Chapter 1
Xavier
The metal doors slide shut, cutting off her tear-streaked face from view, and for one fucking moment, I completely freeze up, even though my heart rate has just gone through the roof of this seven-story building.
What the fuck just happened?
The thought pops into my head like a maggot, and I squash it immediately. That shit has no space in this moment. I need to get to her. I didn’t spend the last three weeks pulling all the goddamn strings so these assholes would fall into line, just to lose her because of their fucking stupid plan that went fubar the moment they thought it into existence.
Pivoting, I practically throw myself across the tiled lobby, the black-and-white marble tiles blurring together as I steamroll past the front desk and shove my way into the member’s change room. I’m at my locker within a few steps and quickly get it open, stuffing my wallet, phone, and keys into my pockets before ripping my shirt from the hanger and flying back across the room.
I have one arm through a sleeve as I charge back through the door into the foyer and am not even remotely surprised when I see the three of them still standing around, staring at each other like their worlds have just ended. Like they are actually going to respect thatredbullshit.
This isn’t a fucking scene. She is mine, whether she wants to be right now or not.
Derek is the first to spot me as I storm toward the fire exit doors, intent on getting to my car and going after Emery.
“Where the hell are you going?” Derek demands, face darkening as he steps in front of me and physically blocks my way.
I step to the side in an attempt to go around him, but he comes with me and my temper flares. Squaring up, I get in close and personal with his face. “Move.”
Derek’s jaw ticks, but he doesn’t break eye contact. “She used her safe word.”
The weight of two people stepping in behind me lowers my heart rate as my internal threat assessment increases. Theymight be the closest thing I have to a family, but none of them will stop me from getting to my dove.
“Move.” My throat aches with the depth of growl. “Now.”
He blinks, and I see the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, clearly picking up on the fact that I don’t give two fucks about her safe word. I hold my ground, not giving a fucking inch. I’ve stood in front of worse than a middle-aged math professor who likes to inflict a little pain with his pleasure.
Derek’s gaze dips from mine, and he shifts to the side, slightly. I take it and barge past him, clipping his shoulder in a way that makes him stagger out of my path. As my hand hits the fire exit door’s bar, Hudson calls out. “At least let us know when and where you find her.”
Since that was my plan, anyway, I turn back to face them as I open the door to the concrete staircase. “Keep your phones on you.”
My little dove may have gone back up to ground level, but I need to go down one flight of stairs to get to my car. Hopefully she’ll be trapped waiting for a taxi or rideshare, and I can catch up to her down the block.
All but jumping the two flights of stairs and then out into the parking garage, I head straight to my car. Pulling out my phone, I open the tracking app I have installed on her phone. It doesn’t load immediately, and I curse at the lack of signal down here.
The car’s lights flash as I unlock it and throw myself into the driver’s seat, kicking the ignition over before I have my seat belt on. I fit my phone to the cradle and tap the screen to keep the app open, needing it to start working the moment the signal strength improves.
As I peel out of the space and up the ramp, I barely touch the brakes as I push the standard sedan I was given as a part of this new life almost harder than it can go. The tires screech as it takesturns and finally exits the garage on the last ramp and out onto the street.
I turn in the direction of campus, figuring she is more likely to go to her home base than anywhere that is owned by us. Within seconds of my wheels touching the black asphalt, the app kicks into gear, a huge blue circle appearing on the map before shrinking down to a pinpoint that is more than several miles ahead of me and traveling at a pace that tells me she is already in a vehicle.
“Fuck!” I hit the steering wheel with the heel of my hand. That is too much fucking distance. How the hell did she get a ride so quickly? Was there a taxi sitting right in front of the building and she just fell into it?
Following that glowing blue dot on my screen becomes my single focus. I need to close the gap. I need to get to her before she can lock herself in her bedroom. While a door has never stopped me before, I’m not going to throw oil onto this dumpster fire of a night. As much as I don’t want any space between us, I can respect that she’ll probably need a little after this. Not enough to stay out of her life, but enough to let her sleep alone in her own bed. Maybe.
I slam my hand into the steering wheel again, the car jerking the smallest amount as we hurtle along the highway.
I fucking told him.
I told Derek that we should have all just claimed her, and fuck the consequences. Thayne would never fire all four of us in one day. The university’s board of directors would pop a fucking artery. At worst, we would have been put on probation while he decided what to do with the situation.
Me? I would have been easy. Quit. Or fired. Whatever optics worked best for Thayne.
The only ties I have to this life are the three fuckers I left back at Obsession and, now, Emery.
Exactly as expected, her dot turns into the Newton University on-campus parking lot and pauses there. I’m still a couple of miles away, but now that we are back on residential roads, I can’t continue to push the speed limit. As quickly as I can manage, I fire off a text in the group chat that says one word: dorm.
