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“Rose?” Ralph knows exactly who I’m talking about, but he’d prefer to pretend she doesn’t exist because she doesn’t fit into our family’s idea of perfection.
I clench my fists, resisting the urge to punch him and get thrown straight back into the hole.
Across the car park, a growling motorbike roars towards us, making Ralph jump back like he’s terrified that being within a few inches of it will knock him a few rungs down the social class ladder.
The Harley comes to a stop in front of us. Callen pulls off his helmet and shakes his hair. He grins at me. “I thought you might need a ride.”
Ralph’s lip curls in disapproval as he takes in Callen’s long locks, beard, and his tattoos over his knuckles. He’s someone Ralph would usually call security to remove at an event.
“Sebastian, you need to come with me,” Ralph says, but his voice is a few octaves higher, like someone is holding his balls in a lemon squeezer. “You need to be with the family. Mother will be furious if—”
“If you love your mother so much, why don’t you go back and fuck her?” Callen suggests, finishing his sentence.
He’s joking, but Ralph gasps in horror as his cheeks turn beet red. “You’re repulsive!”
Callen turns back to me and taps an imaginary watch on his wrist. “Come on, we don’t have all night.”
He holds out a helmet.
“Sebastian!” Ralph objects as I take it. “I strongly insist that you come with me. Mother will—”
“Fuck you, Ralph,” I end the conversation.
Callen’s revving bike silences any more arguments. Being pressed up against Callen isn’t how I imagined my evening ending, but it beats being around my family. Although, returning to my second family won’t be any easier. When I return to the safe house, Freddie will want to know what happened to Rose…
CHAPTER7
FREDDIE
They’ll be back soon.
I walk around the cottage. Back and forth. Room to room. Carpet to wooden floors. The eyes of the young royals hanging in frames watch and taunt me. I clench my fists, fighting my instincts to hurl them from their hooks, tear the cottage apart, and smash everything in grabbing range.
Callen’s words still ring in my head, blaring through my brain like an air-raid siren.
Rose is gone.
On my way to the safe house, I passed a road leading to Collingsbrook Manor. It was crawling with police, sections of the route cordoned off, and overhead helicopters swept the area. I couldn’t get close enough to the scene to search for Rose, even if I tried.
Gravel crunching in the driveway makes me hurry to the window to see Seb staggering off Callen’s bike. He looks like he’s been through a plane crash. His suit is in tatters, his shirt ripped like a pirate’s, his knuckles are bloody, and his skin is covered in soot.
He catches me staring. Our eyes meet.You were supposed to look after her. He hangs his head in shame, feeling the full force of my unsaid accusation shooting through the air and slicing his skin.I trusted you.
My questions about the photograph of Rose and Spencer vanish as the door slams behind them. My fear of losing her again overpowers my logical reasoning. It transports me back to that night five years ago. A night when I stayed awake waiting for a call that never came. A night when I wanted to hear she was safe. A night that changed everything and left me with no one to blame. Rose disappeared without a trace then, but this is different… it’s Seb’s fault.
As soon as Seb enters the kitchen, I grab him by the scruff of his collar and smash his back into the wall. He doesn’t try to resist.
“Where is she?” I demand through gritted teeth. Adrenaline and fury sear through my veins. I’ve not felt anger like this since I returned to find my family dead in our Italian villa.
I trusted Seb to take care of her. That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have trusted anyone but myself. Doesn’t he understand how special she is?
“Freddie,” Seb stammers, struggling to breathe as I cut off his airway. His green eyes are haunted by what he’s seen and brim with tears, like a soldier returning from the battlefield. “I couldn’t find her. I tried… I…”
“Trying isn’t good enough.” My spit sprays over his face. The Dukes should protect people. That’s our purpose. How can we claim to protect strangers when we can’t even protect the woman we love? “You said she’d be safe with you. You promised you’d never let her out of your fucking sight!”
Seb chokes and gasps for air. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel how I do, as if a pack of starving animals are feasting on my heart and picking it apart piece by piece. Callen hauls me back, wrapping his arms around my chest to restrain me.
“You don’t want to do this, boss,” Callen says. How the fuck does he know what I want? “As much as I want to see pretty boy’s face re-arranged, this isn’t the right time.”
