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“Then you’ve sealed your fate.”
ChapterEighteen
Sterling
The line slowly dwindled down until Weston was able to put in our order, but I was having a hard time focusing long enough to read the specials. For some reason, a heavy feeling had settled in my gut. I tried to play it off as my alpha instincts not liking that our omega was out of my sight, but the longer she was gone, the more I couldn’t ignore it.
“She’s taking too long,” I muttered, stepping away to head for the bathroom. It was tucked away in a small alcove, sharing the door to the kitchen and the men’s room. I gave one knock of warning before pushing the door open.
“Bailey?” I called out, lingering in the doorway. When my omega didn’t answer, all bets were off. “Bailey!” My voice was more insistent this time, drawing the attention of the others. Weston, Hayes, and my father all rushed in after me.
Weston began shoving stalls open to reveal a completely empty restroom.What the fuck?There was no entrance or exit other than the one we were currently occupying.
“Hey, you can’t be in there!” an older beta called out. We blatantly ignored her, focusing on the much more important issue: our missing omega.
A feeling of panic slammed into me, then it morphed into fear. It was distant and subtle but strong enough I couldn't explain it away.
“Someone took her. I can feel it,” I said, my voice a pained hiss. No one looked any calmer with that added confirmation. All we could do was use the scene in front of us to help us narrow down just how this had all happened.
“Something happened here, look,” Hayes said, crouching down to point at a toppled pump bottle of lotion. There was a small shoe print in the lotion that had spilled free. It streaked away and slid under the sink, like someone had fallen.
“Kitchen,” I growled out, shoving past them. “Did someone drag an omega through here?”
“We’ve already called the police,” an omega called out. “They said they’d be here soon. By the time I went after them, all I saw was a black SUV driving away.”
“That’s my omega. Fuck!” I rushed outside, ignoring the staff’s protests, my family right behind me.
Every moment she was away from me, it felt like my chest was cracking open. I should have protected her, kept a better eye on her.
This was on me. I was the one with the bond, so I should have been keeping a closer “eye” on her. My father and brothers were at a disadvantage, and I’d let them down by not using my new closeness with her to tune in the second someone tried to snatch her.
Tire marks marred the alleyway, but there was no other sign she was here. If this was something orchestrated by the senator, his life was officially over.
“Hayes, check any available security footage,” Cyrus bit out, pointing to the camera above the door. “I’m calling this in.”
“It could be her own people. Fuck, she was so close to letting us in,” Weston said as he clutched at his hair.
“The omega is gone. Someone snatched her from the bathroom at the coffee shop,” my father barked into his phone. His expression darkened further, and he let out a chuckle that was devoid of anything other than fury. “Like fuck we will! Dorian, you may be the head of this Family, but do not delude yourself into thinking that I am expendable or will take every order without question.”
Damn. If he was telling Dorian to fuck off, then it was more serious than we could have thought. Had the Family gotten involved? That would undermine all of the work we’d put in, and the fact that they hadn’t clued us in on any changes to the plan was completely disrespectful.
My father hung up the call without another word even though Dorian was still screaming on the other end.
“They deny involvement and said we’re off the job here. We’re apparentlytoo close to the omega, and they’re tired of waiting for results. Dorian has either gone rogue or is trying to start a fight.”
“He’ll have one,” Weston said. “I’m his best assassin. Let him try to give me a single fucking job while she’s gone. He’ll be met with the same level of disrespect he just showed.” I wasn’t the only one livid about the way our uncle had handled the situation, which helped me keep my most murderous instincts at bay. If my brothers and father felt the same way, this shit would be handled.
“Do you think he has her?” I asked my father bluntly. “I can feel her fear and pain. Someone fucking has her.”
Bailey’s end of the bond was in a near constant state of pain and panic, and I could only send reassurance back, praying she could feel it.
My father frowned as he mulled it over. “I’m not positive. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to blatantly lie to me about it. We need Hayes on traffic cameras. I’m not convinced this is the same people who attacked her at the apartment. It was too quick, too clean. But keep in mind, if you can feel her, she’s alive.”
“Coming here wasn’t planned, so we must have had a tail,” Weston said. “How the fuck did we not notice?”
“Pull Hayes,” Cyrus told me, waving toward the shop. “We need to get out of here before the police.”
I stormed inside, looking around the kitchen until I spotted a small office, where Hayes sat at the computer. He snapped a pic on his phone and stood, turning to meet me head on.
