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Reality seeped into my soul as I slowly dropped to my knees. River was pregnant ... with my baby. I was going to be a father. Shock clouded my mind briefly, then I rose to my feet.
Tears blurred my vision. “River is pregnant. We have to find her. Now!” Anger churned beneath the surface as it dawned on me that Zayne hadn’t kept up with her. I replaced the test into her purse, then set her bag down. My hands clenched and unclenched, itching to slam my fist into his face. “How the hell did you lose her? This is why I fucking hired you! You’re supposed to be keeping her safe!”
Zayne straightened and met my furious gaze, which made me crazy. He was going to be a man and own his fuck-up.
“She ran out of her office and down the hall. The elevator must have been on our floor already because she was on it before I reached her. I ran back to the opposite end to take the stairs, but the door was locked from the other side.” Zayne’s green eyes narrowed. “River didn’t want me to follow her, Holden. I don’t know why, but something had her spooked pretty badly. It took almost five minutes before the elevator returned. I could see that it had stopped on every floor. By the time I got here … all I saw was her purse. I called her, searched this area, and had Vaughn search the other floors.” Zayne swallowed visibly. “Maybe she’s with Brynn?”
“I don’t understand why the door to the stairwell was locked. It never is. I use the stairs every day. Did you let River out of your sight long enough for her to lock the stairwell?”
“No. We went straight to the third floor. She went into her office for a few minutes, then flew past me to the elevator. Unless you have access from one of the offices directly to the stairs, it’s not possible. The only other person she was with this morning was you, then me,” Zayne said.
I scrambled for his explanation to make sense, but Zayne was right. River had eyes on her all morning. Something wasn’t settling right inside my gut. “Zayne, call Chance. Vaughn, if you’ll reach out to Jace, I’ll contact Brynn.”
I grabbed River’s purse, entered the club, and sat at the bar. I tapped the green icon on my iPhone and pulled up Brynn’s number in my favorites.
“Hey,” she answered.
“Is River with you?” I asked, cutting out the pleasantries.
“No, I haven’t seen her today.”
My pulse skyrocketed. Sweat broke out over my skin as fresh anger coursed through my body.
“Holden?”
How had I let this happen?
“Holden, what’s wrong?” Brynn pleaded, concern bleeding into her normally perky tone.
“Have you talked to her? Texted or anything?” I mentally begged River to come home … to be safe.
“No. We were all meeting at your penthouse this evening, but I haven’t talked to her yet.” Brynn paused. “What’s going on, Holden?”
I hung my head and ran my fingers through my dark hair as foreboding iced my skin. “River’s missing, Brynn. She was able to ditch Zayne, and now we can’t find her. Her purse was on the loading dock, along with her phone and …” Did I tell Brynn that River was pregnant? I chose to wait in case River waltzed through the door at any second.
“Fuck. Holden, that’s not good.” Panic seized Brynn’s voice. “I’m on my way to the club. Have you called the guys to see if they’ve talked to her?”
I could hear Brynn moving in the background, and I imagined she was running through her kitchen and to her garage.
I glanced up, eyeing Vaughn and Zayne, who were now inside standing next to me. “I had the bodyguards reach out, but by the sound of it, no one has seen her.” My stomach lurched, and bile swam up to my throat. “I think someone took her, Brynn.” I nearly choked on my words.
“No. She has to be all right. We have to stay positive. I’m in my car, so I’ll see you in a few minutes. But please let me know the second you find her.” Brynn disconnected the call, and I placed my phone on the bar top.
“Holden,” Zayne said. “You need to file a police report, but I’d like to reach out to my bosses. Pierce and Sutton can help before the cops can. We can keep it quiet and move faster.”
My nostrils flared. If Zayne had kept up with River, then she wouldn’t be missing in the first goddamned place. I turned slowly, and my fingers clenched. In one quick movement, I hopped off the barstool and closed the gap between us. “This is your fault,” I spat.
Regret coasted over his face, followed by a shadow of conflict. “I know,” Zayne said, not denying my accusation. I backed away, wrapping my fury into a neat little package, and shoving it down like I always did.
Vaughn stepped in front of Zayne and blocked me. “I understand that you’re upset, but handle it later, man. We need to find River and we’re wasting valuable time.”
My anger simmered down long enough for me to realize that he had a valid point. I’d deal with Zayne later.
Over the next half hour, I called the cops and reported River as a missing person. It helped that I had a few connections with the police, but there wasn’t much they could do yet. Zayne was right. I needed Pierce and Sutton’s help.
“I’m here!” Brynn said, running toward me. “Have you found her?” She halted in front of me, her hands trembling. Brynn’s long, red hair was piled into a messy bun. She must have been in a hurry because her face was free of makeup and her white shirt was untucked.
My heart galloped. I shook my head and pulled her into a hug. “We think someone took her.” I grabbed Brynn’s hand and led her away from the bodyguards. We’d stay where they could see us, but I needed Brynn’s help and didn’t want Zayne and Vaughn to know.
