I barely got any rest at all, and when my alarm finally buzzed a happy tune, I stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom. Showered. Ate breakfast. Everything I did was in a haze; I was nothing more than a zombie dragging my feet.
Wyatt’s wide eyes told me exactly how shitty I looked by the time I got to work, my workbag slung over my shoulder and a steaming travel mug of coffee clutched in my palm like the lifesaver it was. I sucked the hot liquid down, not caring how much it burned my mouth, needing any sensation to wake me up from the nightmare I’d somehow entered.
“Hey, Boss. You all right?” Wyatt shuffled closer to me, his bulk casting a shadow over my eyes as I threw my bag on the ground near the trailer. I sighed, pressing my fingers into my eye sockets, hoping it would wake me up, but it failed. Everything hurt.
“Not really.” I gulped the coffee and it burned down my throat.
“Was it about that text message you got yesterday?” He frowned at me and followed when I opened the trailer and stepped inside. “Because you paled when you got it. The girls aren’t hurt, are they?”
“They’re fine.” I wasn’t, though.Fuck. The anger raged war inside me, heating me. Grimacing, I slammed the travel mug on the side of the sink and gripped the edge of the small counter, cursing Mark for doing this, yet again. I liked a chase, but I’d thought I’d finally caught him for good. But no. He’d run again.
“You don’t look well.” Wyatt’s big paw sat on my shoulder and squeezed. “Maybe you should take the day off. I got this handled, you know that.”
It wasn’t such a bad idea. I could chase Mark down and demand answers. But no, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t risk my men or my job like that. Wyatt could definitely handle the site, it’s why he was my second-in-command, but I needed to be here to sort out the paperwork, at least for the morning.
Mind made up, I straightened and faced him. “Thanks, man, but I have too much work to do. The bank wants an update. But I might take the afternoon off. Can you handle it if I do?”
He snorted and nudged me with his fist. “What’s with that fucking question? You know I got it covered. You’ve done it for me before when I needed time off.”
I nodded and gave him a semblance of a smile. “Thanks.”
“You want to talk about it?” He scratched the back of his neck, wincing. It was amusing to see such a big man so awkward, but we weren’t normally the kind of guys who talked about our problems. Getting him to grunt out a few words about his divorce had been hard enough.
I shook my head, and he looked slightly relieved, so I laughed. “Go back to work. I’ll live. I’ll let you know when I leave.”
He gave me a smile, then left through the trailer door again, his size making him turn to the side to be able to squeeze through, and he shut it behind him. The slam of metal made me cringe, and I grabbed my coffee again, stumbling my way to the small table and collapsing into a chair. My body hurt, but not as much as my mind and heart. I’d never gotten so close to someone like I had Mark. I should have expected he’d make a run for it. He was a finicky guy, and I’d noticed that from the start. A challenge—that’s what I’d thought he would be. But once I had him in my bed, I’d thought the chases would be purely for fun.
He’d become a part of our lives. Picked up the girls. Had coffee with Liv. Made dinner for me when I worked late. Was I a fool in thinking he enjoyed being in our family? I couldn’t accept that he was gone. I wouldn’t. I was going to find out what happened if it was the last thing I ever did.
The morning went by slower than I expected, and I was surprised I managed to get all the paperwork done because my mind kept returning to Mark. By the time lunch came around, I’d emailed everything to the bank and was ready to leave for the afternoon. Wyatt sent me off with a salute, and I nodded in thanks as I trudged to my truck with my empty and washed travel mug clutched in my hand. I threw the mug onto the seat when I hopped in and turned on the ignition, warming her up.
I took the time to gather my thoughts, working out what I’d say to Mark. There’d be a lot of questions, but the main one waswhy? Forcing myself to focus, I took the truck onto the busy city streets and slowly worked my way to city hall. I had to pay for parking near the building, but it was worth the price if I got the answers I wanted. Free parking was unusual in the city anyway, so I was used to it.
This time when I entered city hall, the receptionist’s eyes widened and she stumbled to her feet, nearly twisting an ankle in those high heels as she rushed at me with her palms facing me. The sight made me freeze.
“I’m so sorry, but you can’t go see him.”
“What?” I hated how fucking dumb I sounded. I blinked at her. “What do you mean I can’t see him?”
She stuttered nervously, hooking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Uh…. Mr. Fenson informed me that if you came here, I was to tell you he is unavailable.”
I sighed louder than I’d meant to and stepped closer to her, not to scare her but to whisper so only she could hear me. “He told you not to allow me up there to see him, didn’t he?”
“I….” She glanced to the right, and a big man in a security uniform with a mic in his ear straightened, readying to move in case she needed him. He wasn’t as tall as I was, but he’d give me a fight if I pushed it.
“I just need to talk to him for five minutes.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t allow that. Please leave unless you have other business.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again, frustration pounding in my chest. He’d blocked me from seeing him and I had no idea what I’d done. How was that fair?
“Camden?” The familiar masculine voice behind me had me spinning around to face Jaxson. He smiled, fiddling with a button on his stylish black suit as he moved toward me, a half grimace playing on his face when he finally reached me. He nodded at the receptionist, and the gratitude she sent him as she hurried away back to her desk made me feel guilty I’d made her uncomfortable.
“I just need to see Mark, that’s all.” Helplessness pressed down on me, and it was suffocating. The urge to find him and demand answers nearly strangled me. Primal play was something for the bedroom, but it bled into real life, too. I embodied the Alpha I was while having sex, and I’d wanted Mark as my mate so fucking bad. Didn’t I have the right to know what had happened?
“Yes, I know.” Jaxson raised his chin, and I could see why he was the mayor’s fiancé. He had charisma. He could just stand there and he’d charm the pants off anyone who stared. But he wasn’t like my little rabbit; he wasn’t jittery and the kind of man who ran just to be chased. That’s the mate I wanted—Mark. “What happened between you?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, shrugging. “One minute we were fine. He was picking up my kids from my mother’s house. He was spending time with my ex-wife. He fit into our family. The next, I get a message from him saying he needed a break. I have no fucking idea what scared him away. I wasn’t there.”
