“You’re not going anywhere like that,” he says, eyeing my shirt and hands.
“We need to go—”
“You need to go and change. Now. I’m going down to see Marcus, find out if he knows anything else. And then you’re going to tell me what the hell happened tonight and whose blood that is,” Mason says, and I get the feeling he’s not going to budge on the issue.
“Wait for me. I’ll be two minutes,” I say before leaving him in the foyer.
The bathroom door hits the wall with a bang as I throw it open. After turning on the light, I pause in front of the mirror.Fuck.No wonder Mason wouldn’t let me leave. Not only are my hands and shirt a mess, blood is also spattered across my face and neck. Shit, I’m lucky I didn’t get pulled over for speeding or driving like a maniac. Nothing I said could have talked my way out of this. Mason’s right. I can’t go running around the city looking like a fucking crime scene, but it’s still time I can’t afford to waste. Not when Grace ismissing.
My chest rises and falls with ragged breaths. I barely recognise the man staring back at me with wild eyes. My thoughts run rampant behind the blue depths. Images of my parents. Ian’s lifeless body.Grace.Several buttons pop, scattering across the tiles as I tear my shirt off and throw it to the floor before turning on the tap. When the water hits my torn knuckles, I suppress the hiss that tries to escape. My movements are rough and quick, almost punishing, as crimson water circles the drain.
I knew Easton had his issues with Grace, but I didn’t realise he’d do something this drastic. Something heknewI’d be fucking against. The fact he went behind my back, tonight of all nights, hits hard. He’s the one person who’s meant to have my back. However, after tonight, I question whether I can trust him completely anymore.
When my hands and forearms are clean, I make quick work of my face before shedding my pants and changing into a fresh pair and a clean shirt. Then, without wasting any more time, I head straight for the foyer, where I find Mason with his phone pressed to his ear. When he sees me approaching, he says one last thing before hanging up. I’m about to ask if he was able to find anything out when the lift chimes, and both our heads swing towards it.
The doors open, only to reveal Easton, and the anger I’d felt at the warehouse starts to bubble up again. “You need to leave,” I say, noting the slight smear of blood at the corner of his mouth, but my words are drowned out by Mason.
“What did you do to her?” he asks, putting himself right in front of Easton.
Easton bristles, but he doesn’t back down. “It’s none of your business, old man. Stick to walking the dog.”
Mason doesn’t react to the attempted insult. He doesn’t lash out in anger, but the energy rolling off him is deadly. Mason’s in his early forties, and from what Easton dug up years ago, he’s ex-special forces, so I don’t know what game Easton could possibly be trying to play right now.
“You’re going to tell me what happened tonight,” Mason says, but it’s almost like his voice istoocalm. Enough to be almost lethal. “What did you do with Grace, and how did she end up scared and alone, fleeing some guy chasing after her?”
Easton’s eyes flick to me at Mason’s words, clearly not expecting them.
“Mason, I understand you want answers, but we don’t have time right now. I’ll tell you what you want to know, but we need to find her first,” I say, and it’s a moment before he looks at me. Worry lingers under the fury in his eyes, and it matches the mix of feelings tightening my chest. As much as I’d like to see Easton get what’s coming to him for what he did tonight, I need to find Grace.Now.
“If I find out you hurt her…” he says to Easton before glancing back at me. “Either of you…” He doesn’t finish the sentence, but his tone speaks for itself.
I dip my chin at him while Easton glowers, but Mason’s not the only one who will go after him if he hurt her. Moving past both of them, I press the button for the lift, and the doors open immediately. Both Easton and Mason follow me inside, and the tension between us is so thick you can almost see it rippling through the air around us. I have no idea why Easton’s here, not after what happened, but I can’t even think about that now—my mind is running a million miles a second.
As soon as we’re on the main floor, Mason leads us to the security office.
“What happened?” I demand as soon as we enter the small space. Marcus, one of the other security guards, takes us in as we squeeze into the office entrance.
“Mr. Reed. Mr. Woods,” he says with a short dip of his head in greeting, but his expression is reserved.
“I came to check on Grace, but she’s not in the penthouse. Did you see her leave?” Mason asks.
“No… I’ve barely been back here for five minutes. Since she came through the lobby, I’ve been at the front desk. She definitely didn’t leave that way. I would’ve seen her.”
“Can you search the security footage? What about the guy Mason mentioned?” I ask, but he’s already tapping away on the keyboard before I can finish speaking.
“There’s no way he could have gotten up to the penthouse. He seemed more concerned about getting his money rather than Grace herself.”
“What money?” My words come out on a growl.
“Apparently, he gave her a ride, and she didn’t pay the fare.”
Thirty seconds later, an image of Grace in the lift fills the main screen, stealing all of my attention, and my heart clenches. The picture isn’t clear, but it’s obvious she’s not okay. Her hair is a mess, and she swipes her hands under her eyes, but it’s the backpack on her shoulders that has my heart sinking.She left.There’s nobody with her forcing her to leave. She’schoosingto go. After a few moments, Grace exits the lift, and I feel a moment of panic at not seeing her.
“Where did she go?”
Marcus taps something on the keyboard, and the image changes to Grace again, though the camera is much farther away this time. “Looks like she went through the parking garage,” he says. It’s hard to make out on the monitor, but from the way she’s dragging her leg, it looks like she’s limping again.Fuck.
Guilt starts to eat away at me. Easton may have been the one to bring her to the warehouse, but I know she ran because of me. Because of what she saw. I feel Mason’s eyes on me, and I wince internally.