“Tyler,” Mitchell snaps. “You are twenty-nine years old and have no heirs. No wife.”
“It’s done, Mitchell. Leave it alone. I have it covered. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to get to.”
I’m working on Leo’s second restaurant. Business is doing well for him. I made it a note to take Sunny to his second restaurant opening. She loved the first and Leo loved her. He’s the one who taught me how to make pasta from scratch and offered for us to come in to teach Sunny.
“You better hope this fucking works. If not, you’re marrying Shelby. Even if I have to drag you down the aisle and tie you to a chair to do it.” he seethes and leaves.
I lean back in my chair and laugh. How quickly Mitchell forgets who he made me to be.
My phone buzzes on my desk, making me smile when I see Sunny’s name light up my screen.
Sounds good to me.
The things I do to be with you, Sunny.
Pulling up outside of Sunny’s apartment complex, I see her waiting on the steps for me. I shake my head as I put the truck in park, because she knows that I hate it when she waits outside.
She stands up, wiping off her pants and walks over to the truck. I get out immediately and open the door for her. She gives me a weak smile, but something seems off.
When she gets into my passenger seat, the silence looms over us like the standstill of a storm on the horizon. I brace my arms on the truck, ready to break the heavy rain cloud above us.
“Are you okay? We don’t have to train tonight if you’re tired,” I offer. “A storm looks like it’s coming in anyways. We can have a lazy rainy day. Books, Friends, blankets, hot cocoa, and a fire.” I smile, hooking a curl behind her ear.
She shakes her head. “I’m fine. Let’s do it. I need to train.”
“Okay.” I smile, closing the door. I’ll find out what’s bothering her.
I put the truck in drive and pull away from her apartment. The silence maintains, because if anything I’ve learned about her is when she’s quiet, her mind is very loud. She seeks asylum in the silence when things are too loud in her own mind.
My own thoughts start to fester, asking all the what if’s she won’t give me right now. From what I gather, it’s been awhile since she’s had any update on Ryan.
“Have you heard from the detectives at all?” I ask.
“No.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” I glance at her. She’s staring outside the truck window with a sadness I haven’t seen on her in awhile. It hurts. It fucking hurts.
“I honestly don’t know,” she whispers.
I know how it goes with these things. After a few months of inactivity, there is only so much law enforcement can do. He becomes just another name on their list. The police will still always be “looking” and there will always be a warrant out, but it’ll never be the man hunt I could make it.
It’s my obsession, but their profession. They won’t waste their time and resources on a man who doesn’t seem to pose a threat anymore and doesn’t want to be found. He isn’t a priority criminal for them, but he is for me.
Let me find him, Sunny.
“Tyler…” She looks at me.
“Yes, baby?” I ask, glancing at her again. “What is it?” I brush the loose strands of sunshine hair from her face.
“Us.”
I see her running already. She’s sitting here but she’s already fucking mentally running.
We were so close.
So close.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
