Page 28 of Fearless to Love

When Holden barged through the crowd on the dance floor, I headed left toward the bar. My eyes scanned through each body as they laughed, writhed, and ordered drinks. As I passed each person without seeing Tommy, the angrier I got. Had he been trying to get upstairs to get to Lily? There was something about him that didn’t seem normal and every time I thought about how he’d destroyed Lily’s self-esteem it made my blood boil.

I circled the entire first floor before I met up with Holden and Jax at the stairs. They both wore scowls, so I knew they hadn’t found Tommy. We were quiet as we made our way back upstairs. With the thought of Tommy, I only wanted to go home and hold Lily. As we reached the top of the second floor, Holden stepped to the side and jerked his chin toward my office. The moment my office door closed, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked like he was about ready to explode.

I sat down at my desk to wake my computer up. Holden and Jax stood behind me as I brought up the security cameras to see if it had been Tommy the girls saw or someone who looked like him.

“What’s going on? I thought you guys didn’t find him.” If they had why hadn’t they let me in on the action?

“We wouldn’t be standing here talking if I spotted him. I’m not sure how much Lily has told you about dear ole Tommy, but damn…I don’t know how to put this. I’ve only been around him once and it was after they’d broken up, but that dude didn’t seem right. There’s a screw loose or something, and I would hate for anything to happen to Lily because I didn’t say anything.”

“I won’t let anyone or anything hurt her. You’ve got my word.” I looked to Jax, and he nodded. “Thank you, guys, for always having Lily’s back. It means a lot to me.”

“Not a problem,” they both murmured.

“I don’t see anyone who looks like Tommy, but there are a couple of blind spots the footage doesn’t show…” I trailed off at what that could mean.

“If he knows the places you won’t be able to spot him it was planned, and he means trouble,” Holden growled.

“Right, let’s go get our girls. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to get out of here. While I appreciate everyone showing up, it’s…” I didn’t know how to express what I was feeling. I definitely wasn’t in the mood to party and I didn’t think anyone else was either.

“It’s been tainted. I get it,” Jax finished for me.

“I hope Lily and Franca aren’t too disappointed. I know they worked hard planning and keeping it a secret.”

There was no need to worry. By the time we came out of my office, all the girls had their purses and were waiting for us. Tommy really knew how to kill the mood.

Smiling, I hugged all the girls and shook the guys’ hands. Holden and Jax were huddled around Luke and Jack, probably giving them the lowdown on how we hadn’t found Tommy. “Thank you all for coming. I appreciate it more than you know coming here for Lily to celebrate my birthday.”

They all gave their well wishes and said goodnight before leaving. Franca and Lily were standing close and talking in hushed voices when I approached them and hugged my sister. “I’m sorry the night didn’t go according to plan, but it was a good night. Maybe next year we can have a party at our house.”

Franca’s brows rose to her hairline. “Are you moving to that small-town?”

“Possibly, if Lily will have me, and after I’ve trained the manager.” I looked to Lily to see what her reaction was. We hadn’t been apart since our first date, but we’d never talked about officially moving in.

Hugging my arm, she looked up at me with a bright smile. “I would love nothing more.”

“Looks like I should start packing.”

Chapter Twelve

LILY

Putting the finishing touches on dinner, I danced around the kitchen, excited that Dante was coming home early tonight. His manager was finally trained and now he didn’t have to work crazy long hours and get home late into the night. He’d moved all of his things into my place, and Franca was now living in his old place. I couldn’t wait to sleep in with him and fall asleep in his arms every night.

My music cut off as my phone rang. Running over to the other side of the kitchen, I squealed when I saw it was Dante calling. “Hey, sexy! Are you on your way home?” I answered, going back to stir my sauce so it didn’t burn.

“I’m walking out now and wanted to call you to let you know I’m on my way.”

I heard his car door close and the engine roar to life.

“Perfect. Dinner will be ready when you get here.”

“You didn’t have to make dinner. I would have been happy to bring something home.” The rev of his engine signaled he was trying to get home as quickly as possible.

“I know, but I wanted to celebrate you finally having Steve trained and that you’ll be home at night now.”

“If you would have asked a few months ago, I never would have thought I would have found the love of my life, moved to the country, and finally have some time to myself instead of working all night.”

I swooned, but at the same time, wondered why Dante had yet to tell me he loved me. I’d said it once when he was sleeping but had felt like it was too fast—even though I thought we were feeling the same way.

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