Page 37 of Tristian (The Doherty Mafia)
I wasn’t exactly happy to have seen her again, but now it was done, I was relieved.
There were a lot of things I’d made up in my head about what happened eleven years ago. I thought my feelings for Christie were real. Now I knew they were nothing more than an adolescent crush.
Because of what Christie did, I had developed a latent mistrust in all women since then. Especially beautiful women I was attracted to. And that held me back from Elsie. Even though I knew I had feelings for her. I was suspicious of those feelings.
But now I knew it’d all been an illusion—I was free of Christie, and I could trust my feelings for Elsie.
Elsie wasn’t anything like Christie. What I felt for Elsie now had no resemblance to what I’d felt for Christie then.
I’d known that chick over the course of one meal at a diner.
I knew more about Elsie than I knew about any other chick in the world. I’d never allowed anyone to get this close to me. And the explanation was simple. Elsie was real. She was not an illusion. And my family was right about their perception of her.
She could be trusted.
I was excited to see her again. I hoped she’d forgive me for my strange behavior. Once I had explained everything to her, she’d have to see why it was important for me to gain some closure first.
I wanted to keep Elsie safe. I wanted to protect her from Aldo, and at the same time, I wanted to claim her as mine too.
I had never imagined a future with someone before, and now I saw it.
I was impatient in the elevator up to my apartment. I was already working on a speech to deliver to her. To try and get her to see my point of view.
I barged into the apartment but she wasn’t there, waiting for me as I expected her to be. She wasn’t in the kitchen. Not in my bedroom, in the bathroom, the spare room. Not even under the bed where I foolishly looked. Where the fuck did she go?
I had told her to stay put, to not go out, and I should’ve known she was too reckless and emotionally unstable right now to listen.
If she’d managed to gain some ground, then she’d be in serious trouble. Aldo had spies everywhere. They’d follow her. They’d find her. Depending on how long she was gone, she could be in real danger right now.
I called Nolan on the way to the family home. He said most of them were there already. I needed to speak to all of them.
My tires screeched as I zoomed into the driveway, running up the steps and into the house. Out of breath. With a thin film of sweat on my forehead.
I’d always been in control, until now.
I was the calm one.
I never let things get out of hand.
And for the first time since I could ever recall, I was actually afraid.
If that motherfucker laid a finger on my woman, I’d
skin him alive.
“Hey man, where’s Elsie?” Aidan asked when he found me in the hallway. He was drinking a cup of coffee, looking all casual and going about his day because he had no idea.
His woman was safe. He didn’t have anything to fuckin’ worry about.
“She’s missing. She’s gone,” I growled, stalking over in the direction of our father’s office. I knew Aidan would follow me in there.
“Wait. What did you say? Elsie’s gone? Where?”
I pushed the door open to find Killian and our father in conversation. Aidan and Nolan followed me into the room. I heard Brendan’s voice out in the hallway too. He must’ve just arrived.
“You look like you need a drink, son,” Dad said.
“Elsie. She’s gone. I was out. Had something to take care of, and when I got back, she was gone,” I said. My hands bunched up in fists. I felt a vein throbbing in the middle of my forehead. Rage and fear pulsed through the rest of my body.
Dad drew in a deep breath, looking at Killian.
“You fucking her?” Killian asked in a low deep voice.
“What? What does that have to do with anything?” I growled.
“Did you guys argue or something?” he continued.
“Are you hearing what I’m fuckin’ telling you? She’s gone. Possibly kidnapped by Aldo.”
“Or…she’s just returned to them,” he suggested, looking around the room.
I had to laugh at that. “Are you serious with that bullshit? Yesterday you fuckers were fawning at the mouth when she was here.”
“We could’ve been wrong about her. Does it look like she was forced out against her will? Kidnapped?” Brendan asked, stepping up to me.
“No, it’s possible she left of her own accord. I know she felt pretty frustrated being cooped up indoors all day. She’s been going through some…stuff…because of what happened to her parents.”
