Page 45 of The Verdict

We were real.

In the morning, I’d learn that no matter how hard I wanted it to be true, it wasn’t enough to change reality.

She was gone.

A different three words woke me when I reached for the soft curves that had curled against me all night. My dick was hard, ready to have her again. For the third time in less than twelve hours.

But she was gone.

I shoved off the covers and found my clothes at the base of the bed, tugging on just enough to be decent and stalking out of my cabin.

It was fine. Everything was fine.I tried to talk myself down. She probably went back to the guest cabin. It made the most sense. She knew I was trying to keep a semblance of professionalism between us; she probably didn’t want to risk any of the guys seeing her leave my cabin in the morning.That had to be it.

I reached her door, my fist flying into it with three sharp bangs.

The explanations, possibilities, and probabilities I’d woven together began to split. To fray. And finally, to disintegrate completely.

I banged again. “Merritt!” But I hardly waited before punching in the code to the cabin and letting myself in. Within seconds, I was standing in the bedroom of the guest cabin, my gaze tearing through the space.

Empty.

Fucking empty.

Fucking fake.

“Merritt?” I called, striding to the front.Nothing.I went to the front door that led outside, yanking it open. The cold air snapped over me like the brutal lash of a whip. Punishing me for being a fool.“Merritt!”I roared into the forest, my chest heaving as I turned like a wild beast, half-snarling.

I drove both hands through my hair.No.

“Rhys?”

I turned, seeing Ty standing in the door, his calm expression broken by a single raised brow.

All I could manage was a growl as I pushed past him, down the steps, through the hall.Maybe she’d gone up to find something to eat.I latched on to the last-ditch thought like a fish on a worm at the end of a line.

Instead, the sharp spear of betrayal stabbed through my chest when I reached the main level of the garage and found no sign of her.

“Rhys!” Ty called after me as I stalked into each room, throwing open one door after another.

“She has to fucking be here,” I snarled like a beast, even willing to hope she’d snuck into Ty’s office in search of more information again.

But she hadn’t; it was empty.

Ty tried to stop me, grabbing my arm, but I shook him off. Distantly, I saw the commotion had woken Dare, too, who stepped off the elevator, his eyes meeting mine with the fury of understanding.

He’d warned me.

Still, my body fought against the truth that my mind knew. My body carried me into the garage, the door slamming into the wall with the force in which I threw it open.

Side to side, my gaze scanned the space.Where could she have gone? And how?

There were no cars to take. Could she have called a ride? No. My head shook as I turned. Could she… no, my bike was still here. But my jacket—she’d taken my fucking jacket.Red rimmed my vision.Why would she take—the thought exploded when my eyes lowered on a landmine: the empty space against the wall where Ryan’s bike had been; the cover in a pile on the ground.

No.I saw red, my feet carrying me with a furious pace to the front of the garage.

“Merritt!” I bellowed down the length of the drive like the wind could carry my warning to her.

I will find you.I will get answers.

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