Page 55 of Savage

Bethany raises her eyebrows at me. “Yeah, earlier. If you mean recently, then no. I don’t keep track of your sex toys.”

I glare at her, but Bethany isn’t intimidated. “She was around here. Text me if you see her.”

Bethany rolls her eyes at me, and it’s clear she’s going to be of no help. I check my phone again, not sure what I’m expecting to find. Stef doesn’t have a phone on her, and I don’t have a tracker in her.

I need to change that. I have to know where she is at all times.

Fuck. I shouldn’t have trusted her. If I have to call in help to track her down, I’ll never hear the end of it.

The other possibility… I check the threatening email I received, but nothing about it suggests the blackmailer wants to take Stef away from me.

I grind my teeth and take a breath, trying to remain calm. She can’t have gone far. She has the vibrator inside her… unless she removed it.

That’s probably the first thing she would have done if she was trying to escape. I ignore the people trying to talk to me and stalk toward the restrooms. I peer inside the women’s room, but it’s empty.

Just in case, I check the men’s room too, but it’s just as empty.

Shit, shit, shit. I try to calm myself down, but it’s getting harder to see through the haze of anger. I need to maintain control. I can’t lose it, not here.

When I head back to the main hall, I have a small modicum of composure. I scan the room, but Stef’s purple dress is nowhere to be seen.

I do notice a different woman who looks out of place, though, with a slight wobble to her gait. And when she turns around, I can see the red tint to her eyes, and how she keeps sniffing and moving her nose. She’s hanging off the arm of one of the donors, a big man with graying hair and a thick beard.

I approach them, pasting a smile on my face. “Mr. Benetton! Good evening. How good of you to come today.”

“Doctor Savage, nice to see you. Lovely speech you gave earlier.” Benetton extends his hand to me, and I shake it. The woman at his side doesn’t even pretend to care about me.

“I didn’t realize you’d brought your daughter,” I say, knowing full well she’s anything but that.

Benetton chuckles awkwardly. “No, this is my date. Janine, meet Doctor Savage.”

She waves at me, her eyes not tracking properly. How long ago did she use?

“Hello, Janine. I’m sorry to bother you both about this, but I seem to have lost a friend somewhere in the crowd. Have you seen a young, blonde woman in a purple dress?”

Benetton shakes his head, but Janine nods.

“Yeah. She was upstairs, using the bathroom. Guess it was too crowded down here.” Janine rubs at her nose. “Hey, sweetie, I’m gonna grab a drink. You want anything?”

“Sure. A red wine, please.” We both watch Janine leave, and I itch to disappear too. Benetton coughs though. “Savage, good that you’re here. I was wondering, could you talk to your mother about…”

I listen as politely as I can, but as soon as there’s an opening, I interject, “Yes, I’ll let her know. I’m sure she’ll be interested.”

I leave, half-rushing toward the stairs. I don’t even remember what Benetton wanted anymore. My mind is stuck on the image of Stef, hiding away somewhere. Hiding from me.

Doing something stupid.

I check the women’s bathroom first, but of course it’s empty. I do hear a loud moan coming through the walls, though.

My vision is getting hazy with anger. I can’t stop myself from slamming the men’s door open.

“Jesus fuck!” somebody shouts.

There are two men up against the far wall, both with their cocks out. Their noses are as red as Janine’s was.

Sitting on her knees in front of them is Stef.

Stef turns to look at the door with unfocused eyes—and I see that she, too, has a reddened nose.

---