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My gaze swings to Parker, and I watch her, wondering if she is as disturbed by this information as I am. Trying to shake myself out of these thoughts, I wonder why it upsets me so much right now. I’ve known all this since before I actually married Coleman, but maybe it’s hearing the facts being confirmed that bothers me, I think.
I don’t know.
It shouldn’t, and yet it does.
“We won’t worry about any of that right now. Our focus is on finding Allison and protecting the women,” Henry continues.
He’s trying to keep everyone from losing their shit, and I can appreciate that, even if I’m one of the people on the verge of losing their shit.
“Hendrick, I want you to stay here in case she somehow makes it back. Parker and Wells, keep your phones near in case she calls, and Coleman and Claire, go home. But, Coleman?”
Coleman stops and lifts his head, and I watch as his gaze finds his father’s and holds it. “Get a few hours’ sleep and meet me at the office at nine in the morning. We have some work to handle.”
“I’ll be there,” Coleman murmurs.
And with that, we disperse.
Although, as we do, I can’t help the sensation of feeling empty. I wonder if it’s just because Allison is missing because I don’t really know her or if it’s more. Like the fact that I truly am a prized bride, bought and paid for, confirmed and thrown in my face in a way I didn’t think would ever happen.
Or is it because my parents are gone? My siblings will be leaving soon, and I’ll be alone with this husband who owns every single inch of me.
I think it might be a combination, but the whole thing makes me feel completely and totally sick. Part of me wants to curl into a ball and cry right now, accept everything that has happened to her and feel sorry for herself.
The other part wants to fight.
And I think the fighting part of me might win… except when my husband’s eyes land on mine. When his hand takes mine, he guides me out of the apartment. With his eyes, with his touch, that fight disappears.
He does own me. But not just because he bought me. He just plainownsme. He owned me from the moment he walked into that sex club. He owned me the second his eyes found mine. I was meant to be his, and he was meant to be mine.
I love him.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
COLEMAN
My father said to sleep,but it evades me. Lying beside Claire, I watch her. Sleep finds her, and I’m grateful, though I don’t know if it’s because she can sleep or more because I exhausted her, and she’s passed out.
I slide out of bed. The whole premise of sleep is useless right now. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep until I know who the fuck is coming after us.
I grab a pair of pants off the floor and tug them over my hips, feeling the weight of my phone in the pocket and almost groaning with the knowledge that it will likely ring sooner rather than later.
My mind wanders to the clusterfuck the family is dealing with. Just when I think we’ve solved a problem, another one pops up. We didn’t even get a full fucking day.Fuck, we didn’t even get two hours. Shit was going down when we were trying to deal with other shit.
It’s never-ending piles of steaming shit at this point, and I don’t know where to even turn to try and sort it out. I’m fucking fucked. This whole thing is fucked, and I’ve never been more unsure of what to do in my entire life.
I move into the living room of my condo, walk over to the windows, and look out at the Dallas skyline.
I need to feel the air.
The breeze on my face.
Opening the door to the balcony, I step out so I can take in the fresh air.
It’s daylight, the sun is shining, and I can tell already that it’s going to be a warm day. There are people moving around below, cars honking and trucks shifting gears.
None of them know that Allison is missing, that there is a threat to my wife, to my mother, to my future sister-in-law. Nobody fucking knows a goddamn thing. They’re just living their lives, going through their motions with no fucking clue about what happens in the underbelly of this world.
What happens in my world.
