Chapter 19
Zachariah
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when my cell phone rang. I glared at it. Not because it woke me, but because I wanted to be left alone. If my glare could burn it into ashes, it would already be smoke blowing in the wind.
It had been three days since Travis had called, and he was no closer to getting my wife back home and in one piece. He wouldn’t even tell me what town he was in so I could come do it myself. He only gave me the brief words that ‘now isn’t the time.’ What was that supposed to mean? It was past time! I wasn’t paying him to just go on vacation.
“What?” I barked out.
“Figured you’d be up,” Carlos answered in way of greeting. “I will be going out of town for a few days. Some of my men came across a snitch and I need to make sure the clean-up crew do their job.”
“And why are you telling me this?” I asked, confused.
“Because I know you are following my tracks, that’s why,” my dad answered with heat, not pleased I was doing so. “Plus, your mother will be going along with me. Something about wanting a vacation.”
“Fine,” I breathed. What did I care? Why won’t everyone just leave me, then?
“I expect you to behave and keep things under control,” Dad went on. “I should be back by this time next week or so.”
“Got it,” I spoke. “Anything else?”
“That’s all,” he said.
I didn’t give him a chance to say anything else as I hung up the phone.
My father was getting on my last nerve. He wanted me to do everything for him, it seemed. I understood that he was just trying to keep my mind busy so I didn’t do something stupid. I did want to do something stupid, many things. But he made sure I had no time to do anything of that sort.
Did he purposely tell me he was leaving town because he knew I’d follow his moves, or because he wanted to see what I’d do? I would have followed him if he hadn’t have told me, because I would take any lead right now that I possibly could.
There wasn’t much I could do if he was leaving me in charge of everything. I had to stay here and be the good son he expected me to be. Besides, I already had Travis on the job.
Sighing, I ran my hand down my face. I wondered if anything would have been different if I never met Avidya. What would I be doing if she had never fallen into my lap as she did? Would I have ever come across a woman to marry? Probably not. I couldn’t see myself marrying anyone other than Avidya. She was it for me.
I wasn’t going to let her go that easily, either. I just had to come up with the perfect way to get her back, other than dragging her ass back home. I would if I had to, but I wanted to try to get her to see I couldn’t live without her.
In the kitchen, I made a cup of coffee. I had a number of interviews for the club today for new members. It was not something I was looking forward to, that was for sure. So many people were too new to the lifestyle, and had warped views of how things were supposed to be in my place. They all had to learn the hard way. Either agree to follow my rules that I had lined out, or don’t apply to become a member.
Pretty simple.
Only crappy thing was that most of the men I was doing business with under the brothel name wanted in. I couldn’t willingly allow them in knowing what they were after. I didn’t ever want to mix that with business. Some people didn’t understand BDSM wasn’t a game; it is a lifestyle I was starting to get the itch to start a brothel back up just to keep that high money coming in.
Almost.
As the coffee pot finished brewing my java, my phone once again rang.
Groaning, I answered, my words short and to the point. “What now?”
“Not a good morning, I take it?” Travis’s voice came through.
“What do you want?” I repeated. I wasn’t up to playing games right now. He sure as fuck knew that too.
“I just wanted to let you know that Avidya is sick and won’t be able to come back right away. Nothing life threatening,” he hurriedly explained. “I’m going to stick around for another day or so just to make sure. But she promised she’d think about returning when she feels up to traveling.”
“Sick with what?” I barked. She wasn’t the type to get sick at the drop of a pen. Was she really sick? Was she just not wanting me to see me again? Had I possibly ruined whatever we once had?
“Just this sickness that is going around. She works at a daycare center, so she assumes she picked up one of the many bugs,” Travis said.
I could picture him shrugging on the other end of the phone as he sat in his car.
