Page 48 of His Obsession Her Cure
And I’d thank her for it, right after I made her choke on every scream she’d left inside me. The phone in my pocket buzzed showing Missy’s again. She had been keeping me updated on Pepper’s movements.
Missy: She should be landing any minute. Terminal C.
I put the phone away and waited patiently for my girl. Watching as the plane taxied, pulling up to the gate, after what felt like forever passengers started unloading and coming through the door right next to where I was standing. Five minutes later there she was, my Love, my pretty girl, my Pepper in the flesh. I scooped my girl up in my arms, but she tensed in my arms. That’s okay, we'll fix that soon enough. I was a little hard to look at now. I could understand. Releasing her from my grasp I took the single bag she had slung over her shoulder and placed it on mine.
“I missed you, Love. You look good. Come on, let's get going.” I said, taking her hand in mine and making our way to our destiny. Happy that she came willingly and didn’t put up a fight. She would suffer for what she took from me and this time, I’d be the one singing while she begged.
Chapter 21
Gunner
Damn I missed my lil baby, she had been on my mind all day. I couldn’t wait to leave the office, so we could cuddle and watch movies together. That damn girl had my ass gone but I could care less. As long as it was with her, she could get me to do just about anything. I hit the answer button on my phone when I saw Ma’s name displayed. She probably had a new project for us at the house or wanted all of us to come to dinner since we had all been spending more time at our house instead of hers. We had all been pretty busy trying to get our projects done before the holidays. We had hired someone to represent our interest in the businesses that we acquired from our grandfather. And instead of a stranger we hired Liam as our assistant since Missy was gone. It was actually going smoother than I had expected and we had made some major moves recently.
“Hey, Ma, What’s up?”
“I think Pepper is in trouble.” she rushed out.
“What?” I yelled, sitting up so I could hear her better. What, now? What about Pepper?”
“Baby, when we got home from the shop today there was a note on the kitchen island from Pepper. Gunner, her note saidthat she had to go back home to help with a family emergency. That she wouldn’t be coming back. She went on to thank us for everything that we’d done for her and for giving her the love that she hadn’t received from her own family. Gunner, I know something is wrong. That girl was so happy to be here. Ain't no way she just left all that for a family that didn’t give a damn about her. You could see the twinkle in her eyes when she spoke about becoming a doctor, not only that, but you could see a sparkle when she spoke about you. I don’t believe she would just up and walk away. Not for one minute.” She cried.
Hearing Ma’s words made my blood boil. I had put my heart on the line and put myself out there only to be left out in the cold again. I was pissed. I don’t know if I was madder that she walked out on her dream or because she walked on me. I told her that I would give her anything she wanted except space, and she still ran after she told me she loved me.
“Maybe she realized this wasn’t what she wanted. Who knows?” I seethed.
“Nah, baby I don’t think she would do that. I talked to her about her past. After hearing her cry about the things she went through in her aunt's house I can’t believe so little of her. She wouldn’t just leave without talking to us. So, what are you going to do? We need to find her.”
“What do you mean? What am I going to do? I’m not doing shit, she made her choose to go back to the life that caused her so much pain. It couldn’t be all that bad if she ran back to it. If she likes it, I love it,” grumbled.
“Gunner, you are not about to give up on my friend like that.” Char said in the background. She loves you and I know that she had to leave for a good reason. She wouldn’t do that to me. But most of all she wouldn’t do that to you. Are you so blind that you don’t know that Pepper is crazy about you? That all she talksabout is medicine, books and you. Please don’t let your anger cloud your judgment,” Char begged.
“Baby, you gotta let go of that hurt. Everybody ain't your parents. My daughter was sick but not only that she was selfish. But that’s not Pepper.” She said, shaking her head at me in disappointment.
“Alright Ma, I have another call I need to take. I’ll talk with you later,” I said, hanging up before she could respond. I must have sat there zoned out for a minute because I didn’t hear Alestar and Aren enter my office.
“Gunner, what the fuck wrong with you? I've been calling you for like two minutes. You going off in here nigga.” Aren chuckled.
“Nah, I have a lot on my mind. What up though?”
“We came to ask you if you wanted to go out tonight and celebrate all our wins so far.”
“How about a raincheck? I’m good on that right now.”
“Nigga, what’s really going on it’s not like you to not what to celebrate our success.” Alestar stated with his brows raised in my direction. I blew out a frustrated breath and ran my hand down my face before getting to the root of my issues.
“Ma and Char just called, talking about Pepper being in trouble. She left a note saying she had a family emergency and wasn’t coming back.”
“Damn, man. What are you gonna do? Sis, wouldn’t leave unless something was wrong.” Aren said.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do? She left, not me. I did everything I could to show her I loved her no matter what and she still left. I'm good on her ass.” I snapped, knowing I was lying.
“Who’s running now nigga. My sis could be in trouble and you in your fucking feeling because she left without talking to you. The fuck is wrong with you man. They died, Gunner.Yeah, their decisions in life caused their demise but they died nonetheless.”
“What do you mean, they? I found another letter in the old man’s papers. He found Amanda and her boyfriend hiding out west a few months after Dad’s death and killed them both. He had it covered up and moved on with his life as best he could, but he never got over the fact that he lost his only son to Amanda’s drug addiction and mental illness. Amanda was a piece of shit for leaving us, but you have to let that hurt go or it will ruin every good thing in your life.” Aren said, voice cracking, and in that moment, I knew I had it all wrong. “We still had each other, and we always had Ma and Char. It might not have been a traditional family, but we had all the love we missed out on when our parents were here. Don’t let our past fuck up your future. I see how you look at her. Pepper was your future and right now your future could be in danger. Now, I’m going to ask you again. What the fuck are we going to do about it?” Aren gritted.
I wanted so badly to be angry, but my heart wouldn’t let my mind make me shut down and block out the love I had for Pepper. And if I loved her like I said I did I wouldn’t leave her safely to chance. I wasn’t stupid, I saw the way her eyes lit up when I entered a room or how the pulse point on her neck fluttered when I touched her skin. And when I was inside her how she melted around me. I had to go and get my lil baby because if we were being honest, I couldn’t live without her.
“Fuck, alright. Text Char and get her location and I’ll call the jet.” Aren was right, Pepper was my future. I was in love with her, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her.
