My phone vibrates in my pocket. Fishing it out, I see a notification from the cameras in my penthouse. Movement.
She’s awake.
Standing, I push my chair in and walk toward the door.
“Let me know what Nick says,” I throw over my shoulder.
There are bigger problems coming, I feel it in my bones. But right now? I have something far more important to get back to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Two days later,I sit on the balcony, my legs tucked under me as I watch a thunderstorm crawl its way to Perdition. Music floats softly out of the penthouse onto the balcony, keeping me company while Karson takes a phone call in the hallway. My fingers rub the soft blanket draped over my lap as the lightning flashes over the mountain tops. I love thunderstorms. Something about the way the lightning lights up the dark gray clouds, the way the thunder rumbles deep in my bones, and the way the rain washes everything away is comforting to me. Maybe that’s why I haven’t left, or even tried. Karson is like athunderstorm. You don’t run from a storm. You either hide from it, or let it ruin you.
As promised, he untied me that morning when he returned. I got up, showered, then stood in the middle of the room while he took a call outside. The door was open. No one was in my way. I could have ran. Instead, I crawled back into bed.
The door slides open and Karson drops in the chair next to me. He pulls a cigarette from his pack, lights it, then exhales a steady stream of smoke. I watch him from the corner of my eye. He drops his head, raking his hand through his sandy hair then looks over to me.
“Hey,” he gives me a small smile. He looks exhausted. I don't think he’s slept the whole time I’ve been here. He lays with me at night, cradles me to his chest, but I notice how he slips out of bed when he thinks I’m asleep. He paces the penthouse, chain smokes, and comes back sometime before the sun rises.
“Hey,” I answer softly as I continue watching the storm.
“The club’s opening again tonight,” he starts. “But I need you to stay out of it.”
My gaze rolls back over to him, raising a brow. “Karson, I need to work.”
His jaw tenses. “After what happened the other night, and everything else that’s going on, I need you to promise me you’re not going to turn your defiant switch back on and go in there just to piss me off.”
I stare at him for a minute, annoyed he called me out like that. I bite the corner of my lip, debating what to say next. “Tell me what’s happening, and I won’t go,” I bargain.
His eyebrows pinch together as he looks me up and down in disbelief. After a beat, he raises one, as if to ask if I’m serious. I nod, and he clears his throat.
“Last week, a bartender on the second floor was taken from the parking garage.” No easing into it, no sugar coating, he getsstraight to the point. My blue eyes narrow on him for a second. How did I not know about this? Why did no one tell us?
“What do you mean? Isla never said anything to any of us about it,” I tell him. My spine straightens when I remember the day she stopped me and asked me to cover the second floor. “She just told me someone didn’t show up for work. No call no show.” My eyes search his. “You don’t think she knew what happened and didn't tell us, do you?”
He shakes his head. “We’ve kept it quiet so we don’t raise any alarms with the staff. We’ve beefed up security and told her it was because it’s been so busy lately, but we’re trying to find the person who did it. Trying to find her.”
“You think whoever did it would come back?” The hair on the back of my neck raises.
“Maybe not the person who physically took her, but we think Rapture’s become a hunting ground. The other disappearances from the casino? Three of the other four were drinking at the club the night they disappeared.”
I sit quietly, letting the information sink in. A sudden feeling of unease washes over me and I fling the blanket off my lap. I stand and rush to the door. Karson catches me by the waist before I can make it past him, and he pulls me into his lap.
“Woah. Where are you going, terror?”
“To get my phone. I have to tell Layla.” I try pushing his arm off me, but he only tightens his hold.
“Relax,” he whispers into my hair. “We already pulled her out. She’s going to be serving over in Hades at the arena. She’s safe.”
My body relaxes into him a little, feeling better knowing my friend won’t be walking into Rapture again.
“Okay,” I tell him. Letting out a slow breath, I watch my fingers knot in my lap. I nod. “I won’t go back.”
“Really?” he asks incredulously. “You’re not going to make me drag you out of there kicking and screaming again?”
I shake my head. “Really. If you tell me it isn’t safe, then it isn’t safe.”
“Now you believe me?” He raises a brow.
