Checkmate (Neighbor from Hell #3)(104)

“Mom’s staying with Zoe and the babies and so are Haley and the kids,” Jason said, following after him. “What the hell is going on, Connor?”

“Why did you call me looking for Rory? Where is she?” Trevor asked, joining them.

“I don’t know,” he said, opening the trailer door, “but I’m about to find out.”

“Where’s Rory?” he demanded as he stepped inside the trailer, not giving a damn that Jacob was on the phone.

When the man held up a finger, indicating that he needed a minute, Connor walked over to the man, took the phone from him and hung up.

“Hey! That was an important call!” Jacob snapped, moving to take the phone back.

Connor tossed the phone to Jason and leaned over the desk. “Where. Is. Rory?” he asked, biting out each word as he forced himself not to reach across the desk and grab the man by his neck and shake him until he told him what he wanted to know, needed to hear, that Rory was pissed off at him and giving him the cold shoulder. He’d rather her be pissed at him than hurt.

Jacob frowned in confusion as he shot a look at Trevor. “I thought she was staying with you.”

“No, I haven’t seen her since the babies were born,” Trevor said, starting to look worried and for damn good reason.

“Then I don’t know where she is,” Jacob said, rubbing his hands down his face as Jason pulled out his phone.

“Craig, any idea where Rory is?” Jason asked, pacing the office while Trevor and Jacob waited for an answer, but he was done waiting. Something was going on and he was damn well going to find out what that something was and when he found Rory he was going to spank her ass until his hand fell off.

“Pull up her bank records,” he said, pointing at the computer.

Jacob’s brows arched a few seconds before he started shaking his head. “I can’t do that.”

“Oh, I think you can,” Trevor said, crossing his massive arms over his chest as he joined Connor in glaring down at the nervous man.

“No, I mean, I really can’t do that. I don’t have her passwords for her personal accounts,” Jacob rushed to explain.

“Then who does?” Connor asked, praying that someone had that information, because if they didn’t then he didn’t know what else to do.

“Maybe one of her brothers,” Jacob said, sounding hopeful as he stood up and made his way around the desk.

“Where are you going?” Jason asked as he placed his phone in his pocket.

“To see if she left any clues on her desk,” Jacob explained, heading for Rory’s office door, but Connor already knew that he wouldn’t find anything.

“I’ve been working in there for three days and I haven’t seen anything,” he said, fighting back the need to slam his fist into something.

Where the hell was she?

Wherever she was, he wasn’t going to find her by standing around here.

“Where are you going?” Jason called after him as he stormed out of the trailer.

“To find Rory so that I can kill her.”

* * * *

“Oh my God yes! Oh, right there…..yes, oh…….that feels sooooooooo good,” Rory moaned as she settled back into the deep tub that she really needed to have her brothers steal for her. It really would make things a lot simpler for her if she didn’t have to sneak into Connor’s house for these late night soaks.

Granted, this one was more of a mid-day soak, but that didn’t change the fact that this tub really belonged in her house. Maybe she could get Connor to install it as a wedding gift, she thought with a pleased little smile as she looked down at the engagement ring that she loved.

She knew that it was small and was reminded of that fact by the catty remarks made by other women almost every day, but she really didn’t care. She loved this ring, because she knew how hard Connor had worked to buy it for her. He’d offered to replace it for her and even went as far as to drag her into several jewelry stores, but she absolutely refused to wear anything else. This was her ring and she loved it and she loved the man that had given it to her.

Before her unintentional mini vacation, which had been out of this world, she’d been nervous and unsure if she could go through with marrying Connor. She’d worried that her feelings for him were wrapped up in the overwhelming attraction that she felt for him. Since he’d proposed, well, told her that they were getting married only a few short months ago, she’d been stressing out about the future.

What if they got married only to discover that they really hated each other after a few months of marriage? What if he lost interest in her? What if he broke her heart? She wasn’t sure if she could survive having her heart broken by him and was even less sure that she wanted to take that chance on him, but not being able to walk for a day or two had helped her sort through everything.

It didn’t hurt that for the first time in years she got to relax, just relax. She didn’t have to get up before the crack of dawn, put in a minimum of twelve hours a day, wasn’t working herself into exhaustion to meet a deadline, trying to take care of someone, or running around trying to get errands done. She actually had time to rest and relax. She knew that she should have left the hotel as soon as the pain started to ease up, but she just couldn’t make herself.

She slept in late every morning, went to bed at a decent hour every night and took as many naps as she damned well pleased. She lounged in the bathtub, watched television while she pigged out on ice cream and junk food and when she wasn’t relaxing, she was thinking about Connor. She missed him and by this morning she couldn’t take it anymore and decided to end her vacation and come home to him. She loved him and she decided that she was going to tell him that. She was also going to marry him and she couldn’t wait, she thought with a small sigh as she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the hot water. She couldn’t wait to see Connor’s face when she told him that she loved him.