Until Fools Find Gold (Providence Gold 1)

In all of my years on the run with my dad, I’d never felt as alone and desperate as I did now. And trust me when I was with him– I’d felt seriously alone and desperate.

The hissing sound changed, and I smelled something almost sweet fill the air in the box. Almost immediately my eyes began to roll, and I felt my head get fuzzy.

I was screwed. Well and truly screwed!

NoahIt had been thirty-seven hours and fourteen minutes since I last kissed her.

Two-thousand-two-hundred and thirty-four minutes.

I knew the exact time because I’d still been inside her and had seen the time on the clock beside the bed flashing three-thirty in the morning. I’d joked that if we didn’t stop now, we’d either die of dehydration or be one of those weird couples you saw on the news who got stuck together and had to get wheeled out on a stretcher while every asshole and their camera recorded the moment. Then I’d kissed her as I pulled out and we’d fallen asleep almost immediately.

My brothers, Archer and Levi, were on their way up to the room with my mom. We’d mobilized immediately, and they’d arrived here within hours of realizing Luna was missing, thanks to the company’s plane and pilot.

Tate, Ariana, and Dad had stayed home along with my grandparents, who’d flown in from where they lived with my cousins roughly a three-hour drive from where we lived.

We were leading the search for Luna from Vegas, whilst they did it from Texas. The goal was to leave no stone unturned… I just couldn’t.

As soon as they walked through the door, Levi tried to punch me but was caught by Archer.

“You were meant to look after her,” he bellowed in my face. “I fucking trusted you!”

I didn’t make a move to protect myself or retaliate. All I could do was stare at him and spin the wedding band currently sitting halfway up my little finger. It made me feel closer to Luna, and desperately lost at the same time.

“Enough,” Sven ordered, walking in with Maggie behind him. “He was looking after her. It was her piece of shit father who wasn’t. Fucking look at him, man,” he said walking up beside me and putting his hand on my shoulder, glaring at my brother.

“If he was looking after her, she’d still be here,” Levi snapped.

He wasn’t saying anything I wasn’t already saying to myself. I’d failed her!

Yesterday, Sven had told me he’d found out about three deals her father had made to pay back debts using her. One to a man who owned a brothel on the Mexican side of the border, one to a pimp in Vegas who was currently a suspect in the murders of four prostitutes, and one to a well-known footballer who was being investigated for the rape of his team player’s daughter. It was fucking sick!

Sitting down heavily on the bed, I let my head hang down. I couldn’t stop staring at her ring remembering everything that had led up to me putting it on her finger.

We’d stopped by a jewelry shop in a hotel on the way to Elvis. She’d wanted to just buy one from the place that we got married at, but I’d insisted that we at least did this part properly. We’d argued for five minutes over a plain band versus one that had diamonds inlaid around it. They weren’t huge, and it wasn’t gaudy at all - it was beautiful and classy just like my little Miss. Priss.

She’d rolled her eyes and gone to look at a bangle that Maggie was interested in buying for her sister, so I’d gotten the sales chick to just ring it up. It had been serendipity though because this was the ring that had fit her perfectly.

At the chapel, she’d been laughing as Elvis had told me to put it on Priscilla’s finger, her eyes sparkling as she grinned up at me.

My band was a plain black titanium one. I didn’t want a shiny one in case I scratched it doing work stuff or working on machinery. This one was made of a special type of titanium that was black all the way through and the saleslady had told us it was one of a kind. Those words made people buy jewelry all the time, thinking only they’d have it. I bought mine because Luna was one of a kind, so having a ring from her that was just like her? It was fate, just like her ring had been.

We’d planned to go back today to get them engraved with something and couldn’t tell the other one what.

Fuck me, I couldn’t lose her. Not now!

Not ever!

“What’s that?” Mom asked quietly.

I hadn’t even noticed her walking up to me.

“Luna’s wedding ring,” I mumbled.

“Her what?” she shrieked. “Are you asking her to marry you?”