Page 77 of Red My Lips

“How do you know where we’re going?” I yell over the engine and wind.

“Let’s just say I’ve seen Christos’ anchorage plans.”

He’s been tracking Christos because of Lana. I could kiss my best friend right now. If there’s ever been a moment his obsessive tendencies paid off, it’s right fucking now.

Adrenaline courses through me until I’m shaking, my gut twisted in anticipation. I need to find Jill, I have to. There is no other option.

If not today, then tomorrow. Or the next day.

I won’t live without her. I can’t.

Fear tightens around my neck like a hangman’s noose, but I refuse to let it take me. I won’t lose her. I don’t care what it takes to get her back. If it means locking her up, kicking and screaming.

After slicing through the water for a good twenty minutes, we finally spot the yacht off in the distance. As we approach my body shakes with all of the emotions thundering through me. My grip on my gun adjusts and readjusts as I anticipate what will happen once we get there.

They’re expecting us. Four armed men stand on the main deck of the boat, their firearms trained on us. My gun is drawn before Anders even cuts the engine to pull his out. Christos walks closer to us while his three-man security team stays at the ready.

“You shouldn’t have come out here,” he calls.

“You know why I’m here,” I state darkly, my trigger finger itching. If I weren’t out-gunned I’d have already taken him out and climbed onboard to search the yacht by now.

“We knew you’d show up, so predictable.” A female voice says. Lana appears at Christos’ side, and his arm immediately wraps around her. The sight of the blonde has my heart rate spiking with hope.

“Where is she?” I demand.

“You’ll never see her again unless it’s from the business end of a Glock.” Lana spits, disdain written all over her face. “I’d shoot you myself if I could. But that would be an act of mercy. And you don’t deserve any mercy, just a long life of pain and suffering.”

“I’m not gonna ask you again.” My knuckles turn white from my grip on my gun. “Tell me where she is. Now.” My eyes scan the deck for any signs of Jill—flashes of her dark chocolate hair, one of her designer suitcases, a whiff of her cherry blossom perfume. Anything.

Nothing.

“She’s gone,” Lana states, flashing me a smile of contempt. “Suffer.” With that, she turns on her heel and walks back inside. She pauses next to Christos, placing her hand on his chest. “If he tries to board, shoot him.”

With one last withering glance over her shoulder at me and Anders, she disappears inside.

“Jill’s not here. And I’m not supposed to kill you, but if you try anything, my men won’t hesitate,” Christos bellows.

“Where is she?” I’ll ask the same question a million times until I have answers.

“Probably halfway across the country at fifty-thousand feet by now.” Christos’ laughed words have my stomach dropping. She’s on a fucking plane. “It’s really too bad, too. I was rooting for you two. Now get the fuck away from my boat.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jill

The cityscape below me disappears beneath the sea of clouds. And as I leave my life behind me, my walls start to crumble. With the first tear that rolls down my cheek, there’s no holding back. A sob wracks through my body, and my emotions overwhelm me.

For the next three hours, I can cry and sob and wallow in my misery. I can grieve the loss of the future I’ll never have with the man I thought was my soulmate. My heart will break, and my stomach will churn.

But when the landing gear touches down on the tarmac, and I step off the private plane to start my new life, I’ll pull myself together. I’ll refocus, rebuild, and move on. As soon as my feet touch the ground in San Francisco, Gage will be nothing but a memory.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Gage

Eight weeks.

Eight weeks of searching, hunting, and going out of my fucking mind. Two months unable to sleep, without being able to taste a single bite of food or craft any type of art. Eight weeks without my heart, Jill.

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