It All Started With Hate

csi (e)

I missed her. I missed her so fucking badly. I missed all of her, the me I was with her, and everything in between. Us.

The only thing that helped clear my head from how badly I missed her was the thought of getting us back. I didn't care who I'd have to fuck over, who I'd have to bitch-slap, or what I had to do.

I didn't give a shit what happened between us that night. She wasn't leaving me, and I wasn't leaving her. We didn't give up on each other. In my head, we were still together, and even without it being reality right now, my heart wouldn't stop until it was.

Norris and Luke. That's who the fuck we are, and that's exactly what the fuck we're keeping.

As I said, I might be a little crazy, but I'd always been that. When it involved love, though, I'd be anything, rather than just someone who sits back and lets this shit pass, and risks losing us for good over something that could have been solved.

Maggie was mine. All and only mine. And everything I was, am, and would only continue to be was all hers. I wasn't letting that, or us go. Not with an absolute confirmation of all else first.

Sinking back into the sofa, I blew out a sigh that caught Levi's attention. "We miss something?"

"Not you," I responded. "Me."

Kade, who was eating off the plate of chicken nuggets Kimberly had laid out for all of us, nodded back at me. "Tell us."

"The restaurant my dad took Maggie to. I know that parts probably not all that important, but I don't know..." I shrugged. "It could be a help, but I honestly have no idea where to start."

What I had planned for my dad was something that had all of the right components, but I knew the cocky son of a bitch. Even when caught, he wouldn't tell me what he had said to Maggie to spook her so bad. Whatever it was, though, it had to be something that he knew would scare Maggie into leaving. Something that she was too terrified to tell me.

"Have you thought of the security cameras, maybe?" A soft voice offered from the hallway, which was separated from us by a wall. Kimberly stepped out, the kitten that Kade had made enemies with in her arms. "The restaurant may still have the footage."

Kade looked up at Kimberly, amused. "Have you been eavesdropping the whole time, sweetheart?" By her hoodie pocket, he tugged her over to sit her in his lap.

Placing the kitten down, she smiled at Kade. "Maybe." She leaned back into his chest, turning to me with a look of hesitation. "Are you okay with me being here while you three..." She motioned toward the documents spread over the table.

I knew that she wasn't just talking about Maggie, but mostly about the shit that was going to bring Ryan Vaudest down.

"Nah, it's cool." I trusted everyone in this room. "Stay."

Nodding, she repeated, "What do you think about the security footage thing, though?"

I sighed, running a hand over my jaw that needed a shave. "It's been two weeks. The restaurant probably doesn't have the footage, anymore."

"Bullshit," she scoffed, earning Kade's surprised expression. "Businesses keep around a month worth of footage before it overwrites. Your father's filthy rich. He definitely took Maggie to an expensive restaurant. Did she ever tell you which one?"

I still remembered the one I had pinpointed her to minutes before Vance came by, so I nodded. I recognized it to be one of the restaurants my dad had taken me and my step mother and half brother to just so the world could see how 'family-orientated' he was.