Chapter 5

My mouth is as dry as the desert.

Anthony still hasn’t turned around to face me. His back is facing me but his whole body has gone rigid. I’m paralyzed with shock.

No, he can’t be implying that Evan ran away with all my money. That can’t be it because I know the man I married and he isn’t like that.

He’s kind and honest. He gave me a bag full of money when he could’ve taken it all for himself and I would never know anything about it.

Anthony finally turns back around. The way he’s looking at me breaks my heart and makes me angry at the same time. He’s always assumed the worst of Evan. I say, “Stop it, Anthony. Just stop.”

He strides toward me and then hands his card to the receptionist. He says, “I’ll take care of the bill. Don’t worry about it.”

I stand aside, humiliated and angry at him. Angry that he would assume such a thing.

He grabs my bags and helps me load them in the car. I’m mildly aware of my hands shaking. He closes the trunk and then turns to look at me again, that strange pity still lingering in his eyes.

I shake my head at him resolutely. “I forbid you from thinking the worst of him, Anthony. Evan isn’t like that.”

“So you’ve said,” he remarks. “But where is he, Leo, and why are your cards declining?”

“There has to be a reasonable explanation for everything,” I say, refusing to give into the despair. I should be focusing on why he’s missing and not on the money. “This will probably be resolved by tomorrow.”

Anthony runs a hand down his face. “So, what? You want to file a missing person’s report, is that it? Will it make you feel better? He hasn’t been missing for twenty-four hours yet, so you’ll have to wait till tomorrow.”

I don’t like the sound of any of this. I don’t want to go home and not know where he is. Anthony steps closer to me, interrupting my train of thought. “In the meantime, we’ll log into your bank accounts and see what the hell is going on, okay?”

I nod and we get going. I stare out the window the whole time, my mind a war zone. Suddenly, the past month and a half flashes through my mind.

I see Evan and I on our first date. He was smiling so politely at me and I liked how much attention he garnered. Not a single woman passed by and didn’t look at him. And yet, his eyes were only on me.

Evan never really talked about his past but I never paid attention to that. Now, thinking back to it, I don’t want to say that it’s strange, but I realize now that most of our conversations were one-sided. They consisted of me talking about my parents and my childhood most of the time. I don’t know where he grew up. Which pack he came from or if he was a rogue like us.

Panic shoots through me but I keep it down. No, I can’t let these doubtful thoughts cross my mind and poison me. With Evan and I, it was love at first sight. It’s not uncommon for two people to fall in love and marry a month later. Happens all the time. My parents married three months of knowing each other.

We reach my house. Suddenly, the thought of being in it without Evan scares the hell out of me. We made plans. We were going to come back here and live together. He’d help me run the company and the estate. Those were the plans we made.

So , where he is?

My heart’s beating pretty fast as we make our way inside. Anthony’s face is full of determination. The first thing we do is grab my laptop from the kitchen and then he asks me to log in.

I pray it’s all a misunderstanding. I’m pretty sure it is one.

Wrong.

“What do they mean?” I ask as I press the enter button. On the screen, it says that the account no longer exists. I look over at Anthony and a dark look flashes across his eyes. He meets my gaze and says nothing.

I try to other banks but the log in details no longer work. I start tapping the keys more forcefully. I feel like I’m on the verge of having a panic attack.

“What is this!?” I ask as I stand up. The chair topples behind me and I leave it on the ground. “What is this!? What’s going on!?”

“It’s all pretty simple, Leonora,” Anthony says to me in a steady voice. “The guy was a crook. He married you so he could use you for your money and inheritance. At this point, he’s probably far away with all the money he took from you. You made it easy, too, by giving him legal authority over everything you have.”

All the blood drains from my face and I find myself staring at the hardwood floors of my massive home. All my bank accounts are closed. Every single one of them. Evan is gone.

This can’t be a coincidence, can it?

Deep down, I’m still hoping that it is.

“I’m not even sure if we can open a case against him but we can try,” Anthony continues. “Provided that Evan Montague even is his real name. He could’ve used a fake ID. What else do you know about him? What can we use? Where’s he from?”

I cover my face with my hand. There’s no way. No way whatsoever.

I feel Anthony’s hands on my shoulders. I’m shaking all over. “Leo, I need you to stay with me, okay? Tell me what you remember. Anything would help.”

“I don’t know,” I say. “He always implied that he was from around here. I just assumed he was.”

Anthony sighs. The sound is saturated with disappointment. He then asks, “What else? Goddess, Leo. Why did you trust him so much? What made you put your faith in him so blindly? Where did he even come from?”

“A week after my parents died, he showed up at the front door with a bag of money,” I explain. “He said that it was in my parents’ car and my father asked him to give it to me because he didn’t trust the police. And so Evan brought it here after having looked for me.”

Anthony rubs his face. “That’s why you trusted him?”

“Wouldn’t you?” I ask, whirling around to face him. “That bag had half a million in it, Anthony. He could’ve kept it and I would have never known.”

“He took a calculated risk, then,” Anthony proclaims. “He knew it would’ve gotten you to trust him. Son of a bitch.”

Again, this can’t be happening. It’s like a nightmare. Yesterday was one of the happiest days of my entire life. How is any of this real?

“We’ll go to the police now,” Anthony suggests. “Bring the laptop. Bring everything. He had a head-start but he can’t get far. Come on, Leonora. Let’s go.”

Numbly, I follow Anthony out of the house. When we arrive at the police, he’s the one who does all the talking. The whole time I’m there, I’m thinking about Evan.

Evan, who insisted on never initiating sex because he wanted our first time to be after the wedding. Evan, who kissed my tear-stained cheeks and told me I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met in all his life. Evan, who told me that he couldn’t imagine a life without me when he asked me to marry him. I still remember what he said to me. I’ve memorized them. “I know we’ve not known each other for long, but I promise that I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for that and getting to know you. I love you, Leonora.”

Evan with his charming smile and magnetic eyes. With his tender kisses and affectionate hugs.

Evan. Evan. Evan.

He’s all I can think about. Tears start running down my face and I don’t wipe them away. I leave them. Anthony looks over at me and says nothing as we wait for the sheriff. So far, as far as I can tell, no progress can be made until tomorrow.

But that’s not all.

We’re rogues. Although we’re successful and rich, we’ll never stop being rogues. We’re not as respected as other werewolves who belong to other packs.

The sheriff gives me a hard look and says, “You can open a case against him. Try to locate him and get your lawyer to take care of the proceedings. But you have him power of attorney, so even if we do find him, there’s not enough for an arrest warrant.”

Anthony slams his fist against the sheriff’s desk and calls him useless. I can’t even move from my seat. Giving him legal power over my things seemed like the logical choice at the time, and it happened after our engagement. I didn’t want to take care of everything that was coming at me but Evan offered to help. I’d been so grateful. I made the document and handed everything over to him. Papers concerning my inheritance. Important decisions about the company.

Everything.

We’re escorted outside because of Anthony’s scene. He rages and rages, and then lights a cigarette and smokes it.

“What now?” he wonders aloud.

I’m asking myself the same thing.