Page 38 of Mystic's Sunrise

“The brother said leave him be,” I reminded her.

She looked at me the way she always did—like I was some freak of nature. “I’m tired,” she spat, like she thought I wanted her now that Spinner didn’t.

I scoffed. “Just get lost and leave Spinner the fuck alone.” I let her go and walked away.

These sweet butts thought every man wanted them. Even if I wasn’t scarred, I wouldn’t be interested. I wasn’t built that way—to share a woman, to go where any man could go.

My daddy was one of those men, and it killed my momma little by little. She only wanted a man to love her, care for us like a man was supposed to do. Strange, how they both died together in a car accident when I was sixteen. Poetic justice for my old man some would say.

After that, I lived with Chain, and his parents showed me what a marriage should be. I wanted that for myself.

That thought made me think of Zeynep.

And that made me want to check on her.

So I pushed off the porch railing and headed inside to do just that.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I WAS HALFWAYdown the hall the next morning,heading for my coffee, when I heard the commotion.

Spinner’s voice, rough and hurried, cut through the clubhouse. “I’m goin’ after her.”

I rounded the corner and found him in the common room, yanking on his jacket, his movements jerky, fueled by adrenaline and the regret I saw coming last night. Chain and Thunder stood nearby, watching him like they weren’t sure whether to stop him or let him go.

“What the hell’s goin’ on?” I asked, my gut already telling me the answer.

Spinner barely spared me a glance as he grabbed his keys off the table. “Lucy took off.”

My stomach tightened. “What do you mean she took off?”

“She’s gone, man. Took off durin’ the night.” His jaw flexed, and his hands clenched into fists. “Didn’t take her car. Just walked out.”

Shit.

I scrubbed a hand down my face, exhaling through my nose. I didn’t know Lucy well, but I knew enough to know she was hurting. And hurting people did stupid shit.

“She got a phone?” I asked.

Spinner shook his head. “If she does, I don’t know about it.”

I swore under my breath. This was bad. Lucy didn’t have her car, no phone, no backup.

“She say anythin’ before she left?”

Spinner’s laugh was bitter. “Only last night when she said she was done. With me, with this place. I fucked up, man.” He ran a hand through his hair, then looked at me with something close to desperation. “I have to find her.”

I nodded. I didn’t blame him for that.

But now I had another problem.

Zeynep.

She needed Lucy. Clung to her in a way she didn’t with anyone else. And if she found out Lucy was gone? That she left without a word? That she was in danger?

It would gut her.

I could already picture the way her face would fall, the way she’d pull into herself like she did when things got too heavy in her head. And she was just starting to find her footing here. Just starting to heal.

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