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Austin
Gone.She was gone.
He had no idea how long he stood in the middle of his living room, trying to process what had just happened. Trying to figure out how everything had gone so fucking wrong so quickly.
Last night, he’d been sure everything would work out. Sure, she’d been upset and jittery, but he’d thought he’d done a decent job of settling her down and assuring her that everything would be fine.
Obviously not.
The sound of the doorbell jolted him back to reality and his only thought was that she’d changed her mind.
“Baby, whatever happened this morning, we can —” He cut off when he opened the door and found two vaguely familiar men standing on his front porch.
Not Kit. She’s really gone.And his heart shattered all over again.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The taller of the pair cocked an eyebrow. “Mr. Barrick?”
“Yes. Who are you?” They didn’t look like reporters, but if they were, he was going to have their asses arrested for trespassing faster than they could scream “First Amendment”.
“Jaxson Davidson.” The taller, darker man brushed his fingertips across the blonde’s shoulder in a gesture that spoke of the kind of intimacy built over years. “My husband and I wanted to discuss some things with you before your press conference this afternoon.”
Oh, shit.Feeling slightly dazed, Austin shook each of their hands in turn. “Ah, come in, I guess.”
Jaxson brushed past him without a word, but Chase hung back, surprising Austin with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “You’ll have to excuse Jaxson. We had a long night and he’s cranky this morning. Thank you for inviting us in.”
“Cranky?” There was a note in Jaxson’s voice Austin recognized immediately and he nearly grinned when Chase tilted his chin up just like Kit probably would have done in the same situation.
“Yes, you’re cranky. I know we’re in the middle of a shit show, but you don’t have to be rude.”
Austin’s stomach pitched as the pieces began to fit together in his mind. “You’re here about the interview Chloe did.”
“Yes,” Jaxson confirmed, his tone clipped as though he were holding back his temper. “She was your guest at Black Light on three separate occasions, correct?”
“Yeah. Should I have a lawyer?”
Despite the sudden heaviness between them, Chase’s lips twitched. “You’re not being arrested, Austin. Can I call you Austin?”
“What? Sure.” Narrowing his eyes at Jaxson, Austin folded his arms over his chest. “You may not be arresting me but that doesn’t mean you’re above suing me. I repeat — Do I need a lawyer?”
“That depends,” Jaxson said.
“No it doesn’t, Jaxson. Would you stop trying to intimidate the man?” With a scowl for his husband, Chase stepped between them. “He’s the victim here, too. He’s the one who got outed as a kinky freak, remember?”
To Austin’s surprise, Jaxson sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. I’m short on sleep and patience at the moment. No, you don’t need a lawyer right now, but I would strongly suggest you get in touch with one. Our names have already been linked to this fiasco and we’re doing as much damage control as we can and I’d hate to see you and Ms. Callahan caught in the crossfire.”
“We’d like to speak with her, as well.” Chase’s expression smoothed out into a sympathetic smile. “I know Emma would be beside herself if something like this happened to us.”
“She’s not here.” The words were like twisting the knife in his still-bleeding heart. “She left.”
Chase frowned. “Like, left to go to work or…?”
“Left as in, she left me. I don’t even know what happened. Everything was fine last night and then this morning she just had a total meltdown and she left.” He wasn’t even sure why he was telling them all of this, other than they were there and he needed to talk tosomeonebefore he had his own meltdown.
Jaxson and Chase shared a meaningful look. Stepping forward, Chase laid a hand on Austin’s arm. “Did she get online at all this morning?”
