Missing Pieces (The Pieces Series Book 1) (16 page)

Gabby

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I
wake up, covered in Neeko. Last night was amazing. I love this man more every day. His head is laying on my chest right above my heart. I kiss his hair and whisper his name. He starts to stir and looks up at me.

“Well, hello, beautiful.”

“Hello, yourself. I hate to ask, but can you get off me? I really have to pee and you’re pressing on my bladder.”

He laughs and rolls off. I run to the bathroom and relieve myself. I brush my teeth and pull my hair back into a ponytail. I walk into the closet and grab a pair of underwear and one of his shirts, and slide them on. I walk back out. He looks at me and shakes his head. “Now why did you have to get dressed? I was not done with you.” My insides clench and goose bumps break out on my skin. He walks to me. “Now I’ll have to work harder.”

He slips my shirt off and is about to get to my underwear when a girl busts through the door. “Neeko!” she yells.

I turn and face her, not ashamed of my body. She busted into
my
room.
She
should be the one embarrassed. 

Neeko looks uncomfortable. “Meme, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, so that’s how your girlfriend is treated.” Just as she says that, she notices me. Her eyes shoot me daggers. “I thought we agreed if I was gone too long and you needed a whore, you would
not
bring her to our bed.”

Shocked, I stand there, looking at Neeko. He better not let her get away with that.

“Meme, you are
not
my girlfriend and you know it.” He glances at me and sees that I am about to come unglued from the “whore” comment. “You have no right to call her a whore, so don’t let it happen again.”

Meme looks like she is about to bust from anger. “What do you mean I’m not your girl? I was when I left. We were planning our wedding. My parents were looking forward to it.”

Derrick walks in. “Neeko, my sister is...” He looks at me, then at Meme. “Um, never mind.” Neeko dated Derrick’s sister? I am so confused.

I pick Neeko’s shirt up off the floor and put it on. He is still as naked as the day he was born. I finally find my voice. “Neeko, don’t you want to put on some clothes?”

He looks down, as if just noticing he was naked. He turns and heads for the bathroom. Meme starts to follow him, but I step in her way. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I growl at her.

She looks at me like I have grown a second head. “He is mine, whore, so you might want to step out of my way and out of our room now.”

“You want to try and make me? If you call me a whore one more time, I am going to show you exactly what I am capable of.”

“You don’t threaten the queen, you stupid bitch.”

“Well, when I see her, I’ll make sure to take that into consideration.” She raises her hand to hit me. “I dare you.”

Derrick grabs her hand. “Sissy, this is Gabby, Neeko’s mate and future queen.”

Her mouth drops open and I see tears start to fall. “How could he? I loved him and he goes and finds a whore to marry instead of me?”

“That’s it. I told you not to call me that again.”

I come up and slap her. She slaps me right back. I grab her and sling her to the floor, jumping on her and beating her face with my fits. Suddenly, I am grabbed from behind and lifted up off her and thrown onto the bed. I look and see Neeko walking away and toward her. He kneels down, talking softly to her. Oh, hell no. He better not take his ex’s side.

Not wanting to see any more, I flash out, flashing to my spot on the trail. How could he take her side? Why didn’t he or Derrick tell me about her? He didn’t even place me gently on the bed. The more I think about it, the more I want to rip her head off and tell Neeko where to go. I need to get away from here before they find me. I just need time to think. I need to go somewhere I have never been, but where? I try to think of somewhere, and even close my eyes. Nothing. I open my eyes to a different surrounding than when I closed them. Where am I?

“You are in Alabama.” I look around to see Lash stepping out of the shadows. “I am going to give you one more chance to come willingly before I have to play my hand and
make
you come.”

“Lash, what do you want? You know I am not going to go with you so why keep bothering me?”

“Oh, so I am
bothering
you now?” he asks, a little annoyed.

“I didn’t mean it like that. You are just wasting your time. I love Neeko.”

“I never asked you to stop loving him, although when he turns on you, you won’t love him anymore. I just have to wait, but I hate waiting. I would rather you not get hurt.” He actually looks sincere

What the hell is going on here? Neeko is with another woman, and a demon doesn’t want me to get hurt? I just shake my head. Neeko is not just with any woman, but his ex and his best friend’s sister. I can’t compete with that. Maybe I should just go with Lash. Maybe that is what I am supposed to do. My life has always been about what makes others happy so why should it start being about
my
happiness.

I get up and am about to tell Lash I will go with him when Derrick shows up. “How did you find me?” I look around. I am at my spot on the running trail and it’s now dark.

“I knew you would go somewhere that felt safe for you. I looked everywhere else and this is the last place I could think of.”

“Well, go away. I want to be left alone.” Why didn’t Neeko come looking for me?

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. Just turn around and walk away.”

“I can’t. I know you are out here now.”

“Well, then, turn around and I’ll flash elsewhere.”

“Come on, Gabby. Please...come with me.”

“No, Derrick. I’m tired and I don’t want to fight right now. Go spend time with your sister and leave me alone. I am not your concern.”

“You
are
my concern. You are like a little sister to me.”

I get up and flash out. I am tired of arguing with him. Good luck finding me now. I am in an old house I used to walk by on my way to school. It’s been abandoned for years. I grab one of the only chairs that is still standing and sit. I feel so lost. What do I do now?

Neeko

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“N
eeko, don’t you want to put on some clothes?” Gabby says. I look down and notice that I am still naked. I walk off to the bathroom to get dressed. This is a nightmare. I hear Gabby and Meme exchanging heated words so I hurry and slip on some jeans. When I get back into the room, Derrick is staring at Gabby beating the crap out of Meme. God, she looks so hot, but I can’t let her beat up Derrick’s sister. I grab her and throw her onto our bed. I walk back to Meme to see how bad her face is. When I turn around to talk to Gabby, she is gone. I send Derrick to find her. They are so close, he will know where she likes to go to be alone.

“What are you doing here? You know we broke up a long time ago. The last I heard, you were with some human guy.”

“I know, but since you dumped me
via phone,
I thought a little payback was in order. I had heard you found your mate, but I didn’t believe it.”

“You just caused a fight and got yourself beaten up just to get me back? You were cheating on me with Bob before you left. You think I didn’t know?”

“I didn’t expect her to jump me, but it’s all worth it to see you suffer.”

“You are nothing like Derrick. What went wrong with you?”

“What went wrong with
you
? You are supposed to be all-powerful, but you can’t even get a woman pregnant. Does she know you can never give her a family?”

“Shut up! That is none of your concern. I have put up with a lot because you are Derrick’s sister. He doesn’t even
like
you. He likes Gabby ten times more than he likes you. So why not just go back to wherever you have been?”

“Oh, I think I’ll stick around. She seemed really upset when she left.”

Derrick comes running in. “I found her on the trail. She was asleep, talking to Lash. I think he took her to the dream world. I wonder how long he has been doing that? But she wouldn’t come with me and she flashed away again. I have looked everywhere for her. She isn’t anywhere on the grounds.”

“We have to find her. There is no telling what Lash will do.”

I
t’s been hours, but there’s still no sign of Gabby. She left her phone so I can’t track her. I am so worried that Lash has gotten to her. Derrick is still out looking. I looked for a while, but I wanted to be here just in case she comes back. What am I going to do? She didn’t give me time to talk to her.

Looking lost, Derrick walks back in. I wish she wouldn’t do this. I know why she runs, but I just keep hurting her anyway. I am pacing our room, trying to think of where she could have gone or how I can get into hell if that is where she is. Derrick and I are sitting on my bed, talking it out, when the most beautiful sight comes walking through the door. She looks exhausted. She walks right past us and into the bathroom without even glancing up. My heart breaks a little more because I caused this. I told her I would put her back together, but all I am doing is breaking her apart.

She emerges out of the bathroom in a silk gown that comes to her knees. She looks at Derrick and says, “Is there anywhere I can sleep?” Her eyes are swollen and have lost their spark. Her mouth is set in a frown, causing her forehead to wrinkle.

“You can sleep here in your bed,” I tell her.

“Derrick?”

He looks at me, and I nod. I just want her safe. Derrick leads her to a guest room. I wait, but he doesn’t come back out so I walk and sit right in front of the door. I can hear her crying. It’s killing me not to be the one comforting her. I listen to her cry for about an hour before it finally stops. Derrick steps out a few minutes later. “Sorry. She asked me to stay. She said she didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

“Did she say anything about me? About wanting to talk to me or even yell at me?”

“No. All she did was ask me to stay. I didn’t think she would ever stop crying.”

All of a sudden, Gabby screams. We rush in to find her sitting upright in the bed, hugging her knees. “Derrick, you promised you wouldn’t leave me! Everyone leaves me! Why?! Am I that unworthy of love?”

My heart can’t take anymore. “Oh, Gabby.” I rush to her, bringing her to my chest. “Baby, you are worthy of so much love. Derrick didn’t leave you. He was right outside. I’m so sorry about Meme. She was just here to hurt me and, in return, you. We have been over for years. We only dated to make her parents happy. Neither of us really ever liked the other. Please, talk to me. Yell at me. I don’t care. Just do something.”

She lays her head down on my chest and cries harder. I pick her up and take her to our room. I lay down with her, and within minutes, she is sleeping. I have broken her spirit. I have to bring her back to me. I lay in the bed with her for hours, watching her sleep. I get up, go to the door, and ask Derrick to get her some food. She has to be hungry. 

He brings in a tray of soup and we both laugh. “I’d give anything to have her throw something at me right now.”

“Me, too, even though she has bad aim.”

Stroking her hair, I whisper, “Gabby, baby, wake up. You need to eat.” She opens her swollen eyes and there is a little spark in them again. She looks at me and gives me a small smile. I’ll take what I can get. I hand her the soup and a spoon. She starts eating slowly.

“Where did you go yesterday?” Derrick asks.

“To my home town.”

“Were you talking to Lash in the woods yesterday?” he probes.

“No. One minute, I was in the woods trying to figure out where to go. The next, I was with Lash in Alabama.”

Neeko looks at him and says, “Maybe right now isn’t the best time, Derrick.”

“No, it’s ok. I can answer any questions. I think I am ok now that you explained it to me. But I still want to know why she wanted to hurt you.”

“I really don’t know, Gabby. She said it was because I broke up with her on the phone, but she was already cheating on me before that.”

“Gabby, what did Lash say to you?” Derrick asks, very gently.

“He told me you would hurt me again, and that I would stop loving you. He said this was the last time he was going to try to get me to go willingly before he played his hand. I almost went. I was about to go with him when Derrick came, but if Lash would have come to the house I was at and asked again, I would have gone.” She was going to go with him? I almost drove her into the hands of the enemy? That scares me.