57. Weston

The fact that Renee was even willing to talk to me has me walking on air. The fact that she”s going to come back and keep talking to me makes me feel like a god.

Things aren”t fixed—and they probably won”t be immediately—but we”re both willing to try.

It”s more than I can ask for.

But as I wait for her, and wait for her, and wait and wait and wait, I begin to wonder… Maybe she”s rethinking? She said she just needed to go to the bathroom, but when I glance down at my watch at five, ten, fifteen minutes, I begin to question things.

Shit. Maybe she got cold feet?

Nah, something feels off. Nothing in the way that Renee looked at me before she left felt like there was any doubt there. Not like I”ve been married long, but I feel like a husband knows when there”s something off with his wife, and nothing was off with Renee when she left.

So what gives?

I don”t like the feeling that I”m getting in my gut. So I leave the balcony and start looking around for her, or the next best line to her.

Sutton.

Me and Sutton haven”t been on speaking terms since I got Renee kicked out of the building. That woman is a grudge holder. I don”t exactly blame her.

But she”s who I”m seeking like a missile as I continue my voyage to find Renee. When I catch sight of her, I go over immediately and prepare to get swung on.

She at least has more self-control than that.

”Hel—oh. Weston. It”s you.” Sutton folds her arms over her chest and looks at me like I’m some kind of bug she wants to squash. ”What are you doing here?”

”I came to support Renee.”

”Mmm. You can support her by fucking off?—”

”We were actually having a conversation,” I interrupt. ”Making up. I was apologizing. Then she had baby bladder and ran to the bathroom. But that was almost twenty minutes ago.”

”Maybe she just really didn”t want to talk at all.” Sutton sneers. ”Sounds like a valid excuse to get away from you.”

I draw in a breath. I didn”t come here to argue with my wife”s best friend. I came to make amends.

”I know we”re not on any kind of good foot—and it’s important to me that we get there one day—but I do know we both care about Renee. I fucked up. I”m trying to make it better. Can you please just tell me if you”ve seen her in the last twenty minutes or so?”

Initially, she looks like she”s going to tell me to kick rocks again, but then she gets this confused look on her face.

”Actually… no, I haven”t.” She frowns. ”Let me go check the bathroom.” When I go to follow, she shoos me back. ”Just in case she”s actually trying to get away from you! Scram and wait!”

I roll my eyes but stay put. A few minutes later, Sutton comes back to me—and she looks worried.

”She”s not in any of the bathrooms,” she mumbles. ”And some of the staff haven”t seen her for a while, either.”

Okay. Something is up.

Saying nothing, we book it to the back, where a security guard has set up shop. I follow her. Funny, how we were henpecking just moments ago and now, we”re banded together like the damn Avengers. If nothing else, I appreciate that Renee has someone like Sutton in her corner.

Sutton knocks on the security door. ”Ted? You in there?”

”Where else would I be?”

Sutton shakes her head and opens the door. Ted is a burly fifty-something seated behind an array of screens, most of which show various camera feeds situated around the building and one of which shows old P.I. shows in black and white. He looks over his shoulder when we come in, giving a nod to Sutton.

I look at her. ”You know each other?”

”He used to bodyguard for me back in the day.”

”Someone has to make sure the rich and the famous don’t get the right hooks they have coming to them,” he says with a friendly laugh. “Too much drama, though. I like sitting here, watching my shows and preventing petty theft.”

Simple man, simple pleasures. Respect.

”Anyway… Ted, we have an issue. You think you could help us find someone?”

”Eh?”

”My friend, Renee. The one whose show it is tonight. She’s been MIA for a while. We just wanted to see if she went somewhere?”

”Of course,” he says pleasantly. “We can rewind the tapes. If she went somewhere out front, we’d see her right…”

Ted leans over, turning knobs and pressing buttons. Two of the screens start to rewind back. Sutton and I squint at them, trying to catch a glimpse of Renee”s possible departure. Why she would leave, I have no idea.

But the gnawing in my gut is getting worse.

”Hm… Oh, there—Oh… There!”

Sutton jabs a finger at the screen. As Ted stops and resumes play, my blood begins to boil over.

Renee and Deacon are walking out to the front of the gallery. They”re speaking, but the footage only shows what they”re doing; there”s no sound. They don”t exchange many words, but the expression on Deacon”s face is vile.

How dare he look at my fucking wife like that?

Whatever he says makes Renee take a step backward, like she”s about to leave him. But in the blink of an eye, he grabs her and presses something that glints to her side. My hands clench as I realize what it is.

This motherfucker pulled a knife on her.

He growls something in her ear before he jerks her toward the car parked in front of them. Deacon yanks the car door open and tosses Renee in. Less than a second later, he”s on the other side, sliding behind the wheel.

Then they zip off into the night without a trace.

”Well, that sure was something,” Ted remarks.

”Glad this seems fucking funny to you,” I snap.

”Weston—”

”He took her, Sutton!” I shake my head and clench my fists. I need to hit something. Tear something apart.

No, not “something”—Deacon is what I need to destroy. I”m gonna wring him so dry that when I”m done with him, he”ll be dust.

Sutton is already on the phone, relaying the information to the cops, but it sounds like they”re giving her a hard time.

”Yes, they were going to get married, but not anymore… No, she hasn”t said anything about feeling in danger… But I”m looking at the footage right now. If you could just send someone to—please, this is important!”

But I’m not waiting around for them to pull their heads out of their asses. Fuck the cops. I’ve got my own squad on lock, and we”re gonna find Renee if it”s the last thing we do.