“M, who else’s would I be?”
“Of fucking nobody. When will you be home?” The wordhomerolls off his lips, as if I have been there my whole life. I guess that happens when two people love each other.
“Around nine. Are you up to something?” I ask him. I hear some ruffling of papers in the background.
“I’m sorry, I was just looking at some financial documents for the dealerships. And I’m not doing anything groundbreaking, Oliver is coming over to my penthouse.” I like Oliver’s free spirit and his I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude.
“Cool, tell him I say hi.”
“No, those are only reserved for me,” M says to me as if I have physically slapped him. The most baffling thing is that he is not kidding.
“You silly man. Anyways, I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll have a tail on you, just so you know.”
“Of course you will. I love you.”
“I love you more, little hummingbird.” I hang up and start walking toward the new car M bought me last month. He has been showering me with gifts, sex, and sweet words. But now is the time for me to do somethingnice—building a better henhouse.
51
MLana informed me that she will be at Emin’s house helping him with a home for some poultry, so I called Oliver over.
My crazy friend arrived at my penthouse, and I cracked open my favorite drink for us—whiskey. And more specifically, the Macallan that’s twenty-five years old. I have a couple of these here and in my villa. We are sitting at my dining room table, talking about everything and nothing.
While Oliver and I are polar opposites, he is one of my best friends. He is loyal to a fault and cares deeply, something wedohave in common. It also helps me that he is one of the most dangerous motherfuckers I have known. The man can take anyone down in a fistfight, and fear was never and will never be a part of his vocabulary. A close battle is one of his strongest suits.
When Josh, Oliver, and I were studying at MIT, I took them under my wing. I taught them almost everything, and then I made them my lifetime employees.
“Last night I had the cutest blonde in my bed,” Oliver tells me with his usual grin. The man has charisma and an enormous amount of charm, I’ll give him that. But I don’t like to hear about his sexual adventures.
“Fucking hell, Oliver, I don’t need to know that.”
“Josh didn’t mind.”
“If you continue, I will take my bat and smash your head in.
“Party pooper.” He pours another glass of whiskey for us. “But you have it bad, M.”
“I fucking do.” I don’t even try to deny my love for Lana, because there is no point to it. If she asked me to jump off a building for her, I would do it without any hesitation.
“Good, you deserve each other.” I want to say something, but Oliver holds his hand up and takes a phone call. His usual cheerful expression turns to a serious one.
“Okay, I’ll tell him. M.” I turn my attention to him. “Lana’s former diner got burned down.” I sit up straight in a second, and I’m walking toward my closet to grab a coat.
“Where the fuck is Lana? Is she still at Emin’s house?” I ask Oliver as I grab the keys to my Ducati motorbike.
“M, Lana isn’t there.” I feel like I can breathe again, yet I’m still feeling like my heart has been ripped out. I don’t move from the door, though.
“Where. Is. She.” It wasn’t a question, but a demand to know where my Lana is. Oliver stands up with his coat in his hands and walks up to me.
“We don’t know.”
***
It’s almost 9 p.m., and traffic is still high in the city, and I couldn’t give two shits about it. I’m racing through the streets as if my life depends on it, with Oliver on my tail. We are driving to the restaurant, and it better be that nobody is there, because I will fucking kill anybody who stands in my way to find her. The city is blurring in the background. The people, cars, and lights in it are all irrelevant—I need to find her. Panic in me is rising like violence—my chest is tightening and my breathing is sharp.
The city I love suddenly feels like it’s too small and too big at the same time. The narrow streets and steep turns, I usually love, rapidly feel suffocating. Every familiar road feels wrong because she isn’t on it. This city has always been my escape, now it’s my prison. I’m locked in this daze, and I am desperate for some blood.
