Page 109 of Ghost

“What do you think happened then?”

“Someone had to have drawn her out. It’s the only thing that makes sense. I just don’t know why she would listen to them. Fuck.”

When I reach my office, the door is cracked, so I know she’s been in here. I shove it open, and I can still smell the scent of her vanilla lotion hanging in the air. Legacy pauses in the doorway as Steel comes up beside him.

“Don’t tell me to drop this, Prez.” I circle my desk and plant my fists on top of it. “I know we agreed she was myresponsibility and that if she brought more shit to the club, then that was it. But that’s not it.”

Steel steps forward, glancing around the room. He looks down at the desk while I watch him approach, but I can’t read what he’s thinking.

Luna was the enemy when I brought her here, and I’ve been dragging my feet on claiming her as my old lady, so she doesn’t have the same protections as Tempe. Steel could order me to let this go, and I’d have to listen. But he’s quiet.

He plants his hand over a piece of paper on my desk, pushing it toward me. “I’m not telling you to let her go, Marcus. I already know she’s yours. She’sours. We’ll get her back.”

Steel taps the piece of paper on my desk, and I look down to see it’s a note from Luna. The letters swoop and curl. Everything about her is delicate and beautiful.

Picking up the paper, I try to process her words, and what I’ve done sinks in.

I love you.

I’ve never said it to her, even if I have felt it since the first time I locked eyes with that girl. The words never felt big enough to describe what I feel.

Clarity, contentment. Overwhelming peace.

She talks about home like we can build it wherever we want, when really, she’s home to me.

If I thought losing Paulina ended me, I was wrong. If they hurt Luna, I’ll lose all I have left.

“Let us help,” Steel says. “Don’t shut us out right now. We’re only getting her back if we do it together.”

He’s right.

I’ve lied for this girl.

Taken a brand for this girl.

Reserved my soul for this girl.

But I can’t do this alone.

“Okay.” I drop into my chair and find my focus. “I need to figure out why she left and where she was headed. Until we know that, we’re dead in the water.”

Steel’s phone chimes with a text, so he grabs it out of his pocket. “Havoc is heading back with the rest of the crew now. Patch stitched up Chaos, so I should go check on him. We’ll be ready to roll once you give the word. Keep me updated.”

“Hey, Prez…” I say when Steel and Legacy turn to leave, and they freeze, looking back at me. “Thanks.”

“We’ve got your back, Marcus. She’s family.” Steel nods. “We’ll bring her home.”

My brothers leave me alone so I can focus, and I lock myself in my office to search for any clues as to where Luna might have gone. She’s no longer here, but she lingers in the air, and it’s a unique form of torture I didn’t know existed until this moment.

Leaning back, I try to see the room from Luna’s perspective. I try to walk it back and figure out why she was in here, and what happened to make her leave.

My desk drawer is cracked, so I peel it open. The stack of pictures inside is out of order from her going through them. The picture of Luna is on top, and it makes me wish I could pull her out of the photograph and bring her back. Beneath it is a picture of Paulina, and it feels like history repeating itself.

Except she and Paulina are different people. While Paulina was similar to Luna when she was younger, she changed. She fell in with my enemies, and she became more like them than I wanted to admit back then. I accepted her lies because it was easier than seeing through them and admitting all the ways I was failing her.

I wanted to believe her, but I knew things were bad. I knew they were feeding her drugs, and I knew what that club did with their women. I should have done something sooner to get her out of there. By the time I acted, it was too late.

I refuse to let that happen to Luna.

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