Page 54 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

Heat moved through my body instantly, andIbreathed out a sound of contentment.

“Yeah, it feels like a long time coming, soI’mhappyIfinally get to do it,”Itold him, sighing asIthought of how proudGranwould be of me.Iwish she were here.Notonly would she be happy about school, but she would really likeWadefor me.

“Let me shower, and thenIneed to grab a few things at the office before we head to the pub, okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,I’llbe done with these forms in just a few minutes, and thenI’llget ready,”Itold him.

I watched as he walked toward the bedroom, andIthought how luckyIwas that he was mine.

* * *

Wade andIwalked into the pub together with him holding my hand.Wegot to the bar area whereSamandTammywere working.Bethwas also by the bar, closing out her tabs because she was coming off shift soon.WhenIsaid hi to her, she looked at us and her eyes moved directly to my hand entwined withWade’s.Hereyes went wide, but then she looked at me with a weird smile on her face.

“Good to see you.Havea fun shift,” she said before walking away.Iknew she’d suspected there was something going on between us, andI’dtold her there couldn’t be, so maybe she realized things had changed.

I let go ofWade’shand and went to the back-office space to put my purse down and say hi toChuckbefore walking back out to the front.Wadewas talking toTammywhenIcame out, andIassumed it was to discuss the plan for the next day and to keep an eye out.Heturned to me whenIwalked out and gave me a small smile.Hetook the few small steps toward me, put his hand around the side of my neck, and gave me a quick kiss on my forehead right in front ofTammyand everyone at the bar, and then left, saying he would be back soon.Istood there silently with my fingers barely touching my lips, looking at nowhere in particular.

“Looks likeoneof you isn’t afraid to rush things,”Tammysaid with a small chuckle and knowing smile.

She knew my hesitation with moving too quickly withWade, butIhadn’t filled her in sinceWadeandItalked yesterday.Oncewe slowed down a bit,Iwould give her the latest details becauseIcould certainly use her sage advice to help me work through my nerves.

My mind kept going back to the conversation withWadelast night.Icould sense he was still holding back a little, unsure of his own worth, but that made me more determined to also put myself out there.Iwas ready to move forward, to take that leap.Iwanted to break those walls down to show him that he deserved a good partner by his side, just likeIdid.Hewas worth it, and so wasI.Withthat thought,Itried to get my focus back to work, knowingIwould tell him tonight howIfelt.

It wasn’t too busy yet, but the dinner rush would be coming soon soTammyandIspent the next thirty minutes trying to get everything prepped for when we filled up.

“Hey,Ellie,”IheardBethcall to me. “Theboss wants to see you back in his office.”Sheleaned into me and spoke in a quieter tone. “Youmight want to go quick, cause he seems upset.”

I wondered if something withRandallhad come up.Inodded toTammy, who’d heard and told me she would take care of the guys at the end of the bar for me.AsIset my drying towel down to head to the back office,Bethadded one more thing.

“He went to take the trash out really quick, but you can either wait in his office or meet him by the back door when he comes in if that’s easier.I’mdone for the day, soI’llfollow you out.ByeTammy!” she said as she waved bye toTammyand followed me through the door to the kitchen and toward the back of the building.

I glanced in his office, but he wasn’t there, which meant he must still be outside.

After the mystery letter the other night,Wadeand the guys had told me not to go outside alone, andIwasn’t stupid.Iwould go out withBethand just stand by the back door as he walked back from the dumpster.Plus, technically if he was already out there,Iwouldn’t be alone, and if he really was in a bad mood because ofRandall,Iwanted to know what was going on.

Beth opened the back door for me, andIfollowed her out.Ourdumpster wasn’t far from the back door, maybe forty to fifty feet at most, soIcould see it as soon asIopened the door.Therewas a light above the back door, and it was very bright—for security reasons—but even with the extra light,Ididn’t seeWade.JustasIwas about to call out to him, something flashed on my left side just around the door, and something hard hit my head.Ithurt so bad, andIfelt myself lurch forward, and then everything went black.

21

WADE

This meeting was taking longer thanIhad planned, but it would all be worth it in the end.Inthe other room, our two newest hires,DaneEndersonandAxelSkarsgård—the two guys my sister had recommended—were finally done with all their onboarding and were being shown around the building byRuthie.ArcherandIwere going over our final plans forOperationDoucheCanoe, as we had aptly named it, to deal withEllie’sex.Vincehad just walked in, letting us know he had movedEllie’scar back to the front of the pub—exactly where we wanted it—front and center for her ex to see.Happythat everything seemed to be in place,Ileaned back in my chair oppositeArcherat his desk, withVincenext to me in the other chair.Hewas about to leave to go getJackfrom the airport and bring him back so we could all have dinner downstairs at the pub.

In my hand from whenIpulled up my text thread earlier fromJackto say he was boarding his flight toAtlanta, my phone vibrated with a call.Ilooked down to see it wasTammyand knew she wouldn’t call unless it was important since she knewIwas up here with the guys, finishing this meeting up.

I answered the phone deciding to get straight to the point. “What’swrong?”

“You still in your meeting?” she asked, butIcould sense the seriousness in her tone.

“Just ending it.Why?”Iasked asIheard her moving around.

“Pull up the cameras to the back exit of the pub, and do it now,” she said frantically.

“What’s going on,Tammy?”Iasked firmly asIput the phone on speaker, set it on the desk, and leaned over and grabbed the computer mouse from the desk.Iswiveled the desktop monitor soIcould see it.Iwas frantically switching over to our screen that let us see all the cameras in the building whileTammytalked.

“Beth came up here and toldEllieyou needed to see her right away but that you were taking the trash out and she would follow her to the back door to wait for you, butIknew you were supposedly in your meeting, not to mentionSamjust took the trash out right before he left his shift,” she said fast, hardly taking a breath. “Ittook me a second to remember that, and whenIcame back here,I…Ican’t find either of them.She’sgone,Wade.Ican’t findEllie,” she said calmly but with noticeable fear in her voice.

I felt my stomach drop.Archertook the mouse from me as he looked up at me.

---