Page 80 of Ly to Me

“Number. Now.” Silence stretched too long in the precious seconds I had to find my wife. I slammed my fist on top of the desk, my eyes glued to the driveway. “Now!”

“Alright, alright. I’ll send it to you,ifyou admit it’s all fake.”

“Give me the number now and I won’t find out where you live and shoot you where you sleep.”

“Two words—it’s fake.” Something like fingers drumming on a table filled the void, another stretch of time he was wasting on something that wasn’t even true. I wasn’t sure it had ever been fake.

Not for me, at least.

“It’s not fake. Give me my wife’s number.”

“I’m willing to bet a month’s worth of my salary that you bribed her into marrying you. Odd how you did it so close to when you needed thirty days to finish off your bet, ain’t it?”

My molars ground together. “What’s odd is your belief that I won’t kill you.”

“A death threat, bribery…are you trying to collect felonies?”

“Listen here, prick. I love my fucking wife, and she may be pregnant with my child as we speak. So, you either give me the number, or I’ll hop into my truck and drive to Aubrey’s house and blowherbrains out instead. Sound good to you?”

The fingers on the other side of the line stopped drumming. Moments later, my phone pinged with a photo—a screenshot of a number and a location. “Your wife never shared her numberwith me, but I at least had the brains to steal her phone and take what I needed.”

My fist curled in around the phone, remembering how Sabrina talked about Jamie when we were at my bar the night before. Jamie, who she didn’t even know before I brought her home. She’d been at my bar before we arrived, so maybe tracking Ly to the bar with her location on Jamie’s phone was a bit of a stretch, but something wasn’t right with the two of them.

All of that would have to wait.

I hung up on him and stared down at the red dot in the middle of a familiar dirt path. I didn’t bother with boots or a shirt, just ran to my truck and took off, staring at the picture while dodging any cars on the two-lane road.

Not five minutes later, I spotted the same tire tracks that’d been in my driveway on a strip of dirt near where Jamie’s picture led me to. I pulled up next to her empty car and stared at the all-too familiar house—a blue tarp shredded to pieces, vines covering the exterior—and possibly interior—walls, only evading the door that was left wide open.

“Ly!” I bolted from the truck, calling her name, but unsure if I’d be able to hear her answer past the drumming in my ears. Blood pulsed rapidly through my veins, and for a moment, I was sure my brain was about to split.

I ran up the several steps leading to the front door and burst into the living space. My eyes struggled to focus on any element, any sign of life. The couch in the corner was still there, only now smelled of mildew and mold. The walls had critters climbing up and down and over cracks, and the kitchen in the back—I could only imagine what the flies were buzzing around.

I made my way to the only room she used to find an ounce of solace in this place, and that’s when I froze in the doorway. Lyra stood in the middle of a disheveled, yellow rug, her long brown hair thrown over the front of her shoulder, revealing mybeautiful wife in my shirt and belt, paired with the floral boots she got for our date.

The most beautiful creature ever.

She didn’t turn as I closed in on her and wrapped my arms around her from behind. Dipping my nose into the crook of her neck, I breathed in deeply, inhaling her warmth and sunshine.

“I found you,” I murmured into her skin, more to myself than to her. I was sure she could hear the broken man I’d been long ago when she’d left the first time, but I didn’t care to hide that anymore. Lyra’s arms settled over mine, her soft fingers grazing my forearms.

“I was comin’ right back to you, Car.” She turned in my hold, her red-rimmed eyes making my brows furrow as she cupped my face in those too-soft hands. Her eyes searched mine, her thumb gliding over my bottom lip. “I was going to come right back to you. I swear it.”

My hand covered hers, needing to touch every part of her I could. “Why here?”

Her throat worked as she glanced away, her attention now on the empty walls. “He…he took my entire collection. I came to get it, and I-I don’t understand why he’d—”

“No, Ly. He didn’t.”

Her lips tilted down, her chin quaking. “Then…where is it all?”

“First—promise you won’t ever leave me again.” My hands skimmed down her back, pressing her closer to me by her waist. I dipped my forehead to hers. “You go somewhere, you say something.”

A soft smile tilted her lips as she pulled her hand from my cheek and drew an ‘x’ over her chest. “Cross my heart,” she promised.

I pressed my lips to her forehead, staring at the blank walls as I admitted, “I took them.”

She leaned back, angling her chin up, confusion clear as day on her face. “Why?”