“No more shame,” Orion agreed.
“No more running,” I finished.
We stood together—the three of us—and I felt something shift inside me. A release. A letting go of all the fear and doubt and guilt that had weighed me down since this nightmare began.
Henri had abandoned me. Daniel had betrayed me. Marcus had threatened me. Kurt Wilder had weaponized me.
But I was still here.
“Let’s do this,” I said. “Let’s throw the party of the century and show them all what real love looks like.”
“Together,” Orion said.
“Let’s party!” Leo grinned.
“Wait, where’s Ares?” I asked.
“That’s a good question.” Orion glanced at his watch.
“Call Neville,” Leo suggested.
Orion pulled out his phone, his jaw tightening as he dialed. “Neville? Have you heard from Ares?” I watched his expression shift from concern to alarm. “What do you mean you haven’t heard from him since he left to confront Marcus?” His voice went dangerously quiet. “How long ago was that?”
Leo and I exchanged looks. My stomach dropped.
“Hours?” Orion’s hand clenched around the phone. “And his phone?” He listened, his face going harder with each passing second. “I understand. Send me the warehouse address. We’re going now.”
He hung up and looked at us. “Ares went after Marcus at a warehouse in North Las Vegas hours ago. His phone’s been off since then. Neville tried calling LVPD, but they said leaving a hotel isn’t a crime and there’s no evidence of foul play. They won’t send anyone.”
“Hours,” I whispered. “Anything could have happened in that time.”
“Then I go get him.” Orion was already moving toward the door. “Neville’s sending me the address.”
“We’re coming with you,” Leo said immediately.
I agreed. “Ares is missing. We’re not sending you alone.”
Orion looked like he wanted to argue, but he just nodded. “Let’s go.”
We took Orion’s Mercedes—fast and built like a tank. The warehouse district was twenty minutes away, but Orion made it in fifteen, pushing the car hard through evening traffic. Nobody spoke. The silence was thick with fear and unspoken possibilities.
What if Marcus had hurt him? What if Ares was injured somewhere, unable to call for help? What if?—
I couldn’t finish the thought.
My throat tightened. The gala we’d spent two days planning, the announcement that was supposed to change everything, the carefully orchestrated event that would save our reputations—none of it mattered if Ares was hurt.
“We’ll find him,” I said, trying to convince myself as much as them. “He’s strong. He’s trained. He knows how to handle himself.”
“Against one man, yes,” Orion said grimly. “But Marcus isn’t working alone. If they ambushed him?—”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.
The warehouse district appeared out of the desert like a graveyard—rusted metal buildings, broken pavement, abandoned vehicles casting long shadows in the fading light. Orion followed Neville’s GPS coordinates to a sprawling industrial complex that looked like it hadn’t seen legitimate business in years.
“Unit 14,” Orion said, pointing to a building ahead. “That’s where Neville tracked his phone.”
He parked fifty yards away, and we all got out. The desert air was cool now, the sun just setting behind the mountains, painting everything in shades of orange and purple. Beautiful and eerie at the same time.
