Page 62 of Always Yours

I’m going to search in every other possible place before I even think of looking for him at home. I would have no reason to believe that my family would want Derek. If anything, they would want me.

My family holds grudges, and I know that Nick and me taking off would have angered them and they would have never forgot; much less forgive.

Katy’s mom comes into the hospital and tells her some sort of sob story, and I have had enough. Katy has gone through a lot with her own father to now have to deal with a mother who had abandoned her and was presumed to be dead.

I couldn’t imagine leaving any of my kids behind or doing anything that would cause them any kind of harm.

It just about killed me to see Tyson the way he was when he lost Stacey. I had worried that there would be no way he could come back from that kind of loss. I knew my kids were like their parents. When they loved, they did it deeply.

Then Camilla came along, and she had her own hurt and trauma to get through but, somehow, she had broken down her wall, and then Tyson’s, and gave him back his life. He will never forget Stacey, but he had another chance at love in this life, and I am so glad that he took it.

Katy is like a daughter to me now, and I officially had claimed her as my own when she came back after saving Stitch from the torture her father had endured.

I could see strength in her that I had in myself when I was younger.

Heck, I still have that strength. I know that, no matter what I find when I locate Derek, I will be strong. And I will locate him. I don’t care what it takes, or what I have to do; I will find him.

The people responsible for taking him are going to regret they ever put their hands on him.

I can be a mama bear when someone hurts my children, but now Derek, the love of my life, has been taken. That’s a different story. I almost feel feral thinking of what I’m going to do to them for taking him from me.

Everyone sets up in the mansion that Stitch’s family owns. It’s big enough for all of us to fit for the time being. I know I want everyone there until we figure out this mess and get our own club back up and running.

I suppose now that it is destroyed, it is finally time to do the updates we were thinking of doing.

I barely sleep as I recall every connection I had made in the thirty years I had known Derek. Everyone is keeping their eyes and ears open for any word on Derek.

Whoever has him must be good enough, or have enough money, to do this undetected.

When Tech finally wakes up and can’t find anything on Derek, I spot one little piece of hope when I look through the footage with him. I know what I must finally do and where I must go.

When I walk into the kitchen, I see my sons and daughter with their partners and know that no matter how hard it will be, I have to tell them that I am leaving.

“I need to tell you guys something,” I say when I walk into the kitchen with a couple bags at my feet.

“What is it? Why do you have bags?” Tyson asks me, his eyes going wide.

“I need to go find your father. I don’t think I can get the answers here. I can’t sit back and wait, that’s not who I am,” I tell them softly.

They all get a look of panic on their faces.

“You can’t go! What if they take you too? What if this is exactly what they want?” Aiden tries to plead with me.

I shake my head. “Then at least we will be together.”

“Mom, just give us time. You need to stay with us. We already lost our father. We can’t lose our mother too,” Tyson pleads.

“I need to do this,” I tell them, and angrily wipe at the tears in my eyes.

“Why do you have to go alone?” Ella asks, tears welling in her eyes.

“Because this is what I need to do. I know you would do anything if this was Damien. Just like the two of you would do anything for Olivia and Camilla. I need to search for answers, and I can’t get that here. I need to go where all the problems we thought we solved are,” I say, and wrap my arms around each of my kids.

“I don’t like this,” Tyson growls out.

“Neither do I. How can you expect us to just let you do this alone? How do you know where to go and check?” Aiden says.

“Because I’m not asking for permission. I’m your mother; there is nothing you can say or do to stop me. Just take care of the club and each other. I’ll check in, but I know that there must be some stuff from our past that I need to check up on. There are people that I thought we left behind,” I tell them firmly.

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