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Ten missed calls from Riley’s teacher.
“Oh God,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. What the hell had happened? Her brain was too messed up to think straight.
Nate turned his back to her, his eyes as dark as the night. “I’ll call the school from the car. Stay here in case she comes back.” He pulled his shirt on, deftly fastening the buttons. “Call me if she does.”
“Okay.” There was so much more she wanted to say, but none of it sounded right to her ears. How sorry she was. How she couldn’t believe this had happened.
Somewhere deep inside was that tiny part of her that wanted to ask him why he was so angry at her, but she knew she could never ask him that.
Her hands were shaking as he walked back into the house. A few moments later she heard the slam of the door. She was still holding her breath as the car engine came to life with a roar, then the familiar sound of him reversing out of his parking spot drifted through the air. When she heard the creak of the main gates, she made her way back to the big glass doors, glancing at the messed up bed that had seemed like such a good idea only a few hours before.
Right now it felt like the worst idea in the world. She pressed her lips together, trying to stop herself from crying. What on earth had Riley thought, seeing the two of them naked beneath the sheets? The same thing she would have thought if she’d caught somebody she’d considered a friend sleeping with her own father.
Betrayed, disgusted, but most of all completely devastated.
And now Riley had run off to God only knew where – and it was all Ally’s fault.
* * *
“Riley? It’s me. Again. Call me back as soon as you can. We’re so worried about you.” Ally took a breath to try and calm down her pulse that hadn’t stopped racing since Riley had caught them on the terrace. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into the mouthpiece of her phone. “Please come home.”
She’d been calling Riley for the past half hour, but every time it clicked straight to voicemail. It was the middle of the night, it was dark, and Riley was all alone somewhere.
Please let Nate find her. Or let her come home. Ally squeezed her eyes closed for a second, sending up a silent prayer. Surely somebody had to be listening up there.
When she glanced at her phone again, she saw the notifications flashing at the top. She slid her finger to drag them up, and saw a voice message that had been received hours earlier.
From Riley.
It felt as though Ally’s heart had risen up from her chest and into her throat. Her fingers shook as she keyed in her pin. Why hadn’t she had her phone outside with her last night?
Because you were too busy, the little voice in her head told her. Too concerned about being in Nate’s arms to care about his daughter.
She closed her eyes as her voicemail connected.
“Ally?” Riley’s voice was tremulous. “Can you call me?” A tiny sob echoed down the line. “Please…” A loud click was followed by nothingness. How long ago had Riley tried to call? Ally quickly brought up her call log to see the message was left at nine the previous night. It was almost three-thirty in the morning now. If Rile
y arrived home at two–thirty, then she must have left Los Angeles almost as soon as she’d failed to speak to Ally.
She jumped when her phone rang out – loudly this time, thanks to the full volume she’d been sure to switch on.
“Any sign of her?” Nate asked as soon as she picked up the call.
Ally swallowed. “No. But she left a voicemail last night.”
“What did she say?”
She tried to ignore the impatience in his voice. He was just worried. “Nothing. Just asked me to call her.” She took a ragged breath in. “But Nate, she was crying. So upset.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting into it. “What’s happened to her?”
“The school realized she was missing around midnight,” Nate said. “After they couldn’t get ahold of me they got the police involved.”
She covered her eyes with the palm of her hand. “Do they know how she got here?”
There was a pause. “She stole her teacher’s car.”
“Oh shit.” Ally felt his words like a punch in the gut.
“It’s not the first time she’s been in trouble. I’ve just spent the last ten minutes persuading them not to press charges. The only problem is she’s still got the damn car somewhere. She could be anywhere by now.”
