"Stone, I choked.
Don't even think about it," he barked." We'll find her. And we'll bring her home.
Home.
An image of her smiling up at me from our bed this morning flashed in my head.
My throat convulsed.
"Yeah, home," I muttered and ended the call.
I had to go and find my woman.
Ten minutes after that, I got another call. The team was ready to roll out. The only problem was, they didn't have a location
Skylar
I had trouble opening my eyes. They felt like they did when I was too tired and didn't take off my makeup before going to bed. The first thing I saw was light. The blinding light that made spikes of pain stab my brain.
"God," I moaned and tried to pull up my hand to rub at the sore spot to relieve some of it.
The metal sound echoed when I did, and my arm would go as I wanted it to. Squinting, I looked at the source. My wrists were bound to a metal chair with handcuffs.
"What the hell?" I muttered.
How did this happen?
Where was this?
The last thing I remember was Max driving me to the office, and five minutes after he left, I got a call I was desperate to get. I went out, took a step on the street and everything went black. I tried to shake my hands, but it was useless, the only thing that happened was more metal echoing.
"No, no, no, no, no," I chanted trashing in the chair, convinced it would help, and the handcuffs would release me.
Please, God, please don't let it be Nico. I don't know why I prayed for that. I was in a bad situation, but that was my only thought. With every word, no, my heart rate spiked up, and adrenaline rushed through my body, making my vision clear. Looking up, I saw I was in my empty warehouse. I cleared it, deciding I would sell it once police released the building.
I didn't want to have anything that was associated with Nico and those poor girls. For A moment, I wondered how they were. In all that happened, I didn't get a chance to go and see them. I searched for anything that would help me get out of there, but I did a good job.
Nothing was in sight.
"No, no, no, no," I repeated my chant, positive that it was indeed Nico who got me.
I was cold. My whole body hurt, and I could hear steps behind me.
"It's nice of you to wake up," I gasped finally.
I knew that voice. I loved that person, and when my eyes confirmed what I already knew, I only had one question.
"You?"
Max
“Talk,” I said urgently.
“She got a call this morning right after Brody left her. We got CCTV and man,” Chace shook his head in disbelief. “She walked out, and the moment she did, got clocked on the head. The person that did it knew where the cameras were and had his back turned the whole time. We pulled her phone records.” Chace tried to give me some papers, but I shook my head. I didn’t have the patience to look it over. “It was a burner phone. But it got me thinking. If Nico wasn’t the top man, and whoever was pulling his strings had to have a strong influence to get her to walk away. Can you think of anyone who could be that person? And where would they take her?”
He was antsy, ready to go and tear Denver apart to find Skylar and bring her home. The guilt that was still present for the years he spent undercover and did nothing to help Skylar, a force that pushed him even more. One was sparing to my mind. But where would she take her? When realization dawned, I cursed myself for not thinking about it sooner.
I started running to my car, yelling over my shoulder, “To the place where it all began over.”
Skylar
Her slap sent my head sideways. She used her nails this time, and blood trickled down my cheek.
"Look at you," she snarled. "I still don't get what he has seen in you."
I decided not to seek it. Speaking was what sent Kiki I to rage, and she started hitting me and scratching my face.
"How could you do this to me?" she asked, her fingers were pointing at her chest. And they were shaking because she was so out of it... "How could you do this to us?"
“What are you talking about?” I forgot about my vow not to say anything; I couldn't follow what she was saying.
She carried on as if I didn’t say anything.
“How could you just walk out of that church like it was nothing? Like we didn’t wait for you to show up and get hitched? Like you didn’t embarrass us?”
Sweet Marry.
I was aware we drifted apart over the years. I also knew we wanted different things in life.
But I never knew how much she immersed herself in filth.
“You were supposed to marry Nico. You were supposed to sign the business over to him. And once we had everything in place, the legit part of the operation up and running smoothly without you poking your nose in every few days to see what you have in that warehouse, he was supposed to divorce you. And we could finally be together.”
“What?” I whispered.
Tears dropped from my wide eyes. I could barely feel the sting that cuts on my face.
“Who do you think led him to you? Who do you think was behind all of this?”
“It was you?” I refused to believe what I was hearing.
Some part of me hoped this was all a bad dream, and I would wake up safe in Max’s arms. In our bed.
“I had help.”
“Who?”
“Me,” the cold voice I knew so well was heard.
The voice that aimed venom my way with each spoken word. Irene Barone.
Nico’s mother. I followed her as she walked over, kissed Kiki on the side of her head, and then stood in front of me, looking down at my bound wrists.
"Don't you have anything to say, Skylar?” she asked in a sweet tone, tilting her head.
I tried coming up with something to say, but I was so shocked my brain stopped working.
"Stop that, you look like a fish opening and closing your mouth like that, "Irene snapped. "Well, I'm sure you have many questions, so I'll educate you."
She stood before me, her hands clasped in front of her, her face wearing a plastic smile.
"You didn't really think Nico was behind all of it, did you?"
I decided to go back to being silent. It was a good call since Irene kept talking, and she hated it when someone interrupted her.
"You did? Oh, you poor, simple girl,” faking pity. “Don’t you find it strange that, two weeks after Kiki crawled back into your life, Nico stepped in it, too?”