Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“They made you—” His teeth snapped together, his cheek flexing under my hand. “You were hurt.”
“We’ve already gone over this,” I whispered, running my thumb over his jaw.
I was acutely aware of the table full of people watching us, but I was terrified that the moment Beau looked away from me, he’d do something stupid, like lunge across the table at his father.
“I’m okay,” I reminded him. “It’s over.”
“They hurt you,” he ground out.
The bottom of my stomach dropped out at the vibration in his words. I’d known that Beau was upset when I’d gone into my own head the day before—it had been impossible to miss—but I hadn’t understood the depth of it.
I’d scared him.
“You disappeared,” he said, the sound so soft that I barely heard him. “I couldn’t reach you.”
I hadn’t realized how much it bothered him that Rena had been the one to snap me out of it. She’d gone through it with me before and had the tools to reach me. She’d known to throw the blankets back and pull me to my feet. She’d known to force me to meet her eyes and bully me to respond to her. She’d known that I needed to let it all out, however it came, before I could move forward. Someday, I’d explain it all—but not with an audience. It was something Beau deserved to know, for both our sakes. It didn’t belong to the others.
“It was good that they came,” I assured him as he leaned closer. “Helen explained some things this morning that—”
I barely held him in place as his head jerked in her direction.
The table was achingly silent.
“We’re moving past it,” I reminded him, leaning up to brush my lips over his. “Remember? Let it go.”
Beau let out a long breath, and I watched as the worst of the tension drained out of him.
Finally, he nodded.
As I let go of his face and turned toward the others, Beau’s hand drifted up to wrap securely around the back of my neck like he was grounding himself.
“Shit,” Chance said, sliding his chair back in with a screech. “Thank Gods Reese is the Bjorn whisperer. I thought things were going to get rowdy there for a minute.”
“Do you ever shut up?” Ambrose asked with a glare.
“Nope,” Chance and Danny replied at the same time.
Chance flipped Danny off, and his mother reached over, backhanding his chest in rebuke.
Helen met my eyes across the table, lifting one of her brows.
“What are you guys doing here?” Beau asked as the flow of breakfast began again, and everyone started serving themselves.
“We have news,” Danny said, glancing at Ambrose.
“Which we would’ve told you last night if you would’ve answered your door,” Chance complained, his mouth full.
“We were busy,” Beau said flatly.
“We have to head out after breakfast,” Ambrose said, setting his fork down. “We think we might have a lead on Zeke’s mate.”
“You’re kidding,” Beau said, stiffening.
“His name is Charles Franklin,” Ambrose replied with a nod. “Facial recognition pinged him pretty quickly. Finding an address has proved a bit more difficult.”
“His last known address was in Baltimore a year ago,” Danny added. “Chance and I went out there and spoke to the neighbors. No one knew him.” He rolled his eyes. “But one lady—you know the type—had quite a bit to say. Charlie and his sister were supposedly going to Europe. She was really put out that they’d saved up so they could take the year off and travel. Like it had anything to do with her bitchy ass.”
“They’re traveling?”
“That’s what she said,” Danny replied with a shrug. “So, who the fuck knows where they are now. Ambrose has been searching for where they’ve crossed borders—”
“Nothing since Zeke was captured,” Ambrose cut in. “Dead end.”
“But we know he’s in Europe,” Beau said, as his hand wrapped around mine. I didn’t even think he realized what he was doing as he laced our fingers together.
“His passport hasn’t left Belgium,” Ambrose confirmed.
“Unless he’s traveling under the radar,” Chance said with a little whoosh of his hand. “If he knows Zeke is gone, he might’ve decided it was best to lay low.”
“There’s no way he hasn’t realized his mate is gone,” I blurted, even though I knew I had no role in the conversation. My stomach clenched. I wasn’t sure how Zeke and his mate had separated in the first place, but I knew down to my bones that if it was Beau, I’d know the moment he was gone.
Just the thought of it made the fire under my skin flare.
“It’s time to start searching,” Danny said, glancing at us. “And we could use some more eyes out there.”
“You’re due for a trip anyway, right?” Ambrose asked as he dug back into his food. “You were just talking about it.”
Right. Because they always heard everything Beau and I discussed unless we were in his rooms.