Atticus's POV

"How can they possibly be missing?" I ask. How does anyone go missing from a yacht? We've never had an incident like that in the past. People don't just fall out of a yacht as big as that one.

"Griffin was the last person to see them on board." He tells me. "We're not sure what happened after he spoke with them, but they never made it to the island with the rest of us. Chances are they fell off the yacht, but none of us know how it happened."

Fell off the fucking yacht? Again, that didn't just happen. Were they drunk or did something else happen?

I ran a hand through my wet hair. I was already not able to fucking thinking straight after Autumn

literally just spread her legs and mesmerized me with the view of her bare tempting pussy and her beautiful body. I'm not sure if I can even walk with how much I wanted take her. The fact that I

couldn't have her was a torture and it was about to get worse for me.

"Are you listening to me?" He demands. No, I wasn't. I haven't heard a word he'd said.

"We need to help Arthur with the search. It has already started, but they can't search this island on their own, they will need us." I nod, I knew we had to help. But there was something I had to take care about first.

"I have to get Autumn back to the house," I tell him. "I will meet up with the others after that."

"She can come with us." He offers. "We can't waste any time. We're not even sure that if they're still alive. Can you imagine the headlines if that happens?"

Yes I can, I knew how brutal the article headlines were when our family was concerned. They were always waiting for a new story concerning our lives.

But I was not okay with Autumn joining us.

I immediately disagreed, "She's drunk, Dante." I tell him.

"Autumn's drunk?" He says, "That explains her proactive behavior on the yatch." He smirks at me. Even he had seen the session between me and her on the yatch along with my other siblings.

"Is she okay? " He asks, with concern.

"She's not in the condition to join us on a search and rescue. As soon as I get her back home, I will join the others on the search."

He nods, "I'll inform Damon that you'll be joining us in less than half an hour.” It was good that he had agreed to this, I didn't wanted to start a damn argument over Autumn in the middle of the woods. But one thing was sure my siblings were surprisingly understanding when it comes to her, may be because they were always close to her.

This was fucking serious. Where were those two? What caused them to fall out of a moving yatch? Is that even what happened to begin with? How much

were we not aware about this incident?

I walk back to the spring and pause when I see Autumn. She's lying on the ground with the robe partially covering her body. Her hair was soaking wet and sticking to her face. I clutch my heart as I feel a sudden stabbing pain while staring at her. I wince, unsure of what the hell this pain means.

It wasn't the first time it's happened to me. It's been

happening ever since that first time we kissed.

Anytime I got closer to her, the pain got more excruciatingly painful. This time was no exception and I wasn't even standing close to her.

She senses my presence and immediately lifts herself off the ground to a sitting position, "you're back." She says with a bright smile.

She had a beautiful smile, one that could brighten up anyone's day. It was innocent and pure, something you didn't see every day. I realize I've only ever seen her smile like this when she was drunk. Does that mean that she's never been genuinely happy around me unless she was intoxicated?

That sudden realization makes me feel uneasy. I was bothered by the idea of Autumn being unhappy especially around me. But there was still plenty that I didn't know about her. Things that I wish she could trust me enough to tell me. I had asked her earlier if marrying me was the reason she'd suddenly started drinking. But, I never got the answer for that.

I walk towards her and kneel down on the ground next to her, "we need to get you back to the house. There is something that I need to get done in the meantime. I'll feel better if I knew you were safe and getting your rest. You're not in a condition to be anywhere with me at least for the rest of tonight."

Her smile immediately faded, making me want to kick myself. I didn't want her to stop smiling ever. What did I said that was so wrong? I only wanted to keep her safe. I knew that she didn't wanted to leave the spring earlier, was that why she was so angry with what I'd said?

She attempts to move, but I stop her, "I'll carry you."

She still wasn't in her best state even though she'd improved a little. I was also using any excuse to have her close to me again. If she would let me.

She pushes my hand away and walks to the jeep herself. I frown at her reaction. What the hell just happened? Her mood completely switched from happy to angry.

What did I do to piss her off in a few minutes? I follow her to the jeep and rush to open her door before she could lock it.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

She folds her arms and refuses to look at my way. It's bothering me. I don't think I've ever seen her this upset with me before. Has she ever been upset with me in the past? This feels like the first time. And I'm not liking it. Autumn has always been calm and loving, seeing her like this was making me anxious.

"We're getting late!" Dante shouts from his jeep. I look away from her to glare at him, he's not helping but I know there was a more important situation to focus on for now. Even Though, I knew it will be bothering me the entire time not knowing why was she suddenly so angry with me.

I gently close the door and rush over to the driver's side. I glance at Autumn one last time before starting the jeep and racing through the forest. She was still trying to avoid me. now, she's looking out of the window and pretending that I didn't exist.

My grip tightens on the steering wheel. why the fuck was this bothering me so much? I never thought that her behavior would ever affect me like this but it turns out that it does, I was learning new things about myself every damn day, especially when it involved her.

"Autumn," I growl. "Tell me what's wrong. What did I say or do to upset you?"

Nothing. She says nothing at all. In fact, This jeep has never been this damn quiet since it was created!

I tried to remain calm, but it was becoming difficult to do. Eventually, we're back at the beach house and still I've not heard a single thing from her. She's making it her business to not talk to me.

I can see search parties still forming in front of me. It reminded me of the gravity of the situation.

Autumn opens the door before I can even stop the jeep, and I mash down on the brakes as it comes to an abrupt halt, to prevent her from harming herself .

I jump out of the vehicle and trap her on the other side before she can try to walk away from me. She was swaying on her feet just earlier today, but somehow to get away from me, she seems much steadier. How the hell was that possible?

"I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what is wrong," I warn her.

I meant it. I didn't care that I had more important things to do anymore. I didn't care about anything else but finding out why was she so damn fucking upset with me. Seeing Autumn like this was troubling me more than anything else that was going on around me.

She had my full attention and I was not letting this go until she gave in and told me what the hell had caused this weird behavior.

Her lips pout almost stubbornly, and fuck me. it's the cutest thing I've ever seen. How does she make even that look so good? Anything looks good on this woman. And it's started to irritate me. I couldn't even look at her once without wanting to kiss her or hold her in my arms or have my way with her.

Why? Why was this happening to me? What does  Autumn have on me? These questions were buzzing in my ear but I still was not giving up until she answered me.

"What's wrong?" I ask again, but in a gentle tone this time. "You have to tell me what's wrong

for me to fix it."

I frown as her forehead creases, and I swear it looks like she's about to cry. Did I hurt her this much by what I'd said?

fuck.

"Please don't go to Anya tonight." She whispers, shocking me to the core.