Page 31 of Forever Found

“Kline has been caught! The FBI took down the whole trafficking ring, including that asshole Bull. No one is looking for Addy, and even if they were, Eli and I are both with her.” I tried to calm my tone that time, but I was seriously enraged at the way Kane seemed to think he got to control Addy in any way. I agreed she needed to be cautious. With our family wealth there would always be a risk of kidnap for ransom, but Kane was being insane, not to mention a complete asshole. No wonder Addy had needed to get away from him.

“Just tell me where you are, Ash!”

“No. Addy made me promise not to tell any of you where we are. She needed to get away from you. I don’t know what you did to her, but she doesn’t want to see you.”

“I don’t care what she wants. She’s mine and I want her fucking safe. Tell me where the fuck you are, right now!” Kane raged.

“She is not yours,” I retuned coldly. “She doesn’t belong to anyone, and the fact you don’t care what she wants has me wanting to come home and kick your fucking ass,” I ground out through clenched teeth. “Don’t call again. You come after us and I will not hesitate to stop you from getting near Addy. We’re not coming back until Addy is ready. You fucked up – you and Adam both. Maybe you should take some time to think about and fix that.” With that I ended the call and shut off my cell.

I wouldn’t put it past Kane to track our phones, but I meant what I had said. If Kane came after us I would do whatever it took to keep him from Addy if that was what she needed. Kane was my friend and I had, in the past, trusted him with my life, but Addy came first, and she always would.

Addy was still asleep when I hopped back into my car, for which I was grateful. She desperately needed some sound sleep and she seemed to be getting it snuggled with Eli as she was.

“What did he say?” Eli asked quietly.

“He’s being a complete ass. I know he’s worried about Addy, but he needs to get himself together. He’s talking about her like he owns her and I don’t like it one bit,” I replied. “Shut off your cell if you have it. I think he’ll try to track us down if he can, and I now completely understand why Addy doesn’t want that.”

“I left it at home,” Eli said, then his eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. “You don’t think he hurt her, do you?”

“Not physically. I know Kane well enough to know he’d never hurt a woman, but emotionally? Yeah, I think he and Adam are hurting Addy a lot that way right now,” I sighed.

“What do we do, Ash? I feel like we’re failing her when she needs us most.”

“It’s my fault. I knew she was struggling, but I stepped back. I thought it was up to Adam, Kane, and Jordan to take care if her – for them to prove they really are what she needs, but they haven’t stepped up and now I’ve let it go on for too long.”’

“That’s on me too, Ash. I did exactly the same.”

“I want to allow her to have the space she needs, and it’s time for us to be there for her. No more stepping back until she’s stronger. I hope the guys will pull their heads out of their ass’s and step up, but whether they do or not, we’re gonna be here for her as long as she needs us, and long after that.”

“So what? We take a vacation? Stay away from the house?” Eli questioned.

“Yes, if that’s what she wants. We can go where ever she wants to go, and I can buy us anything we need. I’ll have to arrange to get her meds, but it shouldn’t be a problem. I think she needs a change of scenery and we can give her that,” I explained.

“I think we might all need that,” Eli agreed, and he wasn’t wrong. It had been a hell of a couple of months, and it had taken everything I had. I didn’t even know how Eli and Addy were still going after what they had been through. Yeah, a break would be good for all of us, but especially for Addy.

“And I grabbed all of her meds when I got the car keys. That’s what I threw in the back.” Eli added. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“What the hell would I do without you?” I questioned with a smile. “You always think of everything important.”

CHAPTER 12

ADDY

I woke up feeling warm and safe, and I pressed a little harder against the chest my head lay on. At first I thought it was Jordan and I sighed happily. Ever since the kidnapping, he was the only one who had stayed the man I knew him to be. He hadn’t changed in any way, and though I knew he worried about me, he didn’t get angry or annoyed with me. His attempts to encourage me to eat or sleep more, or to talk to him, were always gentle and playful and I needed that. I needed the familiarity of him being the guy I loved.

“Shortcake?” I looked up and pulled back a little when I realized it was Eli I was cuddled up to, not Jordan. “Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?” he asked gently.

As I looked out of the car window to my side I remembered what had happened – Kane yelling at me and me trying to run. Asher and Eli had gotten me out of there, just as I’d asked them to.

“Where are we?” I asked as I sat up more and looked all around me, worried Kane would already be there, having found or followed us. He had become almost crazy about knowing where I was and I knew he’d be losing his mind if he didn’t know my exact location at that moment.

“Our mother’s cabin. Her father used to bring her up here in summer when she was a kid. He left it to her when he died,and when Ash and I were kids, she’d sometimes bring us here. It’s peaceful and no one but me and Ash know about it,” Eli explained.

I looked out of the window again and really looked this time. We were parked before a huge wooded built cabin with two story’s. A solid wood staircase led up to a wraparound porch that seemed to span the entire perimeter of the house. There were pots filled with evergreen plants at the foot of the stairs, despite the snow that was all around us. The cabin sat beside a huge lake that seemed to span miles. It looked partially frozen and the sun was glinting off of the ice at it’s center. Trees surrounded the water and I couldn’t see another house or person for miles.

“It’s beautiful,” I gasped.

“We expected the cabin to be falling down by now. We haven’t been here for decades, but someone’s obviously been taking care of it,” Eli explained. “Ash has gone to see if we can get inside.”