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CHAPTER 1
Anna
My name is yelled out as I stand still, not paying attention.
“Anna,” a familiar voice screams.
The next thing I know, I'm flat on my ass. I’ve been distracted lately and not here in the present. Everything I do or think about is Maxim. Everywhere I look, all I see is him. I can’t get him out of my head.
“Damn girl,” Colt laughs as he holds out his hand to help me up. “You're lucky we weren’t practicing our uppercuts.” He gives me a knowing smile.
I grunt as I get up to a full standing position, mumbling ‘that hurt’ as I rub my side. Colt performed a side kick, knocking my legs out from underneath me, sending my whole body tumbling to the ground like a bag of bricks.
I limp over to the fridge where we keep all of our drinks and grab a bottle of water. In the basement of the main Moretti house, they have a really sweet ass gym here.
Colt usually never beats me unless I'm distracted, which I am today. It's been almost a month and I just can't focus on anything else except his face.
Jax has us on lockdown, all of us siblings are here. Jax is using the main office while Mason and Finn are occupying the other two that we have.
Finn keeps taking calls from clients or by video conferencing. We all understand how important his job is to him, so everybody gives him the space he needs. He occasionally sits in on the meetings when we find out something new.
I've never seen my oldest brother more terrified and pissed than I have now. I don't think the lockdown on this house could get any tighter. None of us are allowed to leave, especially me.
I always have someone with me, if not my brother's, then usually a few guards, and that's just walking around the property. Sometimes they even monitor me inside.
This is impacting Jax’s health, he's never been more stressed. He's just trying to make sure that all of us are safe.
It's getting to the point of obsession now. All of our other clients have been on hold and Jax’s main focus, twenty-four seven, is on finding Maxim.
He's called in numerous favors that have been owed to him throughout the years, but nothing is panning out.
Jax even hired several teams just to focus only on looking for Maxim.
I sit down on the bench that we have next to the stairs, that leads to the kitchen area. Colt got me good. I'm definitely going to feel this tomorrow. Now I wish my dumbass had been paying attention.
Ray Sanchez, one of the men that have been working with us for at least five years, casually strolls down the stairs in his workout gear.
“Hey girl, want to see if you can kick my ass again?” He walks down the last few steps then turns and faces me. “Holy shit, what happened to you? Maybe I should spar with you right now. I'd actually win.”
I laugh, Ray and I have had a weird relationship over the years. We even dated for a little while and we've always relentlessly flirted. He's just a really good guy.
He is gorgeous and model good looking. The thing that attracted me to him the most is his outgoing personality. He’s very funny and relaxed. Someone you don’t mind leaning on.
I’m not gonna lie. It also helps that he is built like Booker and some of the other tanks we have in our company. But, Ray reminds me of Maxim’s Booker the most.
He has deep loyalty and an attention-grabbing personality. Plus, those hazel eyes I can look into all day long. My mind flickers through the past several years of us dating and working together. There was no spark, we’re better off as friends instead.
“Colt got the upper hand earlier, so I'm going to be sitting this next one out, probably tomorrow, too.” I tell Ray as I rub the side of my leg where I landed hard on the cement floor. It's padded but it doesn't work that well.
Ray laughs as he walks over to Colt, they do their man shake-high five-guy hug thing, then they chat for a few minutes.
Colt runs over to the fridge and grabs an ice pack out of it, then runs it over to me. I didn't even think of doing that.
Get it together Anna.
I sit there and watch them as I place the ice pack on the side of my thigh and hip. These two are the funniest to watch. Even though they're actually getting training and good practice in, they make it fun. Not so serious like Jax and Mason.
Colt's running across the room, screaming at a laughing Ray. Ray is laughing too hard to prepare for what was coming for him.
Colt hits him in the midsection with the shoulder, then plows him onto the hard mat. Ray never stopped laughing. Colt and I join in.
I sit here for the next hour watching and laughing with them. It's actually a very good distraction, it takes my mind off of everything.
All three of us head out at the same time. I just waited because I have nothing else to do. It can get pretty boring when you're on lockdown and there's no jobs.
When we hit the kitchen, Ray puts his arm around me, “hey you, want to hit the movie theater later? I'll buy.”
I start laughing, he even made me snort a couple times. For one, nobody's leaving this damn house, sure as hell not me. And for another, the movie theater is in the main part of the house, so technically it's free.
I agree to meet up with him later. I start to head back to my room, I need a really good soak in the bath with some Epsom salt.
I take out my phone as I walk back, I find myself constantly checking for messages. I've done this several times a day ever since Maxim first sent me the first message.
At first, my brother's wanted to get rid of the phone and get me a whole other number altogether. After I was able to calm them down, I explained how it could benefit us all, maybe one day Maxim would contact me again. I was so sure of it, then we could find out where he was.
They all agreed reluctantly, but not once has he reached out to me.
I sigh when I reach the attic. I strip my clothes off as I walk over to my dresser and grab new ones. I'm going to be in the bathroom for at least an hour.
