Page 58 of Panther's Magpie
“Maggie.”
She shakes her head. “No, we can talk about what happened later, or better yet, never. We need to update the guys. They need to know about that call. Maybe Meek will be able to trace where it came from.”
Logically, I know she’s right, and I hate it. I don’t want to let this go. I want to hash out the shit about Ava now so nothing else is between us. I fucking need to explain that she’s the only one I have my eyes on, but I don’t.
I push all that shit down because she’s right. I need to talk to the guys.
“You’re right.”
Her eyes sparkle. “Can you repeat that again, maybe while I record it? I don’t hear those two words together often enough.”
I roll my eyes and fight back a smile. “Come on, let’s get back.”
Shocking me, she reaches out and threads her fingers through mine.
I don’t know if she’s trying to comfort herself or me, but I’ll take it.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
MAGGIE
“I’m leaving you, Maggie. I have a new family now. Go back home.”
I’m crying as Aspen’s words puncture my heart. She does have a new family. All of these brothers are willing to do anything for her. I want to stay.
“Let me stay. Please.”
“There’s no place for you here. You’re the reason I got kidnapped. I’m being tortured because of you. You have to go. I don’t want you here.”
The words slice like a knife on my skin. I think I would rather have a physical wound than a mental one.
“Aspen, I didn’t want to leave you. You told me to go. I had to get help.”
“Did you get help, though? Or did you find my brother and try to steal him from me? You think I don’t know the impure thoughts you have about him? You should be looking for me, not lusting after him.”
“I can’t look for you. It’s dangerous, but I am helping. I told them that wasn’t your body. I helped them. I swear,” I cry out.
“Wasn’t it my body, though?”
The images in my head distort until I’m looking at the dead body again, only this time it is Aspen. The tattoos all match up. Her birthmarks. Nothing is out of place.
“Aspen,” I cry.
I wake up gasping for breath. Tears wet my face as I try to breathe.
Aspen isn’t dead. She’s alive.
Crawling out of bed, I go in search of anyone. I can’t be alone right now. I am close to a full-on panic attack. I don’t get them much anymore, but when I was a child and I would hear noises in the house, I got them all the time. It’s a leftover trauma from being abandoned in a large, cold home every night. One that I thought I had gotten rid of, but all of this shit with Aspen has brought it up again.
I stumble around in the dark, wishing for anyone to be here. I don’t find anyone. I know some of the brothers also sleep in the clubhouse. Eagle had told me a few of the other rooms were occupied.
I wonder if I should knock on one of them.
I don’t feel comfortable enough to do that, though. If only I knew where Panther slept.
As I head back into my room and grab my phone, I debate my options. I could call Rain. That would be the smart decision. She wouldn’t say anything to anyone.
