The Chase

A chill slid down Beck’s spine. “You’re not helping.”

“Our girl is out there—god knows where—alone, vulnerable, and mourning. Why the fuck are we sitting here with our thumbs up our asses while we wait for her to check in with Raine?” Seth slammed his glass on the counter, grabbed the bottle of booze, and took a long pull. “And how the hell can you be so calm?”

“I’m crawling out of my skin, same as you,” Beck thundered. “But I’m trying to stay rational. Because what if Raine is right? What if we track Heavenly down, go all caveman on her ass, and strip away the space she needs because we’re paranoid? What happens if we strong-arm her into coming back when she’s not ready?”

“First, being safety conscious isn’t paranoid. Second, she’ll never come back if she can’t trust us. I could understand you hiding shit if you were a closet smoker or had a porn habit. But you didn’t tell her you had a goddamn wife.” Seth raked a hand through his hair and huffed in frustration. “Christ, we never even told her that we love her.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Hell, yes. Maybe if she knew how we feel—”

“She would only have run away sooner. If you’ll stop this righteous little freak-out long enough to think, you’ll admit I’m right.”

Seth exhaled with a heavy sigh. “Either way, we’re screwed.”

“That’s something we can agree on.” The razor-sharp ache to hold Heavenly clawed through him. He tried to drown it with more whiskey. But hell, he could consume the whole bottle and still feel this pain.

His restless energy wasn’t going away. He cursed, slammed down his glass, and tore out of the room.

“Where the hell are you going?” Seth called after him.

Beck paused. No way was he handing over his man card and admitting that he needed to clutch Heavenly’s pillow and breathe in more of her scent. “To change out of this monkey suit.”

“Good idea.” Seth followed him down the hall.

When they breached the bedroom, they both froze in the doorway. The room was devoid of Heavenly and all her belongings, but her scent was ten times stronger here.

“Christ.” Seth tore at his tie. “We can’t escape the torture. She’s in every goddamn breath I take around here.”

“I know.” Still, Beck tried to block that reality as he slipped into the closet and stripped off his suit.

“Your couch is comfortable, right?”

“Why? You plan to crash on it tonight?”

“I can’t go back to my place. And I can’t sleep in here without her.”

Beck couldn’t, either, but he didn’t want to leave the condo in case Heavenly miraculously returned. Seth probably felt the same. And as weird as it sounded, having him here felt right. At least Beck wouldn’t be losing his shit alone.

He tugged on a tee and zipped up his jeans before poking his head out from the closet. “Guess that means we’ll be having another sausage party in the family room.”

“Great,” Seth grumbled as he snatched up his clothes and strode to the bathroom.

By the time Beck refilled their glasses, Seth stepped into the kitchen, suit slung over his arm.

“Grab the bottle, we’ll sit out on the—” Beck stopped short when his phone dinged and he glanced at the screen. “It’s Raine. She sent a text.”

Seth hustled in behind him and peered over his shoulder at the message. Just letting you know that Heavenly has stopped for the night and she’s fine.

Beck tapped back. Where?

As he hit send, his phone began to ring. The display told him Gloria was calling. Jesus, of all the shitty times for her to reach out… He sent the call to voice mail, then stared at the screen until Raine replied.

You know better than to ask. She’s safe and she’s all right.

“Tell her to give us the number of Heavenly’s burner phone,” Seth demanded. “I want to hear her voice myself.”

Beck sent the message to Raine since he’d give his left nut to hear Heavenly, too.