Page 80 of King of Hearts

* * *

The house was empty.My men slowly began to filter back in, helping me search…but both the baby and Taylor were gone.

My stomach was tilting so much I was on the verge of losing everything inside of it, but I wouldn’t let anyone see that. I just kept pushing forward, knowing we needed to check footage in the house to see what had happened. The study held several computer monitors that were connected to the security feed around the house. Currently there were feeds in the halls, near all the exits, and along the perimeter of the house. Pulling up the footage from earlier in the day, I began scrolling through times and sections of the house, then I suddenly stopped.

There, by the front door, stood Taylor, looking through the window while I was out there talking to Angela.

Dammit.

She saw Angela kiss me, and what was worse, she saw that I didn’t push her away right away. Shit, she thought I wanted Angela? What a joke. I nearly laughed as a frustration so low in my gut nearly made me cry. She had left; I knew she had. I confirmed it as I scrolled through the feed. She hadn’t left right away; she had waited for me for over two hours before finally giving up and leaving with Alex.

I couldn’t hold back the anger ripping through me at a forceful rate. It had taken so much work to get the progress we had made with one another, and this was…shit, this was going to set us back, maybe even drive her into Holden’s arms.

I had to fix this immediately.

Running upstairs, I made sure there was nothing I had missed, like her phone being left behind…and fuck, there it was on the dresser next to a note.

Gently I picked it up and inspected, reading without really processing.

Juan,

You should know that I have loved you far longer than you probably know. I kissed you back in March because I wanted to know what it was like, at least once before we graduated. Then you kissed me back and acted like I was the air you needed in order to breathe, and it scared me because I could never endanger your life…so I lied to you.

I was never expecting Holden. It was always you.

It’s been you forever. It destroyed me when I saw you with Angela at the wedding. I thought…see, it doesn’t even matter what I thought, because there was never a future with us.

This was always going to end like this, because I already made a deal for my future, and the only thing that could possibly bring me peace is knowing that you go live yours.

Sign on with Chicago. Give Angela a real shot. Live your life free of this place, of the dark thing your father left you…I know you hate it. So, cut ties, baby, and be free.

I love you.

I’ll always love you, Juan.

Think of me from time to time, because I’ll always be thinking of you. I’ll always be yours, in that place neither of us can touch but will always feel. We’ll always be together there, in that place where the sun breaks through the dark and shines when it shouldn’t. I’ll be there loving you still.

Taylor

Fuck. That. Shit.

I crumpled the note in my fist, shaking my head, refusing to get emotional. Rage shuddered and quaked inside me like the way the earth shuddered before an impending war.

I knew of one person who could tell me where she’d gone, and if I was fast enough, I’d grab her before she did something stupid, like agree to go back to her father’s.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rain whippedagainst my windshield as I pulled into the gravel driveway. No one was expecting me, so there was a small chance I had missed my opportunity to see Kyle entirely, but even if no one was here, I’d just sneak into Mal’s old fifth wheel that she and Decker had stayed in when they lived here.

The side garage looked like it was open with the lights on, a sleek black car was parked inside with the hood open, and Decker’s kid brother hovered over the engine.

Bingo.

I flicked my lights off, and right as I was about to pull in front of the garage, and my foot was about to transition to the gas, I saw a girl appear on the other side of the hood. She smiled at Kyle, tossing a dirty rag at his face, which he caught…gosh the smile he gave her was so sweet. I wondered if she was his girlfriend.

I smiled, only for a second, before I realized that girl looked around the same age as Kyle, which meant she was likely seventeen or so…which meant Kyle was endangering her by working for my father. I wondered if she knew about that…or wondered where that expensive car came from. She seemed more like Mallory with her flannel shirt and ripped jeans. Her long dark hair was like a glossy sheet of perfection that surely belonged in a Pantene Pro-V commercial.

The girl’s smile faltered when her eyes flicked in my direction and saw my car just awkwardly sitting in the driveway. Kyle’s head peeked out a second later, his brows caving in confusion.

---