The entire thing was so surreal. I couldn’t wrap my mind around any of it. Leo had made good on his word, and everything was very low-key. So much so that it almost felt like nothing was being done at all. Two plain clothed detectives milled around, but when I found one sitting around eating a sandwich, I’d lost my shit too. It took Leo and Slate to keep me from shoving that goddamn sandwich down his throat.
We’d all spent the day in upheaval. Sarah and Erica buzzed around the room, trying to coddle us, but they were a nervous wreck right alongside the rest of us. Till was a fuming mess, understandably. He paced a lot and ranted at anyone who would listen. Quarry had been transformed into a depressed, weeping child. He sat alone in the corner, refusing to talk to anyone. It seemed my brothers had figured out their coping mechanisms, but I flipped back and forth between anger and hopelessness.
God. Eliza. She must have been so scared. It twisted my gut and sent flames through my blood. I had never experienced that level of fear before and was clueless about how to channel it.
But then again, I’d never felt for anyone the way I did for Eliza Reynolds Page.
I’d been in love with her since the day she’d first walked through Till’s front door. I had barely even been a teenager, but when she’d smiled at me, I had known I’d never be the same. And I wasn’t. There wasn’t a girl in the world who would ever make me feel the sense of belonging I felt when I touched her. She was beautiful, and funny, and so good to all of us. It was so fucking wrong for me to want her the way I did, but even the guilt couldn’t stop me.
I always knew she was in love with Till. I couldn’t even be mad about it because it was obvious how much he loved her too. At least, if they were together, I had a way to keep her in my life. But right then, with her missing and having absolutely no control over where she was or what was happening, it was excruciating.
A sudden knock at the door grabbed all of our attention.
“Ten minutes!” was shouted from outside the door.
Slate stepped in front of Till. “You need to calm to fuck down or you’re going to get your ass knocked out in the first round. What good is that going to do her? You have ten minutes to get your head in the fight.”
Till might have nodded, but I knew for certain that he wouldn’t be into the fight while Eliza was missing. I didn’t know how he was going to do it. I could barely breathe, yet he had to fight.
“Let’s go, Flint,” Alex called from the door. “Time to get you seated.”
Slate had made the decision that Erica, Sarah, and Liv would watch the fight from their hotel room with Johnson standing guard. I’d insisted on watching ringside. I needed to be there. Quarry had been given the option, but he’d only shrugged and followed the women as they’d left.
Alex had been assigned as my bodyguard for the fight, and while I absolutely loathed the idea that they assumed I couldn’t protect myself, I hadn’t argued. I knew that my bitching would have only stressed Till out more. He had enough going on without having to worry about me too.
I walked to the door and stopped to sign to Till, You got this.
“Yeah. I got it.” He forced a tight smile then turned away to shrug into the robe Slate was holding open.
I walked toward the arena with Alex barely a step behind me. “Can you not make me look like a pussy with a babysitter?” I smiled tightly.
“Sorry, man. It’s my job.”
“Can I have a little breathing room at least?”
He chuckled but dropped back a few feet.
We navigated through numerous winding hallways, the crowd getting thicker the closer we got to the arena until it eventually bottlenecked at an intersection.
“Sorry,” a man said as he slammed into my chest.
I only glanced at him long enough to notice a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. “No problem.” I smiled—until I felt something being shoved into my hand. I looked down at a room key as the man quickly walked away. Written in black marker was the number 3716.
Confused, I watched the man weave through the tight crowd. Just before he rounded the corner away from the arena, he turned to face me. Similar blue eyes lifted to mine.
“Dad?” I whispered to myself.
He gave me a tight smile then raised his hands and signed, I didn’t know he was going to take her. Tell Till I’m sorry.
I gasped then glanced back down at the card in my hand.
Eliza.
“You ready for the big fight?” Frankie asked me as he settled on the couch with a drink in his hand.
“Are you really going to let me go if he loses?”
“I don’t know. He’ll be pretty useless to me after he gets knocked out.” He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and crossed his legs at the ankle. “Plus, the last thing I need is you popping that baby out on me. I don’t like kids as it is. I can’t imagine how much I would hate one with Page blood.” He stirred his drink with his finger and then flipped the TV on.