After loungingby the pool all day with everyone, I'm getting ready in my bathroom. I didn't bring the makeup needed for a night atThe Clubto the guesthouse, which is why Marcus is now hovering behind me with a perma-scowl grooved between his brows.
"I would feel better if Ethan was in your car." Marcus has me caged between his arms as he watches me apply my mascara.
"You guys are Lilly's security," I say, switching the wand from one eye to the other. "Jenn is armed to the teeth. No one will get past her." I blink a few times before reaching for my lash brush. "Plus, there have been no new deliveries or vandalism. You'll be right behind us."
Marcus steps closer, wrapping his arms around my waist. "How can you be so at ease about this?" He studies me in the mirror.
My excitement to toast and dance the night away with my friends vanishes. "I'm not at ease. I'm worried. We don't know who is behind this. It feels too much like what happened with Lilly, but…" I place my hands on top of his. "Things have changed.Ihave changed. Because of you."
"I don't like it."
I turn in his embrace and lift my hand to smooth out the crease between his brows. "Everything will be fine."
CHAPTERTHIRTY
MARCUS
"They're not here."Lilly halts in her tracks. She hovers in the door to her suite and peers over at Elle. "I texted them forty minutes ago. D said they already left."
I have my phone pressed against my ear before she finishes the sentence. With every ring, my chest constricts more.
Why isn't she answering?
"Maybe they got held up in traffic?" Hazel suppliesunhelpfully.
I should've never let her drive alone.
"Have J activate the tracker in the BMW," I bark, not taking my eyes off her name still lit up on my screen. My thumb hovers, trembling above the red button. I can't cut the connection, despite knowing, deep down, that no one will answer.
It takes a whole inhale and exaggerated exhale before I press my finger down. I watch the skin around my nail turn white, not easing up the pressure. I can't allow my mind to go where my thoughts are headed.
Lilly stands in the middle of the room, chewing on her bottom lip. Worry shines in her eyes, and my stomach drops. I'm not overly paranoid. She feels it, too.
Pulling up the app that supplies us with the property's security feed, I select the garage camera. The spot for Rhys's sedan is empty.
Before I can check the time they left, Ethan provides the answer I don't want to hear. "They left the house forty-six minutes ago."
I raise my head, meeting his eyes. "Tracker is loading."
We stand in the VIP lounge, bass vibrating the floor beneath us. I watch Ethan for his reaction as he listens to J on the other end. The second the skin across his knuckles stretches, I have my confirmation. My worst nightmare has come to life.Again.
His eyes are on the far wall, and he stops breathing. In slow motion, his eyes shift to mine, and instinctively, I want to crouch and put my head between my palms. Instead, I pull my shoulders back, locking my body in place.
Lilly's tiny hand slips into mine, and I jump. Fixated on E, I didn't notice her approach.
She squeezes my fingers, addressing Ethan. "Where is the car?"
"Second and Alberts. Has been there for the last twenty minutes." His dark expression mirrors the black void slowly taking over my mind.
My pulse beats violently as I pivot and pull Lilly with me. I don't give a fuck if the rest follow, but Lilly is my responsibility, and I won't leave her, even for the woman I—
I already have the Escalade in drive, Lilly in the seat behind me, when Ethan climbs into the passenger side. Elle and Hazel slide in the back, neither bothering with the third row.
I peel out of the lot.
"It's me," Lilly's voice fills the interior of the car. "Where is Wes?"
Rhys's question reverberates through the cabin. "We just put the girls down. What's up?" She put him on speaker.