Master of My Heart: Finding Sabrina Part 2

Chapter 1

You have until the end of the year to find a wife."

"I . . ." Chase Ralston stared at Richard Hawks, not quite certain he'd heard what he thought he heard. "I what?"

"I spoke with the other Elders this past weekend. They set a deadline for you to get married. December thirty-first."

"I can't believe they . . . I can't believe you are giving me a deadline to get married. Have we somehow traveled back in time a couple centuries? Since when did I lose the opportunity to make my own choices in life?"

"Since you made the choice to become an Elder-Son." Richard frowned, his brown eyes stern. "I warned you. I've been warning you for years. Why is this such a difficult thing for you to understand?"

Chase knew Richard was right. It was a requirement of an Elder-Son of the Brotherhood to be married in his early twenties. The Brotherhood controlled the world and its members. Its leaders, called Elders, and their heirs, Elder-Sons, were held to precise and demanding traditions. Richard, the Elder of Boston, had been placed into his position ten years ago after there was a massive upheaval caused by an Elder trying to gain too much power for his own—and the world's—good. Richard approached Chase after he turned eighteen and told him about the organization, asking him to be his heir since he had no sons of his own. He accepted and the summer after Chase turned twenty, he was brought into the Brotherhood. He was now twenty-six and far too old to be unmarried in his world. He'd been avoiding the issue for years, but it had finally caught up with him.

Chase had the utmost respect for Richard, having known him since he was a child. He and Chase's father, Craig, were best friends growing up, and Chase held him in high regard, even before his father was killed in combat thirteen years ago. After his father's death, Richard had kept him from going wild, encouraging Chase to pursue his dream of following in his father's army footsteps. That was what the young, impetuous youth needed. It had given him a solid path to follow. Richard had always been supportive of Chase, especially after he was discharged and started his own security company.

Chase sighed. "I know who I want to marry, Richard. You know that. I just . . . I can't find her." She'd disappeared the day after he met her. His heart told him she was still alive, even though there was no evidence to support it.

Somewhere.

She had to be.

Sabrina.

The girl he'd fallen for in the blink of an eye five years ago, just after he'd graduated from West Point Military Academy. She was only sixteen at the time. So young and innocent.

"Then maybe it's time to move on." Richard's voice was more gentle than he would have expected at such a suggestion. He stood and walked around his massive wooden desk, sitting next to Chase in one of the smaller leather chairs. "Chase, I understand what you're going through. I know you fell hard for her. But you have responsibilities. You can't continue to put everything on hold in the hopes that you'll eventually find the girl."

"But she's not dead, right? You said she couldn't die."

"I said it was difficult for her to die, not impossible. I have searched. You have searched. Even Theo has searched. What more can we do?"

Chase ran his hands through his dark hair and stared at the floor. Was he being foolish for holding on to hope for so many years? After all, it had been five years since he'd seen Sabrina. And they'd only had that one evening together . . .

"Maybe she's moved on," Richard said softly, sadness in his voice. "People do that."

Chase didn't want to admit it, but the thought had crossed his mind more than once. She was a beautiful girl. She would be attractive to many men once she was all grown up.

His chest grew hot at the thought of her being with some other man and he shook his head. "What about her parents' murder?" he choked out, looking up at Richard. "And I saw her. In that fucked-up hellhole, I saw her. Why would she come to me if she'd moved on? Or was dead?" He shook his head. "How could she possibly disappear off the face of the fucking planet?"

Richard leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. "I don't know, Chase. Unsolved mysteries are painful. I wish I had an answer for you. I wish I could find her for you." He sighed. "We have to face the possibility that we'll never find her. You can't keep putting your life, your responsibilities, on hold in the hopes she'll magically show up on your doorstep someday."

Chase swallowed hard. He had duties. They both did. The thought of abandoning his quest for Sabrina was like a dull knife in his heart, but he also knew Richard was right. His refusal to get married put untold stress on Richard because of the expectations of the Brotherhood's leadership. His life was not his own. Neither was Richard's. They belonged to the Brotherhood.

"You're right," Chase admitted slowly. "After I get home from this job, I'll start looking."

*****

Later that evening, Chase stepped out of the huge marble shower in the master bathroom of his condo and wrapped a navy-blue towel around his hips as he studied himself in the mirror. He'd gained back most of the muscle he'd lost after his injuries, and the puckered scar that ran along his left side was starting to fade. When he caught himself in the ritual of running his finger down the white line of scar tissue that ran from his temple to the middle of his cheek, he grabbed another towel from the nearby rack and rubbed his hair until it was dry.

No woman had ever complained about his physical appearance, even with his scars. He was getting older, though. He could see it on his face. Twenty-six wasn't old, but it wasn't young, either. And with what he'd been through the last few years, he felt even older. His gray eyes were harder and he didn't smile nearly as much as he did before coming face-to-face with the ugly reality of real-life combat.

Chase leaned his hands on the cool marble and stared into the sink as memories flooded his mind. Every time he had a new job, the fears from his last mission in the army reared their ugly head. Everyone told him it hadn't been his fault. That he wasn't responsible for losing three brothers-in-arms.

Hearing that didn't ease the pain, though. He still felt the weight of those losses every day.

Maybe it was better that Sabrina was lost to him. She'd been so innocent, so naïve, so young. He had been, too. Back before things changed. Killing people changed you. Even if it was for a good reason, it still changed you. It tainted your soul. Could he ever hope to find a woman who would understand that and not judge him for it? He wasn't a bad man, he knew that deep down inside, but sometimes he felt like it. His career path wasn't an easy one. Was it even fair to ask any woman to be a part of his life?

He didn't have a choice. He had to find someone. Soon. But how could he find someone to marry in four months?