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My heart damn near stopped. Confusion spinnin’ into high gear. “Gone? Why the hell would she leave? What happened?”
Grandma was dodgin’ my eyes, her voice shaky. “She said… she said she couldn’t stay here, not after knowin’ what you did… what you’re capable of. She’s scared, Knox.”
A cold dread slithered down my spine, mixin’ with disbelief. This didn’t sound like Eliza at all. She wouldn’t just run off—not without at least talkin’ to me. I looked around, tryin’ to piece it together, and that’s when I saw it—the broken window off to the side.
“Hold up, what the hell happened there?” I pointed at the shattered glass, my mind racin’.
Grandma’s eyes followed my finger, and her face said it all—something bad had gone down here, and now I was more in the dark than ever.
Grandma flinched, her eyes flicking to the window and back like she was dodgin’ bullets. “It was an accident,” she muttered, but her voice was about as strong as a wet paper sack.
My biker instincts, honed from years of dodgin’ real bullets, snapped to attention. “Grandma, you’re not Eliza’s mom? Not her Grandma?” I blurted out, driven by a gut punch of intuition.
She shook her head slowly, her eyes startin’ to spill over. “No. I’m Mark’s mother.”
It felt like the earth just dropped away under my boots. Shit. I should’ve known. Eliza told me her family was still in Florida. “What in the hell is going on? Where’s Eliza for real? Where’s Emma?” I demanded, my voice ramping up, desperate for the goddamn truth.
She fell apart right there, her face crumblin’ like a cliff-side in a storm. “Mark took them,” she choked out between sobs. “He… he faked his own death. Said it was the only way out of the mess he’d made. They’re probably halfway ‘cross the country by now.”
That hit me like a two-ton hammer to the chest. Betrayal and shock boiled up, mixing with a searing anger that lit a fire under my ass. Mark was alive, and he had my Eliza and Emma. Every tick of the clock was against us now.
“I’m gonna find ‘em,” I growled, my voice like gravel being ground under tires. The coffee and donuts I’d brought dropped to the ground, forgotten in the dirt.
Without wasting another heartbeat, I stormed back to my Harley. Time was burnin’ away, and I had to move fast. I was gonna find Eliza and Emma, no matter what the hell it took. The road ahead was hard and clear, and every fiber in me was dialed in on one thing only. Gettin’ them back safe and sound. The hunt was on, and I wasn’t gonna stop till they were home.
Chapter 18
Eliza
The morning sun hadn’t yet cleared the horizon when I heard the front door creak open. Expecting to see Grandma returning from her early walk, I got up, ready to greet her with a smile. But the figures standing in the doorway wasn’t only Grandma—it was Mark, battered, bruised, and very much alive. My breath hitched in my throat, a scream escaping me as I staggered back, my hand flying to my mouth.
“Mark! You’re—you’re supposed to be dead!” My words tumbled out, edged with horror and disbelief.
He limped into the living room, a sinister smile twisting his bruised face. “Surprise, Eliza. I bet you never expected to see me again. Someone did come to kill me, but I got the better of him. Ran before anyone could find out I was still breathing.”
His explanation churned my stomach, the implications horrifying. Mark continued, his tone chillingly calm, “Now that everyone thinks I’m dead, I can finally have what I want. You and Emma. We’re leaving, Eliza. Today. We’ll come together as a family once more.
I backed away, shaking my head in denial. “No, Mark. You can’t just come back from the dead and expect us to be a family again! What about your other family? The one you hid from us?”
He waved dismissively, his eyes cold. “They were nothing. I only want you and Emma.”
Before I could argue further, a knock sounded at the door. Mark stiffened, and a wave of panic washed over me as he pulled a gun from behind his back.
“It’s probably your biker boyfriend,” he sneered, peeking through the curtain. Turning to his mother, who stood by, frozen with fear, he ordered, “Tell him Eliza and Emma left because of him. Tell him to go away.”
Grandma nodded, her face pale with fear, as she opened the door just a crack. Through the gap, I saw Knox, his expression one of worry and determination. But he didn’t see me.
“Where are Eliza and Emma? I need to see them,” he said urgently.
“They’re gone,” Grandma’s voice trembled as she spoke. “Took Emma and left early this mornin’… She said… she said she couldn’t stay here, not after knowin’ what you did… what you’re capable of. She’s scared, Knox.”
Knox’s face fell, the pain evident in his eyes. Grandma stepped out to tell the lie some more.
As the door closed, a sob caught in my throat. Mark, furious, turned to me, his grip tightening on the gun. “If you try anything like that again, I swear—”
I didn’t get to hear the rest of his threat. At that moment, Emma, who had slipped upstairs in the commotion, emitted a high-pitched scream from her room. Reacting instinctively, I shoved against Mark with all my strength, trying to break free from his grasp. We tumbled to the ground, his hand clamping over my mouth as I struggled beneath him.
“Stay quiet!” he hissed, pressing the gun into my side.
