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My eyes open to peek at her, and I offer a smile. “As good as I can be. I’ll be back to my old self in no time.”
She reaches into the purse at her side, then holds up a small white jar with writing on it that I can’t read. “I got this for you. It’s supposed to help make the bruises fade faster and give you some relief from the pain.”
“Thank you,” I say sincerely as she sets it on the nightstand next to me.
Luca mutters a curse under his breath and is out of bed in the next second, handing Jaxon’s phone back to him as he storms off. “Find that house, right fucking now.”
I glance between Jaxon and Justine, confusion filling me. “What the hell just happened?”
Jaxon is already passing off the task of finding the house to Justine. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
The tightness in my chest makes my lungs burn, and my emotions threaten to get the best of me. Titan must have done something. Something bad enough that Luca doesn’t want to tell me yet.
Justine lightly squeezes my thigh. “Everything’s going to be okay. Let’s just find this house, okay?”
I nod, trying to believe her, but not succeeding in the slightest as the echo of the slamming door vibrates through the apartment.
11
LUCA
As if safeguarding Olivia hasn’t been stressful enough, now I'm faced with the added concern of those closely tied to her. This is the last damn thing we need. I slam the apartment door shut with unnecessary force, rereading the text message that has just arrived.
Damon: Tori called the police to report Olivia missing. Titan apparently has contacts there as well and he got her.
Olivia is going to lose her mind when I tell her, something I don’t want to do. Especially when it seemed as if she was content to keep her friend at arm’s length when it came to what happens in this house.
“Fuck!” My voice reverberates in the empty landing as I clench my phone, dialing Damon's number instead of bothering with a text.
Jaxon joins me, his posture reflecting the tension in the air. “What happened?”
I raise a finger, silencing him as Damon answers the phone. “This is not good.”
“No fucking shit,” I snap. “Someone had to see who took her, what they were driving, and what direction they went. Give me something, Damon. I can’t just tell Olivia that her friend is missing without a single fucking lead.”
Jaxon lets out a low whistle as I wait for Damon to reply.
“A guy that’s not popping up on facial recognition put her in the back of a black BMW,” he says. “They turned onto Madison, heading toward Hawthorne Bridge, and we lost them from cameras after that.”
My fist slams into the wall next to me, leaving an imprint of my knuckles. “Find her. Search for her like we’re looking for Olivia.”
This woman means nothing to me, but I know she’s everything to Olivia, which makes her something. I might not go on a murder spree to find Tori, but I’ll give her all my resources and then some.
Damon confirms he and Markus are on it, then hangs up. Jaxon is still waiting there with me but doesn’t say a word until I turn to face him.
“I didn’t see this coming.”
“Neither did I.” My lips flatten. “Since Olivia woke up this last time, she’s been calm and even playful. Nothing like the frightened woman she was when she first woke up, screaming about Titan and thinking we were trying to hurt her. But this? Her best friend being taken? It’s going to break her.”
Jaxon reaches for my shoulder and levels his stare on me. “Give her the benefit of the doubt, Luc. Maybe she’ll surprise you.”
“Yeah. Maybe, but I need to prepare for mayhem.” It’s one thing for me to rage, but I’m not sure what I will do with Olivia if she falls apart.
Even when I basically kidnapped her, she remained strong. It was just another thing that drew me to her, her unwillingness to give in to the fear whenever I loomed over her, slowly burrowing under my skin. Seeing her as anything else…
I know nothing about handling a frantic woman, and this seems like a situation that she’s apt to lose her shit over. Worse, Olivia is going to blame herself and I can’t fix that.
“You can’t control every little thing,” Jaxon says, and not for the first time throughout our friendship.
