Page 6 of Love is Blind

“Find him, or you will be found in a fucking grave.” Is all he says into the phone before hanging up and pocketing his device. Turning to us, he glares. “It seems Adrian is in the wind. They can’t find the little weasel, but I have all our men on the hunt.” He leans back in his chair, a wicked smile crossing his lips. “He can’t hide forever.”

Deciding I need to be the one to ask the stupid questions today, I down the last bit of my drink. “So, what now?” I look at both men I call brothers. “We just sit on our thumbs and hope he makes a mistake so we catch him? What if seeing Wren alive makes him think he needs to go after her? He already thought he killed her, and if what she said about that night is true, Adrian has had a game plan for a while now.” He must have. After his father passed, we sent out condolences and told him we would keep the mutual “peace treaty” that we had with his father in place until we could all meet. Adrian was quiet for months after his father passed, and we didn’t hear a word, but we started seeing his men push the boundaries.

Adrian’s father ran the West Corporation, a company that deals in advertising. At least on the surface. He did what we do, run a secret underground empire for the shady yet powerful men in our city. Escorts, drugs, weapons, you name it, we probably have a hand in it. We do a lot of transport of goods across the country, so entering this business under the scheme of banking, real estate and investments was too easy. We have properties all over the city, but you wouldn’t be able to tell because we are good at our jobs and have loyal men.

Adrian’s father was also good at his job, but his empire has slowly been crumbling. This meeting with Adrian we were supposed to have on the night of the gala, was to make it clear, the boundary lines had been crossed and keeping the peace was no longer an option for us. Rumors were that after his father died, Adrian was all too excited to be king of his castle. Whispers of unsavory deals being made and Adrian’s greed to have more than he can manage, have reached us over the last couple of months.

Figuring it was a reaction to the grief of losing his father, we gave him time, but we are done waiting. Now, come to find out, he might have been trying to make moves for the last 2 years. The man Wren spoke of, the one she witnessed Adrian kill, sounds like Xander’s cousin, Marco. We kept him out of our business as much as possible, but the kid was relentless. He followed Xander around like a lost puppy most days, but he was a good kid, and we wanted to keep it that way. We thought nothing of it when he told us he was going out to meet up with a friend. That was until we hadn’t seen him for a few days. He wasn’t answering his phone, and it didn’t seem like he ever went home that night. He just disappeared, and days had gone by before we even realized it. That’s when Xander made sure we all had a GPS tracker on our phones or watches. Xander beat himself up over having no leads until now.

“No. I have my guys going over Adrian’s history, properties in his and his father’s name, businesses, everything. We hunt him down. From what Wren said, he doesn’t like loose ends and is easily angered. So, let’s make him angry. He will make mistakes and we will get him. We can start by going after West Corporation. Burn it to the fucking ground if we have to.” He grins, probably imagining just that. Turning to Jax, his eyes narrow a bit. “How is she?”

Jax doesn’t even attempt to hide his wide grin. “Satisfied and fast asleep.” I bite my tongue in response, since I have no room to talk right now. I fucked her in the shower just this morning, but Xander’s eyes flash with fury.

“You thought it was a good idea to fuck her after what we just made her relive!” his voice booms, echoing off the walls as he abruptly stands, looking like he was to jump over the desk to punch Jax in the face.

To his credit, Jax loses the smile as he crosses his arm across his chest. “She needed to feel something apart from what she was feeling. Wren asked me for it, and you both would have done the same. Mav did, in the shower. So don’t act like I did something wrong when our girl needed me.” He tilts his head up, daring us to challenge what he just said, but he’s right. I couldn’t deny Wren a single thing if she asked. “Plus, she told me she loved me.” Xander and I freeze, a bit wide-eyed, as Jax adopts a smug look now. He is practically a peacock, flaunting his colorful feathers in male pride.

But just like that, something in me snaps. This woman, this broken little angel, can still find a way to love someone. A man like Jax, and hopefully, me and Xander. Wren went through the deepest kind of betrayal, yet she loves one of us. Men who are probably worse than Adrian. This time, it’s me who is up and out of their chair. I can’t be here. I need to think, figure out a way to fix my angel’s wings. Without a word, I turn to the door and head for the garage, plucking the keys to my Audi RS 5-sport back off the wall as I pass the kitchen. I hear one of the guys call after me, but I don’t bother to reply.

I hit the button to open the garage door as I pass the doorway, making a beeline to my car. Once in, I press start and rev the engine. Needing to feel something of my own right now, I peel out of the drive, rocks flying as I go. The gate is already open at the end of the driveway as I zoom through. I do not know where I am going, but I head towards downtown.

Maybe I’ll get Wren something nice.

I’ve been mindlessly driving for over an hour. My buzz is wearing off and every time I think of something to get Wren, I decide it’s stupid or realize she wouldn’t like it.

Jewelry? She barely wears any now.

Clothes? What if she doesn’t like it, or I get the wrong size?

Books? I don’t know what she likes to read.

I’m overthinking it all. I know this, but I just want to see my angel smile. After earlier, I don’t know if she will for a while. At least not around us. We just made her relive the worst night of her life. Pulling over, I pull to a stop and grab my phone out of my pocket. I have a few missed calls from Xander and Jax and a couple of messages asking when I plan on coming home. Sending out a quick reply saying I’m fine and will be home soon, I pull up the search engine and type in something I never thought I would have before.

What to get a blind person as a gift?

All the usual things you would think of gifting someone pop up flowers, jewelry, clothes, chocolate, but it’s all things I’ve thought of already, and she deserves more than the basics. A noise from across the street catches my attention, causing me to glance up. A parked across the street from the city park and I catch sight of people out enjoying their late afternoon. Families having picnics, couples taking a stroll, people jogging, but what I focus on is a little girl throwing a ball and a dog chasing after it. The girl giggles as the dog grabs the ball in his mouth and races back to her to do it all again. Then, like it was a sign from somewhere flashing neon lights, I have an idea for the perfect gift. A dog.

My next search has me driving across town to the dog training facility I found online. Walking straight up to the front desk, I bypass the person waiting in line. “I need a dog for my girlfriend.” The woman sitting behind the desk stares at me before glancing behind me.

“Sir, someone was in front of you.” I glanced at the man who was waiting before I got here. “And there is a process to apply for a service dog. If you are just looking for a dog, there is an animal shelter just down the road.” I frown at her words.

“No, she needs a service dog.” The woman looks around the room looking uncomfortable, probably from my size and don’t fuck with me right now attitude.

“Ok, but there are requirements and wait times. I can get you the paperwork to fill out and get the process started.” She gives me a weak smile as she shuffles around her desk.

“I would like to speak with whoever owns this place.” I don’t have time for any of this and rather get straight to the point. She looks stunned at my request, but quickly snaps out of it, picking up her phone and calling her boss. While she’s doing that, I turn to survey the room. Posters of people with dogs plaster the wall, all smiling and happy.

“He will be right out, sir.” Glancing over my shoulder, I give her a nod and step aside to wait. A few minutes later, a man dressed in jeans and a button up comes out from a door across the room. He looks at his receptionist, then at me before pasting on a friendly smile. He stretches his hand out as he approaches, and I do the same, giving him a firm shake.

“I’m Collen Smith. I hear you’re possibly looking for a service dog.” I nod. “Why don’t we step into my office and discuss the process a bit more?” I give him another nod before following him to the door he just emerged from. Once inside, he heads to his desk and takes a seat. “So Mr.….?”

“Alder.” I say, glancing around the small room.

“Mr. Alder. What exactly are you looking for?” He asks as I turn and give him all my focus.

“A dog for my girlfriend. She had a terrible accident about two years ago.” I grind out the word accident. “She ended up blind, and I believe a companion would help her feel safer and cope with some possible PTSD.” Collen frowns.

“Well, a service animal does many things. From what you have said, your girlfriend sounds like an excellent candidate. We can start the process, but we would need your girlfriend to come in, maybe meet a few dogs and th-.”

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