Finding You

by Ivy Love

  Finding You

  Book 1 in the Finders Series

  By: Ivy Love

  Copyright © 2015 Ivy Love

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means including but not limited to, information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, Ivy Love. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events portrayed are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published on July 4, 2015

  Published by Ivy Love

  Cover design by IndieVention Designs and Melissa Leo Pahl

  ISBN

  Dedication and Thank You

  First and foremost thank you to the man who stands by my side through all of my crazy ideas. Thank you for supporting me in this journey and cheering with me as I celebrated every little mile stone. Thank you for helping me make my swag and trying to make things easier for me. Thank you for always supporting my dreams and allowing me to chase them. I love you.

  Thank you to my grandparents, who bought my first book and read it. Who, in hindsight, I should have warned not to read it, and am asking here and now, please don’t read any farther! But thank you for supporting me.

  Thank you to MJ Fields. Every time I talk to you I leave with a smile. Thank you for giving me the push I needed to do this. This would have never happened without you and your friendship! Thank you for your advice and guidance. You’re a truly wonderful person and I’m so lucky to have you in my life.

  Thank you to Bobbie, Jamie, Kim, Laurie, Lucy and Paige for too many things to name. Thank you for always being there to help out and listen. You ladies absolutely rock and I love all you!

  Thank you to every blog who has shared, liked, reviewed and tweeted. Without your help I would just be a random person who put out a book, but you’ve helped to put a face with my book.

  If I forgot you, it was not intentional, that’s strictly my overwhelmed and very thankful mind. Thank you to everyone who has helped me and shared in this experience with me.

  Last, but not least, thank you to you, the reader. Thank you for taking a chance on me and purchasing this book. I hope that you enjoy this book as much, if not more, than the last.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication and Thank You

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Anthony

  “We shouldn’t have let her go by herself!” I say frustration lacing my voice. “We should have gone with her. Something isn’t right, there’s a reason why she rushed out of here and it isn’t fucking good.”

  Ryker puts a hand on my shoulder, “There’s nothing we can do right now. The only thing we can do is wait. Hopefully Liz, will get in touch with us soon. Why don’t we go inside, get a drink and wait.”

  I nod and we make our way back to the house.

  “Better yet, Izzy will text us,” Matt says, fists balled by his side.

  What the fuck is his deal? Izzy is mine. I am going to have to talk to that fucker later. We need to have a serious conversation, which includes me laying out some pretty straight forward ground rules about my girl. She’s mine and he better damn well know that.

  “Hey man, you alright?” Matt asks placing his hand on my shoulder.

  I shrug off his hand, “No, I’m not alright,” I grind out. “I let a woman walk out these doors that I knew was in trouble. So no, I’m not fucking alright, Matt.”

  “Hey! Do you think I feel any better about myself?” Matt snaps, grabbing my arm, stopping both of us. “I fucking let her walk out the same doors you did. That woman is hurting, we both know it and did nothing about it. So don’t act like you’re the only one who is pissed, because you’re not.”

  By now we’re standing face-to-face both our fists clenched, ready to fight over a woman that as of right now, neither of us can have.

  “Hey! Both of you just stop,” Morgan says shoving himself between us. “Stop thinking with your dicks and think about the woman who left. The woman who was clearly anxious the entire time she was here and then after reading god knows what on her phone couldn’t get out of here fast enough.” He pauses, “So, whatever little pissing match you have going on between each other, either get it out now, or table it until we find out what the fuck is going on. Got it?” He looks back and forth between us, satisfied that he’s made his point.

  He steps away and continues walking. Ryker looks back at us, shakes his head and continues walking with Morgan.

  Suddenly, I feel guilty. I don’t want to fight with Matt, I’m just feeling territorial. Ultimately, my main priority is Izzy.

  I rub my head, sigh and say, “Man, I’m sorry, Morgan’s right. It’s just that we have no idea where she is and what she’s going through and it bothers the hell out of me. She seems to have one person looking out for her. I want to change that and I want to make sure that she’s okay.”

  Matt shuffles his feet, “Yeah, I hear you. I don’t want anything to happen to her either you know.” He pauses kicking a single stone, “Look, I’d have to be blind to not see that you clearly want her. Anyone here tonight could tell you the same thing. I saw it in the way you looked at her earlier and you kind of just confirmed that for me, with your little blow up. Plus, you looked at me like you wanted to kick my ass.”

  I laugh, Matt has a way of saying what he means, but saying it so that you’re never offended.

  He continues on, “But, fuck if she didn’t manage to rope me in too. Look, I might not have gotten that immediate she’s mine shit. But once we started talking to her, I knew I wanted to be there for her, help her and protect her. I want to be the person she comes to when she has a problem,” he trails off.

  I sigh, we’re two big bad Dom’s, yet we have to stand out here like a bunch of girls, to try and clear the air over our fucking feelings. Better to get it out now, rather than later.

  “Alright, look, the minute I saw her face…the minute that I saw her, my mind screamed ‘mine.’ There was no doubt in my mind that I needed, no, that I wanted to take care of her. I wanted to wipe away the worries from her face and tell her everything would be alright. Now that I’ve talked with her, all I want to do is answer all of her questions, ease her pain and care for her. But instead of doing any of that, I sat and listened to what she said and what she didn’t. Instead, I let her walk away from me, when I knew that she should have never made it to that door. She may not be my sub, or even mine, but I feel like I failed her.”

  “You’re not the only person feeling that way. Don’t you think Ryker and Morgan feel bad too? They knew that something was wrong when she was here, but they couldn’t do anything about it. They can only guess what’s wrong. I know you feel like she’s yours to protect, but we all feel guilty and we all want to make sure she is okay. If I’m being honest, I want to protect her too. There’s something about her that just draws me to her. Something that makes me want to pull her into my arms and just block out the rest of the world. I know what you’re feeling and I’m sorry, but I want her too.”
He pauses, “Here’s the problem with all of this, even if she was interested in us, first, we have no idea what’s going on with her, second, we don’t even know if she’s a sub and third if she is a sub if she would be interested in taking one or both of us as her Dom’s.”

  I stare at him in shock. I have never ever considered sharing a sub. Yes, I’ve shared a sub with another Dom, on occasion, but it’s not in my nature to share. When I have a sub, I want her focus all on me. Call me selfish, but it’s the truth. At some point, that would have to be another discussion, but I don’t want to get into it now and I don’t want to think about losing something I might not ever have.

  “Look, we’re getting too far ahead of ourselves; first, we need to make sure she’s okay. Then we’ll go from there.”

  Matt nods and we continue our walk back up to the house. We walk in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts and worries. We walk back into the club and are greeted by Ryker and Morgan.

  “You boys settle things out there?” Ryk asks giving us both a look.

  Matt and I look at one another and I give a tight nod.

  “Have you heard anything from Liz yet?” I ask.

  “Nothing yet, I’m going to give her fifteen more minutes, then I’ll call her. For now, let’s go to the bar and get a drink,” Ryker says, gesturing towards to the main room. We walk through the foyer, weave our way through the crowd of people and head straight to the bar. Morgan and Matt sit, while Ryker and I stand behind them.

  “Hey, what happened to that beauty you guys were with earlier?” Jack asks from behind the bar.

  “Hey man. She’s gone. Somethings going on, but we’re not sure what it is,” I say taking the glass of Crown he places in front of me.

  “Sorry guys, that fucking sucks, I hope everything’s alright. You know if you need anything I’ll help you. Just let me know what you need,” Jack says as he lays the rest of the drinks down.

  “Thanks, Jack. We will,” Morgan says as he tips his glass towards him.

  Jack nods and heads back to the other side of the bar to help the other guests.

  Jack’s been friends with Spencer, the club owner, before the club even opened. When Spencer started the club, Jack was the first person he brought on. There’s a story between them that none of us fully know, but what we do know is that their friendship is thicker than blood. They stand behind one another no matter what. When Spencer isn’t roaming around, Jack keeps an eye out on how things are going on the floor. If there’s a problem, Jack handles it and then reports it back to Spencer. Jack has a knack for remembering things and always greets people by name and their favorite drink.

  Morgan and Matt turn around in their chairs and we stand there in silence, sipping our drinks. Each of us glancing down at our watches every other minute.

  “This is ridiculous. Can you please call Liz, Ryk? This is fucking torture.” I ask angrily.

  “He’s right, we’re all sitting here looking at our watches and we should be out there making sure she’s okay.” Matt says as Ryker pulls out his cell phone.

  “Hold on just a minute, Liz said she would text or call Ryker, did she not?” Morgan asks. We all nod our agreement. “Izzy, promised to message us as well, correct?” We all nod again. “Then don’t you think we should give her the benefit of the doubt? What if she’s just having a regular argument, because her man was pissed she came? Then, we go barging over there like an angry mob and instead of her being able to reassure him that nothing happened, suddenly it looks like everything he’s accused her of. We’ll end up making it worse than it ever would have been.”

  Damn, Morgan and his reasoning.

  “I’m not saying that’s the case, and it probably isn’t, but don’t we owe it to both Izzy and Liz, to give them a chance to do whatever they need to do and trust that they’ll get in touch with us as soon as they can?” Morgan continues quietly.

  “Damn, you Morgan. Why do you have to be so damn rational?” Ryker asks.

  Morgan just laughs softly, “I just want to give them a chance. How far away does Liz live from here, Ryker?”

  “She’s about fifteen or twenty minutes away. She lives over at the Shadow Creek Apartments, so not too far away.”

  “Okay and we have no idea how far away Izzy is?” Morgan asks.

  Matt and I both look at Ryker to see him shaking his head no.

  “Damn,” I mumble.

  “Okay, so at the very least, we can guess a half an hour to forty-five minutes. She’s only been gone fifteen or twenty minutes. We’ve got to give them some time.”

  “Fine,” we all mutter.

  “So, what do we do to distract ourselves until we can go after her?” Matt asks.

  “Question of the hour,” Ryker tries to joke.

  “Yeah, I’m not sure what to do either. I have no desire to take a sub right now. I’m not in the right headspace and frankly I don’t want anyone but Izzy,” I pause, “but I know we have to do something.”

  Suddenly Ryker is pulling out his phone, “Liz just texted me.”

  We all huddle around him, trying to see what it says.

  “Back up! I can’t see shit with your big ass heads in the way. I’m going to call her, but give me some space.”

  We all back up a few steps and watch as he dials Liz.

  “Pet, what’s going on?” He asks softly.

  He listens intently to whatever she’s saying as we all try to listen in, but we can’t hear a word that’s being said. I can hear mumbling, but can’t decipher anything.

  “Don’t move, love, I’m on my way and I’m bringing the boys, so be decent.” He clicks off the phone and looks at us.

  “We’re going to Liz’s place now, she’ll explain when we get there.” He puts his drink on the bar and Matt, Morgan and I all follow suit.

  Ryker is practically running to the parking lot and the rest of us are trailing quickly behind him.

  “Ryker! What the hell is going on?” I ask speeding up to keep pace with him.

  “I don’t know, she didn’t say much on the phone, but it’s enough to make me worry. So we’re going over there to get the full story. You don’t speak to her until she and I have spoken. If you can’t handle that then don’t come inside,” he says as we make it to his truck.

  We all look at each other, I go to speak and Ryker cuts me off, “Look man, I get it. You’re stuck on Izzy, but this is Liz and she’s mine. I need to make sure that she’s okay first and get as much as I can from her. Then you all can drill her, and get some answers. Just know that if she gets too upset I’ll be ending the inquisition.”

  I nod my agreement.

  He unlocks the doors and we all pile into his truck, Morgan in the front with Ryker and Matt and I in the back. Not the most comfortable ride in the world for four big men, but he refuses to take his Bugatti Super Sport out, unless he’s trying to impress someone or for business. Don’t get me wrong his truck is fucking nice. He bought a 1956 Chevy 3100 a couple years ago, dropped a lot of money into it and it looks badass. He redid the whole thing, so now, the exterior is a deep black pearl metallic. He completely redid the interior too, he modernized the dash and added bench seats in the front and back that are all black with red stitching and accents. It really is a beauty.

  Ryker guns the engine and squeals the tires as he races out of the parking lot. We sit in silence as Ryker speeds through the streets. He takes a hard right turn and Matt and I slam into one another and I watch as Morgan slams against the door. He pulls in and whips his car into two parking spaces, throwing his car into park.

  I see Liz peeking out from her doorway. She must have heard Ryker coming from a mile away. He hops out and heads directly to her. Her blonde hair is a mess and in a bun on top of her head. She steps out of the doorway and I watch as Ryker races to her. She’s wearing pajama shorts, and a tank top, but her pale skin stands out even in the dark. Ryker leaves the driver’s side door open and as I slide out the back, I shut his door, as Morgan and Matt ste
p out on the other side.

  Ryker has his hand on Liz’s face and his forehead pressed against hers. We walk up to meet them and Morgan coughs softly.

  “Thank you for coming guys. I’m fine, but we should talk,” Liz says grabbing one of Ryker’s hands.

  “Please come in,” she continues pulling Ryker with her. We follow them into her apartment and she gestures to her couch and we sit.

  As I look around, I’m in disbelief. I can’t believe she lives here like this. I can’t believe Ryker lets her live here. The lock on her door is all but non-existent, a flimsy deadbolt is what separates her home from an intruder. The living room is basically bare. There’s a couch with a chaise that looks like it is a thousand years old and a small ass television. There are no pictures on the wall, and it doesn’t look like she has any personal items around the house. At least from what I can see. It doesn’t feel like a home, it feels like a place someone just sleeps, someone who is ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

  I can tell from Ryk’s demeanor that he’s not pleased with her living situation, but he holds his tongue. I’m guessing it’s an argument they’re going to have, now that he’s seen this. With their relationship kind of up in the air, he’s probably debating how to have it. Liz is pretty vocal when she wants to be.

  Ryker sits at the end of the chaise and pats his lap, “Come sit, Liz.”

  She walks towards him and slowly lowers herself onto his lap, but he pulls her down and wraps his arms around her waist.

  “Okay, I know you are all wondering if she’s okay and truthfully, I have no idea,” she says, looking at each one of us.

  Morgan clears his throat, “What can you tell us then?”

  “Please, anything will help us,” Matt says softly.

  I nod my agreement and try not to get too upset. I need to know she’s okay.

  “She was quiet the entire way home. She’s shut herself off before, but not like this. I could tell she was upset and worried, but I’ve never seen her drive that fast before, ever. You have to understand I’ve been with her a couple times when she’s hurrying to get home to him. But I’ve never seen her like this. This time it was different. She apologized to me for cutting my night short… which is totally Izzy, but I heard something in her voice. There was something different, like she was resigned to whatever was about to happen. The only thing I could tell her was that I loved her. She promised to text me when she got home, but she hasn’t yet. I know she’s home by now. I just don’t know what to do,” she pauses, catching her breath.