We stared at each other, and I sucked in a deep breath until my lungs were tight with it. “I’m worried.”
“Aye,” Rowen grumbled, and he opened the screen on his phone and fired off a text. Nearly immediately the phone rang. Rowen’s eyes bugged as he answered. “Hello, Boss? No, they’re not here. We don’t know where they are. Maybe they’re with Conall? No? Ye’re certain?”
There was talking from the other end of the line.
Rowen nodded, even though the boss couldn’t see him. Tension wound a tight knot in my stomach as he bared his teeth. “Sounds good, Boss. Thank ye. Aye, we’ll be leaving to do that now.”
“What’s going on?” I asked as he ended the call.
“Sloan’s not happy, considering everything that went on the last few months. He won’t say as much, but I think he’s concerned someone might’ve grabbed Vail again.” Rowen put his phone in his pants pocket. “Suit. Get changed. We’re going over there.”
“What if they come back here? There’s no one to wait for them.” Longing for Aspen hit me out of nowhere. Vail had spent all last week more or less mourning Cillian and Aspen being gone, and now I understood a little better how he’d felt. I’d wanted them back here, but now itachedthat they were gone.
Rowen growled and texted again. After a short back and forth, he muttered, “Go change. Suit. Now.”
“Who is—”
Rowen pursed his lips and shooed at me with one hand. “Sloan’s sending a couple of his boys ’round to watch the house, but he knows we want to be out doing something to find them and doesn’t blame us. Let’s go.”
Nodding, I raced upstairs with him hot on my heels. He didn’t have much to do to change, but I slipped out of my sweats and T-shirt, then rushed through getting nicer clothes on. When I was finished, I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom in a dark gray suit and put my shoulder-length wavy blond hair into a bun on top of my head. I hadn’t been cutting my hair and it was starting to get long. I liked the style, and Vail loved playing with it....Where the hell is he?My heart lurched. What if the Giordanos had gone back on their word? What if he was dead? Panic clawed at my chest, and I tried to let the horrible thought go.
Rowen knocked on my bedroom door before coming in, and I met him out there, only to see he had a gray gun in his hand.
“What’s wrong with mine?” I asked, pointing at the weapon as he came closer to me with it.
He rolled his eyes. “This one is smaller. Makes less of a line on yer suit. I don’t fecking know what’s going on, and I want ye protected, even if we hafta go into the city.”
Nodding, I shrugged off my suit jacket. He set the gun on the dresser, and then he went to the closet and found the leather shoulder holster I’d been wearing to work as Conall’s bodyguard. It made strange tingles zip around in my gut as he held the holster up and slipped the loops around my shoulders. He traced his fingers over the leather, frowning at it.
“Take the gun,” he said.
“Uh, okay.”
I stood still as he adjusted the straps, and heat slid low in my belly to my groin. His cologne hit my nose and his gaze was intense when he glanced up into my face.
“Feel good?” he asked, running his hands along my shoulders as he straightened.
“Yeah,” I whispered. Tension settled over us that had me confused and horny. I was still worried about Vail, but there was something about the way he caressed a finger along the leather again.
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “What kind of gun is this?”
“Beretta Pico.” His fingers brushed against my palm and his voice seemed like velvet in my ears as he picked up the gun and slid it into the holster at my side. He snagged my suit jacket from where I’d hung it over my arm and held it up for me. I’d seen him do the same thing for Vail, and I took a deep breath as I turned and let him help me. He smoothed his hands along my shoulders once more.
“There, ye can barely see the gun line.” He patted my arms, and I glanced back, catching him grinning, but he didn’t look right.
“It’s okay. I’m worried, too. You don’t have to pretend.”
He let out a long breath and nodded.
We went downstairs, and instead of taking my Spyder, Rowen drove his gray Lexus. It was probably good that he was behind the wheel because every three seconds I checked my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a call or text.
Rowen took the long, winding cobblestone lane that led to Sloan’s place at top speed, which vibrated my teeth together. The car zipped around the fountain that contained a statue of an elephant with its trunk raised, and he parked near the front door, as close as he could get in the drive.
Every light blazed in and around the wide, two-story mansion, and even though it was nighttime, the white wooden-shingle siding that led up to a peaked roof appeared crisp from all the extra illumination. Dark balconies curved out from the bedrooms on the front, and I knew what those rooms were used for because I’d stayed here with the guys. I also spent a lot of time at the mansion during the day, since my main job was guarding Conall. Shadows crowded close and made everything beyond the edge of the lawn inky and dangerous. Uneasiness tangled in my gut as I spotted three men out on the grounds with flashlights. They seemed to be searching for something... or someone.
We bolted from the car and rushed up the steps, shoved open the front door, and then burst inside the white marble entrance hall to find chaos. Every member of the security team appeared to be on their phone. I was surprised to see Conall sitting in a black robe on the right side of the split staircase. He looked like someone had died.
“What is everyone doing?” I asked, turning in a circle until I zeroed in on Conall’s dire expression again. His full lips twisted into a serious frown and his deep blue eyes were too wide. I went over and plopped down beside him. Rowen shook his head at me, but whatever.
