Page 15 of Euphoria

Zane and Crew came barreling into his office, not bothering to knock. Crew shot Colter a sheepish grin. “Sorry about that, man,” he said. “My husband got a little impatient, and doesn’t know his own strength sometimes.”

“Hey,” Zane said.

“Well, it’s true, babe,” Crew insisted. “You nearly broke the guy’s door down.”

“Sorry, but you said that your boyfriend is in trouble, and I didn’t want to waste any time,” Zane said. “How about you tell us what’s going on with Hugh?”

“You know him?” Colter asked.

“Yeah, I’ve come over a few times when you were out, and Hugh and I got to know each other. I even tried to get him to come over to the club,” Zane admitted. Every possessive, jealous gene sprang to life inside of him and Zane seemed to notice. “It’s not like that, man,” he insisted. “We’re friends. So, how about you tell us how we can help Hugh?”

Colter took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. “I got a message from Hugh about two hours ago that he was going out of town with his ex-boyfriend, Luke for a few days,” he said.

“Do he and his ex hang out?” Crew asked, sitting on the edge of the desk.

“No,” Colter breathed, “they had a bad breakup and as far as I know, they haven’t spoken since Hugh moved to town.”

“Well, maybe his ex convinced him to forgive him, and they are catching up,” Zane said.

“No fucking way,” Colter shouted. “He wouldn’t just take off with his ex and not tell me.”

“But you said that he did tell you,” Crew reminded. “He called here, right?”

“Yes, but I’m telling you that something is wrong. Hugh wouldn’t go with Luke willingly,” Colter insisted.

“Why would his ex force him to go with him then?” Crew asked.

“I have no fucking idea, but that’s what I called you for. Can you do a little bit of digging and find out where he might have taken Hugh?” Colter asked.

“Um, sure,” Crew agreed, “but you need to be prepared for the fact that Hugh might have gone with him willingly.”

“Again, no fucking way,” Colter said, this time with no real heat. “I know that Hugh and I haven’t been together very long, but I know him well enough to say that he’d never leave me for Luke.”

“Okay, I’ll put a few feelers out for you and see what I can come up with,” Crew promised. The look of pity on both his and Zane’s faces was nearly his undoing. He didn’t want their pity; he wanted their help, and hopefully, they’d be able to find Hugh.

Colter had spent the rest of the week going out of his fucking mind, worrying about Hugh. A part of him was worried that Crew was right, and that Hugh had left him for Luke. There was no word from Hugh, and he was trying to remain hopeful, but with each passing day, that was getting harder to do.

He was waiting for an update from Crew and when his cell rang, he picked it up like it was his lifeline, and answered it. “Give me some good news, man,” he ordered.

“I wish I could, but I’m afraid that you might not like the news that I’m about to give you, Colter,” a man’s voice said from the other end of the call. Colter knew Crew’s voice, having almost daily updates from him, and whoever was calling him now wasn’t Crew.

“Who is this?” Colter growled. He was afraid that the asshole on the other end of the call was fucking around and wasting his time.

“Oh, I’m sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Luke—Hugh’s ex.” Hearing Luke say that he was Hugh’s ex had him breathing a little easier.

“What do you want, Luke?” he asked, cutting to the chase. “Where is Hugh?”

“So, no small talk,” Luke said, “I can appreciate getting to the point. I’m that way too. I guess our Hugh has a type.”

“He’s not our Hugh,” Colter spat. Luke’s laugh was mean, and he knew that he had played right into the guy’s hands.

“My bad,” Luke said. Colter could tell by just his tone that he really didn’t mean it. “I’ll cut to the chase too. I have Hugh, and you want him back I’m assuming.” Colter wanted him back more than he wanted his next breath, but he wasn’t about to tell the asshole on the other end of the call that.

“Go on,” Colter almost shouted.

“Okay, if you want Hugh back, you’ll need to wire me two million dollars,” Luke said. There was no fucking way that he would send Luke a cent, but he needed to play along if he wanted him to believe that he was on board.

“If I don’t?” Colter asked.

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