I sank to my knees with my phone in my hand and my heart in my throat, reading that text over and over. No, baby. Please. I dialed her number, but it went straight to voicemail. I dialed it again. Same thing. I texted her.

Axel: Blaire, please pick up the phone if you’re awake.

Axel: Please, baby.

Axel: I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry. Please give me a chance to explain.

None of the messages were marked, “Read,” so I assumed she was asleep. But where was she sleeping? Maybe she went to Beau’s. I dialed his number, and he answered groggily. “Ax? Something wrong with one of the girls?” Okay, so she isn’t at Beau’s.

“Beau, hey. Um, is Blaire with you?” I asked anyway.

His voice sounded more alert when he answered. “Why would she be with me? I thought she was with you. Where the fuck is my sister?”

“I… I don’t know. We had a, um, disagreement, and now I can’t find her. She’s not at the hotel we were staying at, and she’s not here at our apartment.”

His voice sounded as frigid as the Alaskan tundra. “Does this have something to do with your ‘friend?’ That other woman?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes, but she will no longer be a problem.”

A long pause. “Did you kill her?” he whispered. “I can help you hide the—”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“No, Beau. I did not kill her, but I was very tempted.”

Conspiracy Beau was gone, and Angry Big Brother Beau was instantly back in the mix. “Have you been fucking around on Blaire? Because I think you know what will happen to you if you fuck around on my sister.”

“No, I swear on my life, I haven’t. But I said some shit I shouldn’t have, and I need to find her and make it right.”

There was another long pause. “I’m having some serious déjà fucking vu right now, Broxton. Isn’t this the same conversation we had five years ago?”

“It’s close. And yes, this is all my fault again. I just need to know where she is and that she’s safe. Are you sure she’s not there, and you just don’t want to tell me?”

“If she was here, I would tell you she was here, and then I would tell you to fuck off.” He sighed. “Let me see if I can get in touch with her because now you have me worried. I’ll call you back if I find out something.”

Beau hung up abruptly, and I sat on the floor with my back against the wood and stone bar, checking my phone every thirty seconds. Sixteen long fucking minutes later, Beau called me back, his voice icy and abrupt.

“She’s safe.”

“Oh, thank God. Do you know where she is?”

“Yes.”