I Loved You Through Seven Losses Chapter 06
It hit Asher like a bucket of ice water over theÂ
head.Â
The cold went all the way into his bones.Â
He thought about the last time he had seen RoxieÂ
and the last look he had thrown back at her on hisÂ
way out the door.Â
She had been sitting on the floor, as quiet and stillÂ
as a doll.Â
He had taken it for her, finally coming to herÂ
senses.Â
It had only ever been her heart going dead.Â
Asher’s legs gave under him, and he swayed andÂ
nearly went over backward.Â
Sienna and Garrett caught him.Â
“Asher, what do we do?”Â
Sienna pressed herself against him, and thatÂ
expensive gown of hers suddenly felt like a shroud.Â
Under the concern she was performing, he could see the naked joy of a woman who had won.Â
Fire came up out of his chest.Â
It was her. All of this was hers.Â
Everything he and Roxie could have had was gone.Â
A few feet away, one of the Pack Elders, an old friend of Roxie’s parents, threw a glass of redÂ
wine.Â
It hit Sienna in the face, ruined her makeup, andÂ
stained her dress.Â
She screamed and rounded on Garrett. “Garrett! Your guests are behaving like animals! ThrowÂ
them out!”Â
But Garrett didn’t move. He stood frozen where heÂ
was and listened to the whispers spreadingÂ
through the crowd.Â
“I heard she donated bone marrow to him whenÂ
she was eight and nearly died doing it…”Â
“And this is how he pays her back? Helping kill herÂ
pups? It’s disgusting.”Â
“If their father knew about this, he’d throw GarrettÂ
out of the family.”Â
Every line came down on him like a whip. TheÂ
blood left Garrett’s face.Â
A raw, unfamiliar shame rose up in him, and heÂ
fought to keep the tears out of his eyes.Â
Asher ignored both of them and headed straightÂ
for the residence.Â
“Asher, wait!” Sienna screamed after him. “You’reÂ
really leaving me out here alone?”Â
He didn’t look back.Â
Sienna turned to Garrett and used the voice thatÂ
had always gotten her whatever she wanted fromÂ
him. “Garrett…”Â
For the first time, Garrett looked at her with openÂ
disgust.Â
He threw her hand off. “Don’t touch me.”Â
Then he went after Asher.Â
The two men burst into an empty house.Â
Roxie’s room had been stripped. Her clothes, her keepsakes, the childhood teddy bear her mother gave her, all of it was gone.Â
The worst of it was the family photo that used to sit on her nightstand.Â
The frame was empty. Roxie and her parents had been cut out of the picture, and Garrett’s half had been crumpled up and thrown in the wastebasket.Â
Asher sat down on the bare mattress and smokedÂ
one cigarette after another.Â
Two hours went by, and every lead they had wentÂ
nowhere.Â
Nobody had seen Roxie. The human hospitalÂ
confirmed she had gone through with theÂ
abortion.Â
The Pack enforcers came back with nothing.Â
The two of them were sitting in that dead silenceÂ
when the door opened.Â
Both men shot to their feet. “Roxie?”
