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I tuck my phone inside my jacket pocket beside the vial, unease still swirling through me despite both confirmations.

Minutes pass, and servers appear, bringing out the next course. The party is in full swing, but the guest of honor is still missing.

I shake my head, looking at Vin. “Something’s not right.”

He rubs his jaw, his eyes darting around the room. Then he raises his hand and flicks two fingers in a come-hither motion. Within seconds, Gary is standing beside him.

“Is there anything I can get you?” Gary asks, looking uneasy.

“Where the fuck is Garrett?” Vin gets right to the point, his eyes darkening.

“G-Garrett,” he stutters. “Well, he should be—”

Frustrated, I retrieve my gun from inside my jacket and press the barrel into his abdomen. “No fucking games. My patience is gone.”

He swallows hard, paling as he looks between all of us. “He’s not here,” he whispers with fear in his voice.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Leo asks, leaning forward.

My mind has a slow-motion out-of-body experience as all the pieces click into place.

“It was a setup,” I say, staring into Gary’s eyes.

Garrett knows.

He’s known all along that Charlotte isn’t dead.

And he waited for the precise moment to take her.

By distracting the wolves while leaving the lamb for slaughter by the hands of a monster.

A bead of sweat rolls down his temple. “I don’t know what you’re—”

I abruptly stand, shoving him to the floor with my gun aimed directly between his eyes. “Where the fuck is he?” I roar, my voice thundering through the large room, creating a domino effect of silence among the guests as fear, unlike anything I’ve ever felt, consumes me.

Chapter thirty-one

Charlotte

“Squish!” Clara’s head snaps from side to side, panic blooming in her wide eyes as her tiny fingers clutch the edge of her car seat. “Squish!”

I lean toward her. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“Squish!” Tears well in her eyes, her bottom lip sticking out, quivering.

Oh no…

I search the floorboards, reach beneath the seats, then glance into the front of the SUV… Nothing. My stomach sinks.

We must have left him at the playground.

I take Clara’s small hand in mine and squeeze gently. “Tommaso, could we go back to the playground? I think we left Squish behind.”

Tommaso’s brows furrow before his gaze meets mine in the rearview mirror. “We really should return home. Alex gave me strict instructions to have you both back before sunset. No exceptions.”

A sob tears from Clara’s chest, filling the SUV as her little face turns crimson.

He glances at her in the rearview mirror, mutters something under his breath, then swings the SUV into a smooth U-turn.