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In my embarrassment, Samuel, seemingly sympathetic, put an arm around my waist and pulled me back into the chair. This effectively released the hold drunk Christy had, and a sigh of relief escaped me.
Christy scowled, "Hey, you took away my dance partner!" Samuel laughed heartily, even snorting. His hand lingered at my waist, and I felt a hot stare on it. Turning around, I saw a woman sitting nearby, and her presence seemed out of place in the bar. Her hair was pulled so tightly into a bun that it looked like it was going to be ripped out. She had a stern expression and was glaring at us. My heart raced; survival instinct kicked in. I felt exposed and unsafe. Weirdly, I felt like I was caught.
Chapter 7
Adrik
?Sixty-eight days had passed. It had been sixty-eight days since I took a breath that didn't feel like it was tearing me apart, limb by limb. Two months had gone by since I last kissed her, heard her voice, or felt her presence. I always knew her mere presence could bring me to my knees, and now I realized her absence could obliterate my very soul.
Without her to temper some of my darkness, it devoured me, tearing me apart. I thought of nothing but her. Memories of her taunted me, threatening my sanity. All I wanted was to be near her—her angelic voice caressing my ears, the scent of her that defined my home, gazing at her beautiful face, and running my fingers through her lovely hair.
I missed the cocoon we created. My heart longed for the time when she loved me, when intimacy between us made us feel like one. When there was no of doubt or suspicion. I missed her ability to shield me from my demons; when we were together, they remained quiet.
If she thought I wouldn’t find her, she was dead wrong. Even after death, I would find her. Her belief that she could elude me while we both lived and breathed was comical. I couldn't forget the heart-wrenching moment I returned home to find her missing.
The guards I assigned let Nathan take her, foolishly trusting their colleague. All they told me was that she said she was surprising me. One of them mentioned glimpsing a mask inNathan's car as he warned him to bring my wife to me safely. I instantly knew he took her to the annual underground gathering I organized for connections here in America. She witnessed me in my element and fled.
I had never intended to reveal my involvement in that world to her, knowing she'd never accept me or my empire, especially with the trauma from her parents' annihilation by that world. But Elena ruined that. It was clear she worked with Nathan to stage an affair and take Luna to that event.
When Luna disappeared, so did Elena. I got my hands on Nathan, literally beating him into a pulp for information. He confessed that Elena promised to help Luna disappear after witnessing what she had. He also revealed Elena's lie about being three months pregnant with my baby.
However, he swore he didn't know Luna's whereabouts, begging me to spare his life and help him find Elena. The baby she carried was his. She led him by his dick to betray me, and that would be the biggest mistake of their lives.
I displayed his mutilated form in my club for a couple of days, making him a lesson for anyone daring to think they could take my Luna away from me. Elena was next; it was a vow. I couldn't care less if she was a woman anymore; she was going to face punishment befitting her crime. Her sole objective seemed to be ruining Luna's life, shattering her fragile heart into pieces.
Elena made my wife believe I would impregnate another woman, that I could ever love someone else when the only person I ever loved on this earth was her. She would pay when I found her. Yet, finding my wife took precedence; I devoted all my resources to her. Afterward, I would track down Elena and end her with my bare hands.
The search for Luna was a damn nightmare. No credit card activity, no signs in her usual haunts, and her phone emitted no signals. It was as if she had evaporated into thin air.
She had always been my puzzle, but this time, it felt like she was flipping me the middle finger and reveling in it. She slipped through my fingers like smoke. It wasn't just about claiming what's mine; it was the fact that she managed to stay away from me for so long. We belonged to each other, and I would make sure she damn well knew it.
The woman I owned, heart, body, and soul, had dared to abandon me. Her absence created a sickening void, gnawing at the edges of my consciousness—an itch I couldn't scratch. I called in every favor, squeezed every sniveling rat in my network, yet she remained a phantom. Until I hired Svetlana Anatolyeva a week ago.
Svetlana had finally tracked down Luna's whereabouts. However, she insisted on withholding the information until today morning, explaining that this delay was crucial to gather as much intel as possible about Luna's new life.
It was a strategic move to avoid interference that might tip her off or alter her carefully constructed existence.
I begrudgingly accepted this calculated approach, understanding that the more we knew, the better prepared I would be to confront Luna. The waiting felt interminable, every passing moment intensifying my obsession and desperation to reclaim what was once mine.
Svetlana's investigative prowess was remarkable. She delved into Luna's disappearance, discovering her under a new name—Alissa Grey—living as a baker in a quiet town. Luna thrived in her new life, while I merely survived. As she moved on, Ifelt numb, the darkness within me growing as her light thrived beyond my reach.
Mechanically packing my bag, my phone's jarring ring invaded the tense air. Svetlana's urgency permeated through the call, and I braced myself. "Are you getting ready to come?" she asked urgently.
Furrowing my eyebrows, I responded, "I'm packing right now. Is something wrong?" She hesitated before replying, "No, but there's something I haven't told you yet. I figured I should tell you before you come, so you know what to expect. Um, she may be more comfortable with her new life than I initially thought." My growl betrayed my impatience as I demanded, "What do you mean?"
I sensed her carefully choosing her words, "She was at a bar yesterday with her... friends. Let's say she appeared less uptight, more... happy." A gulp punctuated her revelation before she added, "Adventurous, you might say." My grip on the phone tightened almost to the point of breaking.
"Spit it out," I commanded through a tight jaw. She sighed before confessing, "She was with a man last night." As my ragged breaths echoed through the phone, she quickly clarified, "Not alone. Her friend, Christy, was with her. They were at the bar." But that did not put me at ease in the slightest.
The revelation struck me like a blow to the gut, the notion of Luna with another man fueling the raging inferno within. I inhaled sharply, trying to suppress the surge of dark emotions threatening to consume me.
"Was he touching her?" I growled through gritted teeth, barely containing the seething anger that bubbled beneath the surface. Svetlana's hesitant admission only intensified the storm withinme. With a roar, I flung a nearby vase, shattering it against the wall. "Where?" I demanded with a menacing snarl.
The vivid images of another man's touch on Luna sent waves of fury through me. "He kissed her cheek, put her hair behind her ear, and touched her waist. That's all," Svetlana stammered. It felt like I was about to explode from anger. "I'm coming," I declared before abruptly ending the call. The fantasy of tearing apart this unknown man played on repeat in my head. I was surely going to kill that motherfucker.
A feral rage consumed me as I processed the unsettling truth. No man, friend or not, had the right to touch her. Her skin, her essence, belonged to me and me alone. I'd annihilate anyone who dared trespass on what was rightfully mine. The urge to protect my possession surged through me, an unbridled darkness threatening to unleash itself. I was her first, her only, and there was nothing I wouldn't do to ensure that it stayed that way.
There was also a current of surprise flowing through me. She despised the taste of alcohol; it was one of the traits I appreciated about her. The realization that she was at a bar struck me with a disconcerting force. How much had myMilayachanged in these few months? The woman I knew wouldn't willingly step into such a place.
