Page 82 of Wickedly Played

“I don’t have time for story time. Where is she going?” I demand.

He huffs. “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. I gave you a chance to do the right thing and work a legit job. You’re the one who fucked everything up.”

“Fuck off, Jim!”

“You'd better make this right with Serena. You don’t know what kind of demons she’s hiding from,” Jim warns before hanging up the phone.

“What happened?” I ask Stella, who has full-fledged tears rolling down her cheeks.

Deacon doesn’t do anything to stop the tears from falling. He doesn’t offer her any comfort, and that alone makes me almost feel bad for her. Deacon is a piece of shit.

“Serena just does whatever Serena wants with no regard to how she makes others feel. She’s done this for years. I hope she stays gone.”

There is a look in his eyes that tells me he’s worried about something more than he’s letting on. He’s thinking very hard about something, and I need to know what it is.

“That’s not what happened,” Stella cries. “I pushed. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“What did you push for?”

She’s looking all around before staring at my feet. “I pushed her to admit her feelings. I yelled at her for being cold. I yelled at her for never talking about how she felt. This is all my fault,” she admits.

My anger bubbles inside me as I reflect on the emotional toll today took on both me and Serena. I pushed, too. If I hadn’t told her to tell me about her dad, maybe the fight wouldn’t have happened between Serena and Stella.

“Jesus, fuck!” I shout.

My fingers are dialing Joey’s number to get him over here. I need to get to Serena’s house as soon as possible. If her stalker were to find out she’s alone, she’s a bigger target than before.

“Hey, Max. What’s up?” Joey answers.

“Dude, I need you to come to the club you had Serena at when you watched her. She’s run off. I need to get her,” I bark into the phone.

“What the fuck? Why would she run off?”

“It is a long story, man. Tell Franky you’re needed by me, and he will let you off the job,” I retort, hanging up the phone.

I’m watching all of the cameras at the house while waiting for Joey. It would have made sense to have Deacon drive meto her home, but I don’t trust that mother fucker. I think he’s playing games. Each camera hasn’t picked up any movement in the home or outside of the house in the past three minutes, since Serena ran off.

Joey parks in front of Alpha, and I twist my finger in the air to indicate he needs to move over. I need to drive. When Joey moves around the car, he stops in front of Stella.

“Stell,” he mutters.

“You two know each other?” Deacon demands.

Stella shakes her head and looks past him to me. “Is this some type of joke?”

“We don’t have time for this. We need to get going!” I’m in the car, ready to go, before Joey drops into the passenger seat.

I don’t say anything the whole drive to Serena’s house. There’s nothing to really say. I need to get to my girl before her stalker does.

The ringing phone shakes me from my thoughts. “What?” I growled into the phone.

“What happened with Serena?” Adam commands.

“We fought, and she ran off. I’m trying to get to her house right now. I don’t have time to talk.”

“You should have fucking called me! This is my company. I don’t know why you didn’t call me before doing all of this shit,” he barks.

“Are you really making this about you? Serena’s stalker has been ramping up, and now she’s alone. Don’t you think I have other things to worry about than your ego?” My anger is choking me right now. I have never wanted to rip his head off more than I do right now.