The Chase

“Yeah. Remember the vow we made, Raine?” Hammer shot her a disapproving scowl. “No secrets.”

“Macen, it wasn’t my secret to tell. If I’d said anything, what’s the first thing you would have done?”

“Picked up the phone and called me like a good friend should,” Beck snarled.

“And you would never have let her go,” Raine pointed out.

“You’re damned right.”

“You two have to stop smothering her.”

They’d only meant to help and protect her, damn it.

Beck was almost afraid to ask his next question. “Is she coming back?”

Raine bowed her head. “I don’t think she knows.”

“Are you fucking—” Seth bit back his accusation. “She just left and you can’t tell us if she ever plans on returning?”

“No. Right now, she’s simply saying goodbye to her dad and thinking about where she ultimately belongs. If she has a little time alone and the chance to miss you, I genuinely believe she’ll come back and want more than anything to spend her life with you.”

“Is that what your crystal ball says?” Beck scowled with clenched teeth.

Raine’s face softened. “She loves you both. She may not have said that out loud, but I’m sure of it. Just give her time.”

It infuriated Beck that she hadn’t left them a choice.

He’d tasted the sadness in Heavenly’s last, lingering kiss. He’d written it off to grief, but she’d known full well she was saying goodbye—maybe forever. Worse, she’d left thinking he was a douche who had cheated on his wife, so the chances she would actually return were close to nil.

Beck wanted to fucking punch someone. “I know you’re owned and pregnant, princess, but if I had that rubber paddle right now, neither of those facts would stop me.”

Liam wrapped a protective arm around Raine’s waist while Hammer stepped in front of her, eyes narrowed. “But she is owned and she is pregnant, so you will never touch her again.”

Raine wriggled from Liam’s grasp. “Stop acting like cavemen, all of you. You should be helping and supporting one another. That’s all I did for Heavenly.”

Her words turned Beck’s fury down a notch, but it didn’t erase the fact that Raine hadn’t given him or Seth any way to talk Heavenly out of leaving.

Seth yanked out his phone and tapped at the screen. “Let’s stop talking and start driving. She’s only a few minutes ahead of us. We might be able to catch her before she gets too far. What kind of car is she driving?”

“A red Audi Q5.” Hammer supplied the license plate number.

“Don’t do this, guys,” Raine implored.

Liam nodded. “I think you should listen to my lovely.”

“Fuck that,” Seth snapped.

Raine turned to him, hands on her hips. “What do you think happens if you track her down and haul her back? She’ll likely tell you both to pound sand and shut you out even more. Is that really what you want?”

“We want her safe,” Seth bit out.

Beck nodded. “And to make sure she knows she’s loved.”

“I get it,” Raine said. “I really do. But she’s a grown woman who’s never even had a single day to herself. She’s taken care of her dad since she was a child. If you force her back, the guilt might compel her into putting your feelings above her own. Do you think she’ll be happy living like that? I know you’re worried, but she’s capable of taking care of herself.”

Beck scrubbed a hand down his face. As much as he hated every word Raine said, he couldn’t refute it. “Why wouldn’t she let us at least buy her a goddamn plane ticket instead of taking off across the country alone?”

“I actually offered to pay for her flight. But Heavenly said that she and her dad drove out from Wisconsin together. She felt that’s how they should go home together, too.”