Under an Endless Moon (Moonlit Ridge Book 2)

I pulled my truck up to the curb in front of Sunrise to Sunset Café. A heavy sigh puffed from my nose as I shifted it into park and looked out the driver’s side window at Moonflower across the street.

The panes of glass glinted beneath the rays of the rising sun.

A beacon.

Blinding like the woman.

I killed the engine and grabbed the two to-go cups from Morning Dew Brewhouse.

Raven’s favorite.

And considering I had some groveling to do, I needed everything available in my arsenal.

River had taken off right after Raven had, not saying another word to me, though the spite in his expression had said everything he needed to.

I’d thrashed, wanting to go after Raven. Pick her up and hold her and wipe the hurt I’d inflicted from her gorgeous face.

I’d seen it, what my silence had done. But I’d been gripped by shame, my throat constricted and unable to give any defense as I’d stood guilty in front of my best friend.

But that guilt wasn’t greater than the remorse I’d felt for not standing up and claiming exactly what Raven was to me.

Kane and Theo had held me back, telling me to cool off, that everyone needed to process what had just gone down. Kane had promised to find out where Raven was staying and keep an eye on her.

He’d texted me forty minutes later and told me she’d gone to Moonflower.

Fuckin’ Moonflower.

Without a bed.

She was stubborn, all right.

But I didn’t blame her. Wanting to shut herself away from the rest of us when we’d acted like imbeciles.

Kane had told me he’d be here and that I needed to keep my ass at my own house and lay low.

Give it the night.

I hadn’t slept a fuckin’ wink, so I’d been out the door with the sun.

Now, I clicked the truck door open and stepped into the cool air of the morning. I tossed the door shut with an elbow, and I jutted my chin at Kane from over the top of the hood.

“How’s it goin’?”

He scoffed with a smirk. “My ass is tired thanks to you dippin’ your dick where it isn’t supposed to be, so one of those coffees had better be for me.”

Except the asshole grinned when he said it, and I shook my head as I rounded the truck and stepped onto the sidewalk.

“It’s not like that,” I told him as I came to stand by his side, hating that any of them would think I was toying with Raven.

That she was just a fuck.

Not when she was everything.

Kane blew out a huff as he raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m just giving you shit, man. You think we all haven’t known it?”

I inhaled a shaky breath. “And what’s that?”

“That you’re fucking mad over Raven? I’ve spent the last seven years watchin’ you watch her. It’s plain as day. Not sure how River never saw it.”

A flicker of that guilt bubbled up again. “He did, but I swore to him that he had it all wrong. That I’d never look at her like that. Would never touch her.”

Kane gave me a shrug. “It was bound to happen. You can’t keep something that profound contained for long. Honestly can’t believe it hadn’t happened sooner.”

“Should’ve done it all different, though.”

“What, like not fuck her on a table at my bar?” An amused accusation lifted his brow.

A contrite chuckle skated out of me. “Yeah, that probably would have been a prudent start. She makes me crazy, though. Can’t think straight when I’m around her.”

“Love drunk fool.”

A heavy shot of air blew from my nose. “Apparently.”

He clapped me on the shoulder and pulled me close to him. “You’ll make this right. Fix your shit with your girl, then fix your shit with River. He loves you, man. He’s going to see through the anger to what’s been clear to the rest of us for years.”

“Thanks, brother.”

“You owe me big.” His grin was all teeth.

I handed him one of the cups which was, in fact, for him, and he lifted it in the air and pointed at me with his index finger of that hand. “Now this is a prudent start. If only it had a shot of whiskey in it.”

He winked and brought it to his lips. “Now go get on your knees and beg her to forgive you so I can drag my ass to bed.”

I let go of a short laugh before I was jogging across the street, feeling both heavy and light as I went straight to the door. It was still two hours before opening, so I knew it’d be locked.

I knocked at the glass, waiting a few seconds.

Nothing. No movement or sound.

Disquiet pulled through my chest, and I pressed my nose to the pane, peering inside as I knocked again.

Harder that time.

Nothing again.

Dread seeped slow, licking across my flesh and sinking into my stomach.

Throat growing thick, I dug into my pocket for the set of keys I kept. I found the right one and slid it into the lock, hand shaking as I turned it and opened the door.

Silence.

No alarm.

I could feel the concern emanating from Kane from across the street, and I rushed inside, gaze frantically jumping in every direction.

I searched up and down the two aisles, under the white wooden displays slotted with buckets of flowers, like there was some kind of chance that she was going to be hiding underneath.

I rounded the counter, eyes sweeping her workspace.

Empty.

My pulse started chugging hard in my veins, and I rounded back out just as Kane was bursting through the door.

“What’s going on?”

“Can’t find her.” I croaked it as I ran into the backroom, heart crashing in my chest. It was a small space, not a ton of places to hide, though I went for the cupboards anyway, ripping them open to find nothing inside. I ran to the small bathroom. The vacancy echoed back, and I shot back out, gasping, “She’s not here.”

It was a lament.

Horror.

Agony.

My brow pinched when I noticed the back door was slightly ajar, just resting on the frame. I bolted for it, whipping it open and stumbling out into the alley. Spinning around as I searched the emptiness.

“Raven!” I shouted, pain leaching into the single world. “Raven!”

Kane suddenly stumbled out behind me, his face ashen as he held up a sheet of paper. Same kind that had been wrapped around that rock.

You think you’re coming for me? I’ve been coming for you both all along. Now the bitch will bleed for what she’s done. For what you’ve done. Don’t be sad, you’re all next. – G

Kane and I blew into River’s driveway with the tires spinning, barely coming to a stop before we both jumped out. The front door whipped open at the same time, and River stormed out onto the porch. Wrath surrounded him in a halo, same as I could feel surrounding me.

“It’s fuckin’ Gideon,” I choked as I strode toward him, fully prepared for another attack because God knew I deserved it, though I didn’t slow my approach. “He has her.”

“What?” Horror pulsed with River’s question.

“Gideon.” His name stuck on my tongue, terror gripping me in a fist.

“How the fuck is that even possible?” he wheezed, hands going to his head as he attempted to deal with the blow. “That asshole has been missing for seven years.”

Gideon, Brek, and Lye had all been missing that whole time. I’d hunted them, and it’d taken me forever to sniff them out. The few clues I’d found not enough to fully unearth them.

I’d gone to Cash when I’d gotten desperate.

Played it a game, though he’d known all along.

He’d given me what I’d needed to take care of Brek and Lye, but Gideon had remained elusive.

Disappearing without a trace.

And now he was here.

“Need to tell you something,” I grated, pushing the words out around the razors that lined my throat.

River glared at me, cagey as all fuck, though he was uttering low, “Tell me what the hell is going on, Otto. No more fuckin’ lies.”

I scraped my fingers through the short pieces of my hair, barely able to speak, just knowing I had to get Raven back. Bile gathered in my throat. “I’ve been hunting them,” I admitted, words gravel.

Shocked confusion knitted his brow. Alarm rushed in behind it. “What do you mean, you’ve been huntin’ them?”

“Couldn’t let them get away with what they did to Haddie. With what they did to Raven. Ferreted out two of them. Brek and Lye. Put them in the ground.”

“You did what?” His disbelief was abraded, the full scope of what I’d been doing becoming clear.

I pressed on. “Couldn’t find a trace of Gideon.”

But he’d obviously found me.

River blinked while Kane buried a curse in the fist he pressed to his mouth like it was the only thing that would keep the torrent of his anger from rushing out.

“Without us?” River pressed. “Without letting us in on it? You’re supposed to be our family, Otto.”

My head shook before the confession started spilling out, seven years of grief and torment woven in the words.

“He killed my sister, River. He stole the one person I was supposed to protect. I couldn’t drag you all into it. Not when I was doing it out of revenge and not for Sanctum. Not when it was done out of hate and not for the sole reason of protecting someone. It was on me to seek justice for her. For them.”

My voice snagged on the last, sure he’d know exactly what I meant.

His sister was included, and my hatred had extended to what they’d done to her.

He winced, and I continued, voice low as I angled his way, “Going behind the club was wrong. I know it. I should have just told you, but I couldn’t risk getting you involved. Know you’d be on your bikes in a second flat. You’d all moved beyond it, beyond that life, beyond the immorality and wickedness, and I’ve been fucking stuck there.”

I sucked in a distraught breath.

“Stuck seven years ago. In that moment when I failed my sister. In that moment when I’d tried to retaliate but instead it was me who was about to be buried. In that moment when I was saved for God knows what reason except to be able to take these monsters down.”

My chest tightened with the onslaught of emotions. With the truth that had come to fruition over the last month. One that I’d been avoiding for so long but wouldn’t ignore anymore.

“In that time when I broke your sister’s heart because I thought it was the right thing to do. Because I thought I couldn’t give her the life she deserved. Because I thought I wasn’t good enough for her. And fuck, I’m not…don’t think there’s a man alive who’s good enough for how amazing she is, but I’m going to spend every one of my days trying to be. Trying to be good enough for her. Trying to give her that life she deserves. Whatever she wants it to be.”

River dropped his gaze to the porch. Tension wound through every muscle in his body.

Could barely swallow as I forced the words up my throat. “I love her, River. I love her so fuckin’ much. I’ve fought that love for seven years, and the only thing it did was hurt her, and you can hate me for it, but I refuse to fight this love for a second longer. We’re going to get her back, then I’m never going to let her go.”

I felt the weight of Charleigh’s presence when she stepped into the doorway. Tears blanketed her cheeks, and she hugged herself across her middle.

“We have to,” I reiterated, looking at her, a silent promise that I wasn’t going to let this bastard hurt her.

I had to get to them. Find her. Stop it the way I hadn’t been able to do before.

Desperation streaked through my veins when my cell rang, and I yanked it from my pocket. My lungs closed off when I saw it was Cash.

I fumbled to answer it, praying to God he had news as I pressed it to my ear. “Please tell me something good.”

“Think I got a lead.”

“What is it?”

“Been hunting for anything on Gideon since you asked me for information.” The repercussions of that request hung heavy in the dense air. Echoes of his warnings of what my thirst for revenge might do.

“I finally got a possible hit. The spelling of his last name was different, but the birth date and social security number matched. It was a marriage license to one Sienna Perdue. I was able to locate a picture of her. It’s from about five years ago, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s the same Sienna who met Raven at the club last night. I thought she looked familiar, but I didn’t make the connection until this morning when I got the call that Raven is missing.”

“Oh fuck,” I wheezed.

River angled down, listening the best as he could, and Kane came up on my other side, also inclining his ear.

“She rented a house over on Pine. Way on the outskirts of town,” Cash continued. “Saddle up. I have the address incoming. Theo and I are already on our way. And this time, this motherfucker is going to feel the wrath of us all. Of this entire family. The way it’s supposed to be.”

He ended the call.

A crash of hope and despair ripped through me.

A drive of ferocity and hate and the love that shined so fuckin’ bright.

River looked at me for a beat before he stretched out his hand with the stacked Ss tattooed on the back and muttered, “That’s fuckin’ right. That’s what this club does. It’s what this family does. Now let’s go get your girl back.”