Page 39 of The Black Lotus
She steels her features, eyeing me skeptically. “Why not?”
I search her face.Serena trusts her… can I?“Just trust me; I will get her back.”
She worries her bottom lip, and reluctantly nods. “I will bring her home. We’ll be back for our glasses.”
I leave the alley in a rush, diving into my car and slamming my hands on the steering wheel, begging my mind to settle so I can concentrate on the conversation she had. My head whips up when I remember she said the name Sharon.That’s her dad’s fiancé.Thoughts of why she would take her cross my mind briefly, but quickly vanish when thoughts of what could happen to her take over. My anger bubbling to the surface, overpowering the fear of what could happen. If anything happens to her I’ll show her the face of the Morbid Monet and have her begging for her pathetic life.
I take her phone out of my pocket, thankful she dropped it on the table when she ran out the door. I don’t even think she realized, she looked so panicked.
My hands shake as I unlock her phone, going straight into her contacts to find her dad’s number.
“Hey, honey, what’s up?” her dad asks.
“Mr. Raven, it’s Aster.”
His voice becomes icy. “Why are you calling from my daughter's phone?” A beat passes, and when he speaks again, his voice takes on a worried, fatherly tone. “Is Serena okay?”
I breathe out the next word. “No.” Even as I say it the word tastes sour on my tongue. I don’t want it to be true. Ineedher to be okay, but from what I’ve learned about Thomas is he cares deeply for his daughter. If he thinks she’s in danger there are no lengths that man wouldn’t go for her. I went from hating him to respecting him and hoping I am half the man he is for our children one day. Children I hope come into play in the future, but if I don’t get her back then any future with her is non-existent.
“What do you mean no?” Panic rises in his voice. “What happened to my daughter?”
“Your fiancé took her.”
Silence stretches on as I wait for him to respond, my fingers tap against the steering wheel as my leg bounces up and down. Every second counts. I need to find Serena.
Finally, he breaks the quiet, surprising me with what he says. “I knew this would happen.”
“What do you mean you knew? You knew yourfiancéwould kidnap your daughter and potentially try to kill her?” My jaw clenches, my fingers tightening around my phone and any type of respect I had for him vanishes as I wish it was my hand around his throat.
He takes a deep breath, as if the weight of the world rested entirely on his shoulders. “Not exactly that, but Sharon was showing signs of jealousy towards Serena, and with where she comes from… Something was telling me she didn’t want to share me.”
What the actual fuck?How could he stay with someone who could potentially hurt his daughter? Serena said their relationship was better, that she wanted me to meet them both after all of this was over, but if he knew this was going to happen… Someone is going to have to stop me from snapping his neck.
I place my hand over my leg to stop the shaking, digging my nails into my jeans, my body no longer able to contain my wrath. “How could you?” I grind out.
“I didn’t actually think she would do anything that would risk losing me, but hearing she took her...” He sounds worried and distraught.Good. He should; this is his fault.“Aster, I need you to find them, and if my daughter hasn’t already killed her, you need to.”
My eyes widen. “You want me tokillyour fiancé?”
“Yes. She took the one person I had left to remind me of my wife. The one person I truly care about in this world. She is theonly one I would kill for and if anything happens to Serena, I will go to jail.”
“So, you want me to go to jail instead?”
“We both know you won’t get caught.”
His words have my breath hitching, my movements ceasing as the world stops and crashes down on me.
“Just find my daughter; I’ll take care of the rest.”
Before I can respond, he hangs up leaving me confused and nervous about what he may know about me.Does he know I’m the Morbid Monet? If he does, why would he let his daughter stay with me?My heart races, my vision narrowing.Why hasn’t he turned me in?
Serena’s phone pings with coordinates I can only assume leads to my vixen. I click the picture and read the text accompanied by it.
Dad
Sharon’s family owns this property.
She is the only one to ever tend to it.
