Chapter 24

**Xavier Black**

"So, how does it feel to be getting married in a week?" Gabe asks and I shrug my shoulders. I haven't really been thrilled about everything going on around me and mostly it's because I'm now the one who's ignoring Skyler. Ever since the night I killed Megan I've been keeping myself busy with what I should have been doing all along. Working at the company and with the gang. I can only be grateful for Gabe and Ura not letting everything go to shit while I wasn't around but with the wedding planning at it's end I'm not really needed, not that I ever was.

"It feels like I'm going to have to kick someone's ass." I tell him, searching around my desk for the file on the Orizon project. "Tasha, would you get in here please?" I call my assistant who doesn't waist a seconds before she's walking through my office door.

"Mr. Black. I was just on my way to you." She says holding out the very file I've been looking for. "You left it behind at this mornings meeting." Is all she says before leaving the room.

"Damn, that ass." Gabe says and I give him a look. "What? I won't sleep with her, not with Nat giving it up more often than I can keep up with." He says and I give him a disgusted look.

"I don't want to hear about you're bedroom escapades with Skyler's best friend." I say and he grins at me.

"Why? Skyler not giving it up?" He asks and I throw my stapler at him. "Chill man, what's up with you? You're supposed to be getting married and you look like you want to kill someone." He says and I want to laugh at how close he is to the truth. Only thing is the person I want to kill stares back at me in the mirror every morning. I don't know what changed but Skyler's been trying to talk to me ever since that night in the restaurant and I've been blowing her of for no other reason than to give her a taste of her own medicine and now I'm going to have to get married to her and live with her when I really don't want to talk to her at the moment.

She's also been looking more and more tired, like she doesn't sleep and night and I know she doesn't sleep during the day because she's busy putting the last minute things together for the wedding. She has both our mothers and her six bridesmaids to help her though so she should deal with it. My phone rings and Skyler's face flashes across the screen so I ignore it, I'm not in the mood for that now.

"What do you want? I'm busy." I answer when she calls again and for a moment there's silence on the line. "Skyler." I bark because I don't have time for her games right now.

"We were supposed to meet with the priest fifteen minutes ago." She whispers, almost like she's afraid I'll explode if she talks any louder and she might just be right.

"Shit, any way you can move that to tomorrow? I can't get away right now." I lie because I don't want to tell her I can't stand the sight of her at this very moment and it's all because I'm being a fucken baby.

"Well, we kind of..." She trails of as I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, sure." She says before the line goes dead and I smash my phone down on my desk. Gabe gives me a sideways glance from his place on the couch but he doesn't say anything, probably seeing the look on my face. I work for hours on end after that and somewhere along the way Gabe leaves the office and doesn't come back, not that I need his help anyway. It's around ten when my mother calls and I consider not answering but I know she'll keep on calling until I pick up.

"Is Skyler with you?" She asks and I frown. Why the fuck would she be with me?

"No, she's probably with Natalie." I tell her because ten times out of them their together these days.

"No, she's not. She was supposed to meet her mother for dinner and she never showed up and she hasn't been answering her phone." She says and I look at the time again just to make sure how long she's been gone.

"She's been gone nearly three hours and you're only now calling me?" I ask, getting up from my desk and gathering my things.

"She said she would be running late." My mother defends and I let out a curse.

"Not for three damn hours!" I say before hanging up. I call Ura on my way to the base and ask him to track her phone before calling my father and hers to meet me there. It takes me half an hour to make the hour long drive and when I practically run up to the house and into the operation room, where Ura's sitting behind his many monitors.

"You're going to want to see this." He says as soon as he looks up to see me standing there and by the look in his eyes I know I'm not going to like what he's going to show me very much. I walk up behind him and he types a few things on his keypad before the monitors fill with pictures of Skyler in random places. It takes me a second to realize what he's showing me but I still ask, just to make sure.

"What is all this?" I ask, reading over the messages that was sent to her.

"Messages sent to her. She never responded to any of them but it's clear someone's been following her around." He says before pulling up a picture of her and I walking into a restaurant behind Gabe and Natalie and I instantly know from what day it is.

"How long?" I ask, because I don't want to be right.
"Weeks, around the time Gabe found Nick sneaking around." He says and I close my eyes for a second. "Why didn't she tell anyone?" He whisper-asks to himself and I feel like shit. She's been trying to talk to me for almost two weeks and all I've been doing is ignore her.

"She tried telling me." I tell him. "She tried and I wouldn't listen to her." I say a little louder, angry at myself for acting like a hurt puppy when all she's been doing is wanting to come to me for safety.

"Well, that was stupid of you." Gerald says from behind me and I want to punch him but that's not going to solve anything, since I am the reason he's daughter is now missing.

"Is there any way to track her down, Ura?" My father asks, as he enters behind his best friend.

"I'm trying but something is scrambling the signal every time I think I'm close." He says, typing some more things on his keyboard. "I'm doing everything I can." He says, looking directly at me and I know he feels guilty that he hasn't already found her.

"Keep at it, then. If anyone can find her, it's you.” Gerald tells him and I don't miss the look he throws in my direction but he can get in line because I hate myself too for this mess.