Page 4 of Jake
“I don’t want to be late for class.”
“You’re not due for an hour. You can spare two minutes,” my father says.
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie, sweetheart. Anderson told us what’s going on.”
“Well, he should just mind his business because I’m okay. I swear it. It’s just a shock. I’ll have a boyfriend soon.”
“Don’t rush to date just because you’re upset.”
“Rush? I’m nearly twenty and I’ve never had a damn boyfriend because I’ve been in love with a memory. Enough.” I raise my hands and brush past my parents. “Relax. The allotted minutes have passed and I have to get going.” I snag my keys off the hook and grab my purse, adjusting my book bag so I can carry it all to my car.
****
It’s almost my twentieth birthday, and I’ve packed a bag and I’m headed far away from my home. I look at the clock and hate that I’ve wasted the past six years clinging to the hope that he’d come back for me.
No one, and I mean no one, could keep me here any longer. I don’t have any goals or any ambitions. My heart isn’t into anything. I almost have my culinary degree, but I have no use for it because I’m not sure I can stomach eating, so cooking will be difficult. Work has been a struggle for the past day.
My parents have something special planned for tomorrow, but I won’t be there for it. Nothing can fix the broken pieces of me anymore. I have to start a new life, and that means getting over Jacob Richards and finding someone who will fill the void that he left all those years ago.
The burning sensation created by seeing him with that sexy bitch yesterday was enough to break me for good. I thought I could handle seeing him move on after all these years, but I lied to myself. We haven’t spoken to or seen each other since he drove away from me six years ago, so why would I have expected him to stay devoted to me the way I had to him? I lived for Jake, but he hadn’t done the same.
I jumped into my car with my bags packed the second the sun started to rise. The sky was an orangish red outside when I hit the road. I had enough money from my job at the restaurant I worked at to hold me over for a few months until I figured out my plans, although I’m sure my parents will make sure they find me before then even if they have to tie me up and drag me back.
My head pounds as the tears dry up on my face. I don’t think I have any more tears to cry.
Chapter Three
Jake
The flight in from New York has been a long one. Everything is ready for the surprise I’ve set up. She only has two classes this morning, so I wait for her to get off work.
It’s my princess’s birthday, and we have a lot to fucking celebrate. Six fucking long years without my hands on her, and my lips have longed to be all over her body that has gone from innocent to sinful.
Thankfully, she had those asshole brothers to keep the dicks at bay and a father that I’d love to destroy, but he kept my girl safe. I’m back to collect my woman, and I won’t be leaving without the other half of me. The longing has been unbearable, and I’ve been patient enough. Not a soul will stop me from claiming her. Lea will finally be mine.
She doesn’t pull up to the house when she should, and I’m curious as fuck. I call my men, and they say she never went to class this morning. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
“We figured since it was her birthday that she was playing hooky.” Checking the driveway, I don’t see her car, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t in their garage. With the number of vehicles they possess, it’s possible she parked inside.
I storm up to the front door, losing my mind, unable to wait a moment longer. Pounding on the door, her father opens it. “Richards?”
“Where is Lea?” I ask without preamble, looking around them.
“She’s not here.”
“What the fuck do you mean she’s not here?” I roar, ready to beat the fuck out of her father. I’ve waited all these years to come home, ready to hand my queen the world and demand that she marry me like she promised, and she’s fucking gone.
“Calm the fuck down.” He wants me to calm down? Has he lost his mind? “We’re looking for her. She ran off in the middle of the night.”
“I thought you had your fucking guard dogs watching her like a hawk. If I’d known you were so damn incompetent…” I run my eyes past her gauntlet of brothers “…I would have kept better tabs on her.”
“Watch it, Richards,” the oldest snarls at me. I’ve hated Anderson for the longest motherfucking time, since the first time that prick told me to stay away from his sister to the time he dropped me on my ass.
“I’m doing a better job than you are,” I bite out, thinking about the tracking app I had the cell phone provider add to her phone that none of them were aware of.
“Really? Maybe this fucking caused her to run away.” He flips his fucking phone toward me, and I see a picture of Rachael with her arms thrown around me at the Met Gala. Fuck my life. I could punt that bitch in her twat. I swear to God, I’m angrier than I’ve ever been.