him.
“We’ll find her, Dawson. We will.”
She sounds so confident, I almost believe her.
When he finally lowers his arms, his face is full of anger and determination.
He looks like the brutal Reaper he no longer seems to have a desire to be.
But much like me, it runs through his veins, and I already know that he’ll raise hell to get her back.
“I’m going to kill any motherfucker involved in this.”
“You’ll need to beat me there then.”
His eyes hold mine, allowing me to see just how much he loathes me for being a part of his daughter’s life. For being her husband.
“I know I fucked up, D. I fucking know. But I want her safe just as much as you do.”
He’s silent for a beat as if he’s trying to hear the lies within my statement. He won’t find them. I’ve never been more fucking honest in my entire life.
Emmie is mine. It doesn’t matter whether she wants me or not. She’s fucking mine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.
“This has got my father’s fucking name all over it,” he growls, pulling his phone from his pocket and jabbing at the screen hard enough to crack the thing.
“You think it was Ram?” I ask.
“Don’t you?” he spits out.
Whoever he calls answers almost immediately. “Get Link. I need you both here. Now. Emmie’s gone.”
A deep voice rumbles down the line, but Dawson quickly cuts it off.
“Just get here. We’re getting her back. Today.”
He ends the call and lowers his phone.
“Are you really serious about her?” Dawson asks me, his eyes holding mine steady.
“I am,” I state, my voice not wavering at all.
“Good. Call your boys. We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”
“And the girls?” Alex adds smugly. “You know Stella isn’t being left out of this.”
“Call fucking Donald Duck if you think it’ll help. Jesus,” D mutters, running his fingers through his hair once more and storming from the room.
A crash sounds out somewhere deeper in the house, and Piper quickly rushes after him.
“Surely Ram hasn’t abducted his own granddaughter,” Alex mutters, dropping his arse down on the sofa and resting his foot up on the coffee table as if we’ve just turned up here to hang out.