With a lollipop stuck between his teeth.
“He didn’t deserve you.”
Rough hands slip around my neck and squeeze tight.
All I can see is black.
forty-three
I’ve been stuckinside this hallway forever.
Have even memorized how the grains of the wood across from me shift with every breath I take. If I hold it long enough, they start to dance.
“Where’s your girl?” Aiden growls as he exits the locker room.
“My girl?” I bristle at the word. “You mean Mrs. Griffin.My wife.”
Aiden doesn’t seem to get angry. Instead, his lips curl into a nefarious grin. “Kid Scout is how I know her. My best friend’s little sister.” That changes things for me. Now, with the realization and the glimmer in his eyes…I get that he cares, too. “So where is she?”
“In the locker room, I guess.”
Aiden’s brow furrows. His sassy, golden-haired girlfriend escapes and steals a glance at me before he gathers her into his arms. “Was Scout in there with you?”
She blinks a few times. “No. I thought she was already out here.”
My heart races. Something…iswrong.
Instead of waiting for a word, I barrel into the women’s locker area and shove open stall doors, hinges slamming against tile. I don’t care who’s inside. Don’t care who screams. Aiden’s right at my shoulder, Ashlyn behind him.
Air settles heavily in my lungs. “Where is she?” But there’s no reply.
Aiden lifts his phone. “We need to find Scout Turner—Griffin.” He corrects her name as I glare at him. “She’s somewhere in the manor. Find her.”
A voice responds over the speaker. “Got it. Want Duke and Bo to help, too?”
“Yes. All initiates on board.” Aiden snaps his fingers at me and points to the door. “Come on, Romeo. Let’s check the camera feed.”
He snags Ashlyn’s hand and ushers us both back to the office. Tracers line every light, but instead of becoming distracted by their glow, I focus.
Before we reach the back hall, Landon Turner trips into it from a set of French doors opening to an outdoor pool area. And hot tub.
He’s wearing a pair of neon swim trunks. Hair soaked and clinging to his back.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I rush toward him as he practically falls into me.
“Where’s your sister?”
Studying me, he blinks several times. “Holy shit… You can see your soul in those deep eyes.”
The crystal blue of his almost sucks me in. I get lost for amoment, watching the red meld into the irises. I squeeze my eyes shut. “Where is she?”
“Fuck if I know. She’s here?”
“She was!”
“Why aren’t you with her?”
“I lost her!”
