Page 55 of My Ex-Best Men (Ex Marks the Spot #4)

***Zane***

I saw Madeline trying to slip away after I finished up my song for Jake and Sophia and I made a beeline for her. Shifting away from the reaching hands of the other wedding guests, I followed her back into the hotel and caught her arm just before she slipped into the bathroom.

She swung around and frowned when she saw it was me. “Zane? What is it?”

“Claire is missing. Can you think of any reason she’d be missing, Madeline?” I was doing everything I could to not snarl at the woman. I had nothing more than a hunch that she was somehow involved with Claire being gone but it was a strong hunch.

To her credit, Madeline kept her face perfectly blank in the face of my obvious ire. That was the giveaway, though. She’d never once looked at Claire or talked about Claire without a slight scowl on her face. “What are you talking about? Claire’s missing?”

“Don’t bullshit me, Madeline. You’ve had your sights on Claire since the day she got here. She was more than happy when she left our bed this morning so what happened?”

“I haven’t seen Jordan lately, either, you know. Maybe she decided three men was just one too short. Have you checked behind all the dumpsters and in all the dirty alleys on the island?” Her lips lifted in a mean smirk. “I don’t know where she went and I don’t care. Now leave me alone.”

I growled at her. “It’s big of you to insult Claire while following Will around like a sad little pet. Everyone sees your pathetic games and everyone sees Will look right past you, Madeline. Say what you want about her but that woman is loved by the man you’re desperate for.”

Her face flared red and her hands fisted at her side. “Fuck you. You should’ve seen the look on her face when I told her about your little bet with Will and Anthony over who would fuck her first. I can’t lie; it was everything to see her realize that she’s just a whore to the three of you.”

I slammed my fist into the wall next to her. “What the fuck did you do?”

She didn’t even flinch. “I gave her some information and then let her see what Will and I share. He may want to fuck her but he cares about me. Deeply. Lust fades. Friendship like mine and Will’s lasts. It will last. Whatever Claire did with that information, I don’t know.”

“You’re fucking nuts. Fully fucking Single White Female nuts.

” I scowled at her and backed away, needing to find Claire more than ever.

“If you’ve seen the way Will looks at Claire and still think there’s a chance for you, you need help.

You’ll never have him and after this? You won’t even have his friendship. You fucked yourself, Madeline.”

I turned and ran back to the ballroom, searching for Will and Anthony. There was no telling what exactly Madeline had told Claire but the mention of the stupid bet was boggling my mind. How did Madeline even know about it?

The moment I saw Will coming towards me with Anthony, I knew. Hitting him was a gut-deep reaction. Of course, the second my fist connected with his rock hard face, pain radiated up my arm and I swore, swinging away and shaking it out.

Will stumbled back several steps and then froze, his reaction telling. “Did I deserve that?”

I paused and looked back at him. “What do you think?”

He rubbed his jaw and sighed. “I have a feeling I did. That’s your one free hit, though, asshole. Touch me again and I’ll make sure you never play guitar again.”

Ignoring his threat, I stared him down. “Tell me something, Will. How does Madeline know about that stupid bet we made?”

Anthony’s body seemed to turn into stone. He froze solid. “What?”

“Yeah. I just had an interesting conversation with Madeline. She mentioned that while she doesn’t know where Claire is, she did have a talk with her earlier.

About how we made a bet about who could fuck her first. And about how she just showed Claire what you and she shared.

So? What the fuck, Will? You told her about that fucking drunken bet? ”

His face had paled so much that I almost worried he was going to pass out.

Just not enough to be tempted to catch him if he did.

“It… It was just a throw away comment. I was just saying that if Claire decided to go back to London, I’d follow her and be able to live off of the winnings for a while.

It was nothing. I made it clear that we were drunk and it was stupid. ”

Anthony turned and stomped away. “Great fucking job, Will.”

We both followed after him. Will’s face was so devastated that I almost felt bad for him. Almost. Unfortunately for him, I was too worried about where Claire was and how she was to worry about him.

“I have a few connections that I can tap into but some of them aren’t quite…legal. If you two would rather be safe, I’ll take care of it and then meet back up with you when I know where she is.” Anthony jogged towards the house next door, not bothering to wait on us.

Will and I both followed him, unbothered by his warning. I’d have that little tidbit to question it more later but none of that mattered at the moment. I felt like a part of my chest was being torn out and the legalities of how we found Claire were beyond my concern.

Anthony settled at the island with his laptop and his cell, tapping away at both as soon as he sat down. “Someone check to see if she packed her stuff.”

Will ran off and I stood with my hands braced on the island while I waited. My heart hammered away painfully and it triggered a memory of the last time I’d felt the exact feeling.

I’d just gotten the call that I’d been waiting years for.

An agent had heard a track I’d sent out blindly and he wanted me in LA right away.

It was a swing while the iron was hot situation.

I’d been standing outside of Claire’s dorm and I looked up at her window and saw her sitting at her desk, head down.

She loved sitting in the window when she wrote because of the view.

She could turn her head and do the best people watching, according to her.

Back then, she’d wanted to be a writer. She kept her words close to her chest but when she turned in something for class, I devoured it.

I’d been embarrassed the first time because there was something about reading her work that made me feel like crying.

She had a voice that deserved to be heard.

She was on the right track to getting her voice out there in the world but I knew if she joined me in LA, she’d lose that window seat and her chance of making her own dreams come true.

I knew enough about the life I wanted in the music scene to know it wasn’t a quiet window seat looking out over a pretty landscape.

I’d walked away thinking I was doing her a favor.

At least, that’s what I told myself to be able to do it.

After several years of feeling like a fucking martyr for giving the love of my life up, I realized I’d been selfish and hungry for the life I’d always thought I’d have.

Staying with Claire had meant settling down with kids because there was no other way to live with her but doing everything I could to tie her to me.

Marriage, kids, a fucking dog. If I stayed, I’d never do what I’d promised myself I’d do before I met and fell for Claire.

I still didn’t know for sure if a part of me believed I’d be able to go back again in the beginning.

The night I’d walked away and ran away to LA with just a parting text to Claire to make it seem like if I didn’t go that very second, I’d lose my chance, my heart had hammered away in my chest the same way it was right then as I stood next to Anthony, not knowing where she was.

It was like I was standing on the edge of a cliff and my toes were slipping over the edge.

I knew if I didn’t find a way to hold on that I was going to fall over that edge and lose everything all over again. It was terror mixed with desperation.

After living a lifetime without Claire, I knew that I couldn’t do it again. No matter what it took, I couldn’t give up. I wasn’t going to give her the same release she eventually gave me when I stopped answering her calls. I was going to follow her wherever she ran and bring her back to us.

“Everything’s still here. She left straight from the ceremony, looks like.

” Will rubbed his face and looked up at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry. I swear to god that I’ll make it right.

I’ll make sure she knows that you two didn’t do a fucking thing wrong.

If she’s going to hate someone and run from them, it should only be me.

I was stupid and fucking blind about Madeline and I let this happen. ”

Anthony looked up from his laptop. “Are you going to walk away if she tells you to? Would you let her be with just me and Zane?”

Will turned away from us and raised his arms, locking his hands together and resting them on top of his head.

The silence was heavy and when he finally turned back to us, his expression was dark.

“How could I? I let her go once. Doing it again will fucking kill me. I can’t let her go.

I love her. But… If she can’t forgive me, I’ll do whatever I have to make her happy.

If that means she just wants you two, I’ll crawl back here with the knowledge that she at least has two men who love her and who will take care of her. ”

I rubbed at my chest as the ache deepened.

It was like looking into a mirror, seeing the pain on his face and knowing he was facing down the same loss.

There would never be another person in the world who would, or could, understand exactly what it felt like to have life with Claire dangling at the tips of our fingers.

“I have a feeling losing one of us would hurt her enough to make her walk away from everything. It’s been all of us from the beginning and I think it’s the only way it works.

” Anthony growled. “But you’re on my shit list. And Madeline?

She fucked with the wrong people. She won’t come out of this unscathed so whatever obligation or responsibility to her needs to end now.

You won’t like however I decide to handle her, I guarantee you. ”

Will’s face hardened. “Do whatever you want. I’ll be there to help.”

With a nod, Anthony closed his laptop and stood up. “She changed her flight to London. She’s boarding in half an hour. We’ll meet her in London.”

I frowned. “How’d you…?”

“Don’t ask questions.” He dialed someone on his phone and spoke quickly. “Barry. Have the jet fueled and waiting. I’ll be taking it to London with two friends. Send Michael with the helicopter to whatever parking lot will accommodate a landing to pick us up.”

I gaped at Will. I was loaded from years in the business and smart investments by a really fucking decent manager and accountant but I wasn’t personal jet loaded.

The friends I did have with personal jets shared them to make it more economical and it would take a little more than one short call to have the jet ready.

Will shook his head. “We’re a long way from Kansas…”

Anthony looked between the two of us and shrugged. “This way we’ll beat her to London and be there waiting on her by the time her commercial flight lands. And then we’ll bring her back here, where she belongs.”

I winced. “And if she’s not excited about coming with us?”

His smirk was dark. “Another benefit of the jet. No one in my employ is going to stop the plane because of an angry little woman.”