Being thrifty is a Scot’s virtue, and Lucas has it in spades. He has some expensive bespoke suits, though not many, and he drives a vintage Land Rover Defender. I know he takes good care of what he has.
Once in front of his buildingthough, my feet canna seem to move. It’s an older neighborhood, not far from mine. People are stepping around me as I stand frozen in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Excuse me.” A harried mum is trying to navigate her stroller around me.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I smile at her distractedly, hurrying up the steps. He’s on the second floor, third door down on the right.
Standing in front of the glossy black door, my heart sinks. I force myself to knock, and the door moves slightly. Lucas would never leave his door unlocked, much less ajar. Pushing it open, I know in a second that he’s gone. Everything is perfectly tidy, counters are clean, furniture aligned, but there’s an absence of him.
I’ve never been in his bedroom before, and it’s exactly what I expect; bed made with covers tight. His closet door is opposite the bed. I dinnae want to open it, but I do.
Everything is gone. All his clothes, every drawer empty, just a collection of hangers. His bathroom is clear of anything personal. One of the neatly folded towels is still damp and I press it to my face. Pine and old leather.
He went to talk to my father without me.
I dinnae remember the drive to my parent’s house, there’s a lot of honking and a screech oftyres one time.
“Where’s my father?”
Miss Kevin looks up from their desk, face carefully expressionless. “Hello, Catriona. He’s in his office.”
“Th- thank ye Miss Kevin.”
Slamming open Da’s door, I can tell he’s been waiting for me.
“What did yedoto him!”
He leans back, green eyes like mine, chilly and resolved. “Lucas Stewart’s employment from MacTavish International has been severed. He was given the choice of leaving the country and he took it.”
“Lucas wouldn’t have just left- ye forced him!” I childishly shove a pile of papers off his desk, sending them flying like frightened birds. “He’s an honorable fool, I should have known he’d go to ye without me. How dare ye send him away! This is consensual, we want to be together.”
“I knew it was consensual,” he says coldly. “If I’d had the slightest doubt, he’d be dead right now. It dinnae change the fact that he violated the first oath of his position. He’s gone. He agreed to cut off any communication, ye won’t be seeing him ever again.”
“Ye dinnae get to choose that for me!” I dinnaethink I’ve ever shouted at my father. Not since I was a bairn, now I’m roaring like a lion. “How fecking dare ye! I’m an adult, ye had no right!”
He surges up from his seat so quickly that I step back.
“I have every right to protect my family in the way I see fit. Ye are not some spoiled rich socialite. Ye are Mafia. Our rules are different for a reason. Consequences are harsh. Lucas chose to leave. This is over. I will assign ye two new bodyguards and ye will accept your Chieftain’s decision.”
This is no longer my Da. He’s the Chieftain and I know he’s one heartless bastard sometimes.
Feck it. “No.” I shake my head furiously. “I’ll go to Lucas then.”
Back in my car, I call him. Instead of ringing through, it goes to a bland recording. “This number is not in service at this time.”
The guard at the gate is carefully trying not to look at me, I’m guessing he knows the whole story by now.
“Open the gates, please.”
He hastily slaps the button and steps back as I accelerate my Porsche through the gap, so close I scrape the paint off one side.
My fury and hurt keep me warm until I pull up tothe front door of Lucas’ cottage. The driveway is empty. The blue door is locked.
Lucas left. He took the out Da offered him and he left me.
Now…
Standing on the front step of my parent’s house, I suddenly kick one of the huge planters, hurting my foot and sending it rolling down the stairs, the pottery breaking apart and dirt flying everywhere.
