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Rolling to his side now, he slung his arm around Raine and snuggled close. But when he tried to palm her breast, he caressed an expanse of flat, hairy chest instead. Jolting awake, Hammer jerked up. Christ, he’d been snuggling Liam.
His cock instantly deflated. Good thing he hadn’t tried to tap that.
He shook his head. What a wake-up that would have been.
Glancing around the shadowy room, Hammer searched for Raine but didn’t see her. He peered toward the bathroom. The light was off. The door stood wide open. Where the hell had she gone at just after five a.m.?
Grumbling, Hammer inched off the bed and grabbed his pants. As he meandered out of the room, he zipped up and left Liam stretched out on the bed, snoring like a lumberjack.
As Hammer made his way down the hall, light spilled from the kitchen. He frowned. Raine never ate this early. Hell, she was rarely even awake. Was she baking because something had upset her? He couldn’t imagine what. A few hours ago, she’d showered Liam with love and exorcised the jealous demon inside him. Raine should be basking in her achievement, not burying her sorrows in dough. Things were good between the three of them now. At least Hammer thought so.
Yeah, and you thought Juliet was on the same page as you for years. You learned the hard way never to assume anything.
If something was bothering Raine, Macen swore he’d press her until he got to the bottom of her distress and fix it.
Rounding the doorway, he found the kitchen empty, other than counters cluttered with bowls, measuring cups, and various baking ingredients all surrounding her laptop. Hammer fingered the track pad until her screen illuminated. A recipe for date scones?
He scrubbed a hand through his hair. Had she ever made anything with dates? Not that Hammer could remember, and especially not at the ass crack of dawn. Darting a gaze over the ingredients on the counter, he scowled. It looked as if everything lay out, waiting for Raine’s baking magic…but she’d simply walked away.
Hammer felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Surely she wouldn’t have run away again. Would she?
With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, Hammer turned and sprinted down the hall. As he burst into Raine’s room, he flipped on the light and flung open her closet door. Her clothes hung in a row, just as she’d left them. He knew she hadn’t taken any of her things from Liam’s closet; he would have heard that. A wave of blessed relief washed through him.
But as Hammer turned off the light, he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling seeping through his bones.
“Damn it, where are you, Raine?” he whispered.
The state of the kitchen stuck in his head. She never left it cluttered or untidy, much less abandoned a recipe like that. He strode back to the mess, then compared the recipe to the items on the counter.
“She didn’t have any dates.” He scowled and stormed toward the back door, his keys jingling in his pocket with every step. If Raine had gone to the grocery store in the damn dark without telling him or Liam… Hammer shook his head. He’d redden her ass another shade darker.
Shoving the heavy metal door open, he stepped out into the cool night air. Raine’s car sat beneath a floodlight. But the driver’s side door stood wide open. Her purse littering the ground blasted Hammer with ice-cold fear.
Sprinting to her car, he found her personal items spilled haphazardly across the pavement. Her keys gleamed in the driver’s seat, and her cell phone lay upside down on the floorboard. His heart thundered in his chest.
Raine would never leave her things here voluntarily. Hammer looked around for anything that might tell him what had happened. What could have transpired in Shadows’ small parking lot? A mugger? A rapist?
Bill?
Son of a bitch.
“Raine!” Hammer screamed, hoping she might be nearby and hear him, scream in return.
Nothing but silence.
Panic bled through his veins. “Oh, god. Raine! No, baby. No.”
Racing toward the club, Hammer yanked his keys from his pocket. At the door, he trembled as he tried to open the lock. Dread crawled up his spine and wrapped around his throat, choking the air in his lungs.
“If you have her, you cocksucking motherfucker, I’m going to kill you,” Hammer vowed as he yanked the door open. “Liam!” he bellowed, tearing down the hall. “Liam!”
The doors to Beck’s and Seth’s rooms banged opened simultaneously as both men stood blinking at Hammer. Roused from sleep, they looked startled and confused.
“What the hell are you yelling about?” Seth asked with a scowl.
“For fuck’s sake. Are you two idiots arguing again?” Beck shook his head in disgust. “Keep it down before Raine has both sets of your balls hanging from the kitchen window like wind chimes.”
