"Yeah. I don't have my wallet. I don't have anything," she admitted. The words echoed through her mind and she thought strangely that they applied to way more than just the current situation she found herself in. All the things she'd learned about Trent over the past few weeks and all the dreams she'd envisioned for their future were gone. And she was left with nothing.
“Just hold on. I’m going to get you a hotel room and ask them to hold a key for you at the front desk.”
After she told him the address of the building behind her, she listened as he talked to someone in the background. She got a sudden visual of him scowling the way he often did.
“Ethan?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you. Seriously. I haven’t talked to you in so long and you’re doing all this for me. I just … really appreciate it.”
He paused and she could sense that he was surprised. “You’re very welcome. Just tell me that you’re okay.”
“I’m not. Not at all actually. But I will be.”
* * * * *
TRENT STALKED DOWN the street, scrutinizing the faces of every woman he passed. He saw a woman with long dark hair and he reached out in recognition.
“Mara!”
She turned and her face came into full view. “Get your hands off me!” The older woman yanked her arm out of his grip and hurried away, throwing worried glances back at him.
Trent stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the disgruntled comments and curses from the people who flowed around him.
Where was she? She couldn’t have gone far with no coat and no money. Her purse was still in the penthouse along with all her clothes. Her things. But after going up and down the street twice, there was no sign of her. He’d thought she was walking off to get some distance. He hadn’t actually thought she’d disappear into thin air. Out there alone with no way to even get back home.
As he approached the building, Ernesto opened the door, a concerned look on his face. “You didn’t find her?”
Well, that answered his question of whether or not Mara had come back in his absence. “No. Let me know immediately if she walks back this way, would you?”
“Of course, sir.”
Back in the penthouse, he crossed to the bar and poured a drink, his fingers shaking so badly that he spilled almost as much as he got in the glass. He took the shot of whiskey straight, relishing the burn as it traveled down his throat and landed square in the middle of his gut. He needed that burn to make him feel alive. Because part of him felt like he was living in the middle of a very bad dream.
I have a son.
He hung his head. No wonder his brother felt like Trent was trying to take his place. Their father was trying to replace him at work and even his girlfriend wasn’t loyal to him. He wasn’t blind to his brother’s faults in the slightest but he was starting to get a broader view of where some of his brother’s behavior stemmed from.
The sound of the elevator opening stopped him in his tracks. He rushed back over to the doors. “Mara?”
Avery stood in the entryway watching him warily. For several long moments, neither of them spoke. Trent went through a gamut of emotions, surprise, disgust, rage, and finally sadness. Because he knew that their friendship had been broken today in a way that could never be repaired.
“I know you’re mad at me.”
Trent just stood looking at his oldest friend in the world and was suddenly completely deflated. “Mara’s gone.”
A brief expression of joy crossed her face before she quelled it. “I shouldn’t have showed her that picture. I’m sorry.”
“You’re not sorry.”
Her head jerked up at his harsh tone. “Trent, I know—“
“I want you to go, Avery. And not come back.”
She took a hesitant step backward. Then she swallowed before nodding. “What about Travis?”
“I’ll make arrangements to see him. We can coordinate through my mother. But I can’t see you right now. Probably not for a long time.”