Javier
It’s been six months since Gabriella’s abduction. Raid after raid comes up empty, and we can’t find the rat in our intel.
Triker is nowhere to be found, but rumor has it he has suddenly started popping up on the club scene.
It’s Friday night, and I’m over at Hudson’s. It’s become our nightly ritual—meet up and try to figure out what we could be missing.
Beckett and Mia are there as well.
Chloe walks in the house with Ryland, and our phones both buzz.
A picture of Gabriella in a gold-sequined club dress pops up. She’s sitting on Triker’s lap, and her arms are around his shoulders. Her lips are inches from his, and he’s intensely focused on her.
They look like they are together.
My gut twists so fast I have to swallow bile.
“Javier, you okay?” Mia puts her hand on my arm.
“Yeah,” I manage to get out.
“What is she doing on Triker’s lap?” Hudson barks.
“We don’t know what the situation is. She’s probably trying to survive. Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Chloe says.
Trying to survive. I know what that often means in these cases.
The thought of Triker putting his hands on Gabriella drives me insane all day, but the idea of her sleeping with him is too much to bear. And I know that she has to be sleeping with him. He declared her, and it’s been six months.
For six months, I’ve done nothing but try to find her. I’ve had several breakdowns, including one on March 26th, the day we were supposed to get married. Intel has been compromised too many times to count, and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see her again.
It’s the first picture that has surfaced, and I become fixated on it.
At least she’s alive.
She’s just as beautiful as always.
Please tell me Triker hasn’t hurt her.
I can’t wait to kill him.
She needs to come home.
“When was this taken?” Beckett asks.
“Last weekend,” Chloe replies.
I scrub my hands on my face. “Intel gets a picture, but we don’t know about it until a week later? Chloe, we need to call Carter again.”
Carter is the head of the FBI.
“I spoke with him on the way over. He assured me they have everyone working on this.”
“They aren’t working fast enough.”
Another text comes through.
“Newest First Lady of the Twisted Hearts is Gabriella Triker.” A picture of Gabriella on a beach, in a white wedding dress, with Triker holding his hand in a victory pump in the air pops up.
I re-read it, glance at the pictures of Gabriella’s smiling face, then run to the bathroom and throw up. While I’m getting sick, I hear the Brooks brothers’ shock as they blurt out obscenities over the text.
“He had to have forced her,” Ryland says as I re-enter the kitchen.
“You okay?” Chloe rubs my arm.
“He’s wanted by the FBI but is able to get legally wed? How is that possible?” Hudson asks.
“He can’t legally,” Chloe says. “Whatever they did, it isn’t legal.”
“They?” I scowl at her.
“I mean the Twisted Hearts. Not Gabriella.”
“She wouldn’t marry Triker willingly. She loves you, Javier,” Mia cries out.
Does she still? It’s been six months. Maybe she’s forgotten about me.
No. Gabriella wouldn’t. What we have is real.
You know what happens when a woman is declared. Pull your shit together. This isn’t Gabriella’s fault or choice.
“Javier!” Mia stands in front of me and squeezes my wrists. “She doesn’t want any of this. She loves you. Remember that.”
I take a deep breath. “I know.”
“If they are starting to surface, is there a pattern of where they are going?” Beckett asks.
“This is the first picture we’ve received. Hopefully, they will continue going out, and we can establish one,” Chloe responds.
The front door opens.
“Hey, everyone, we’re here,” Gracie yells.
“Kitchen,” Hudson bellows.
“What’s going on?” Connor asks.
Chloe shows them the picture of Gabriella in the gold dress.
“She seems healthy. At least we know she is taking care of herself,” Gracie softly says, blinking tears.
“Let me see that.” Connor yanks Chloe’s phone out of her hand and peers at it.
“What is it, Connor?” I ask.
He holds up his hand. “Hold on a minute.” Handing the phone to Gracie, he says, “Tell me what you see in that picture.”
She studies it, and her eyes widen. Her hand flies over her mouth.
The hair on my neck stands up. “What is it?”
“That club is in Ybor City.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. We go there all the time, don’t we, Gracie? Well, we did before Gabriella got abducted.”
“It’s closed tomorrow night for a private party. Becca called me to ask what the name of the other club in Ybor was that we went to when we met Fisher. He might be coming to town and wants to see me, but I told him no.”
“Gracie, do you know what kind of party?” I ask.
“Becca said that it was a party to celebrate some bigwig who just got married.”
Chloe raises her eyebrows.
“What am I missing?” Gracie says.
“The FBI sent a text that Gabriella married Triker,” Mia says.
“What?” she shrieks. “No way. She wouldn’t do that.”
“Not in a million years,” Connor reinforces.
“Chloe, I think we should call Carter direct on this and create our own team. See if the party is for Triker and, if so, raid it but with guys we choose. I don’t want to lose another opportunity due to our intel,” I tell her.
“Agree. Want to call Carter now?”
“Yeah. Start dialing.”