Before I can even process that the power is not working, there’s a sickening thud. Followed by a groan.Zach’s groan.Then his hand slips from my waist and the floor shakes.
From a body falling onto it.
“Oh my God,” I scream, right as a thick piece of fabric is pressed against my mouth and nose.
And then everything goes black.
thirty-three
ZACH
“Sadie?” I let out a groan as I move my head. There’s a heavy pain throbbing through my left temple. “Talk to me, are you okay?” Finally I manage to open my eyes, but it’s pitch dark and silent, except for the thud of bass coming from the ballroom.
“Shit.” I sit up way too fast, and my stomach clenches with nausea. I have no idea how long I’ve been on the ground, but the fact I can barely open my fucking eyes makes me feel like it’s been a while.
I scramble around, trying to find my phone, and let out a relieved sigh when I find it in my jacket pocket. Pulling it out, I slide my finger to turn on the flashlight. A white beam lights the room. There are so many fucking floaters in my vision.
“Baby, where are you?” My voice cracks as I push myself to my knees. Fuck, if she’s been hit too, I’m going to throwup. “Darien? Is that you? If you touch one hair on her head I swear you’ll regret it.”
But there’s no sign of her. Or her asshole ex. If it was him. Because I never saw a fucking thing.
I couldn’t even protect her. I never saw the danger coming.
A breeze lifts my hair and I see that the back door leading to the parking lot is slightly ajar. It was closed when I left here, I swear it. Somehow, despite the pain in my head and the sickness pulling at my guts I manage to crawl over there.
When I reach it, and push at the glass, the door swings open easily. Cold night air drifts in, carrying the distant sound of the gala. Something sharp spikes under my ribs.
Fear.
I brace my hand on the wall, managing to get to my knees as I push the door wider, wincing at the way it creaks as I skim the outside with my phone’s flashlight.
There’s a trail across the gravel, two parallel lines that lead from my apartment to the lot. Like somebody was dragged or stumbled.
Then I see a fucking shoe.Hershoe. Silver and high heeled and abandoned on the path like a production ofCinderellagone bad.
Like, really, really bad.
How the hell didn’t I see him? He must have been there, right next to me. Close enough to hit me with… whatever he used to make my head pound like a bass drum.
Close enough to take her. And I let him.
Because of my fucking eyes. And my lust. I was too busy thinking of ways I could strip her to notice he was there, right next to me, waiting.
And now she’s gone.
Grabbing my phone again, I try to concentrate on the screen, but I can’t read the oversized clock lit up on the front. So I hit the side button, and hope to God I stay conscious long enough to get help.
“Siri,” I manage to croak. “Call Asher.”
The little circle lights up, and that tinny voice comes out.
“It sounds like you want me to call Asher Fitzgerald. Is that correct?”
“Yes.” I’m about two seconds away from screaming. And maybe the robot in my phone knows this, because Siri quickly says, “Calling Asher Fitzgerald.”
It rings once. Then again. My body sways with dizziness and all I can think is that I need to stay conscious until he answers.
“Zach?” Asher sounds confused as he picks up the call. “Why are you calling me? Aren’t we in the same room?”
