Page 246 of Never Fall for an Angel

“I’ll let you know when I need advice from someone who was just kidnapped hours ago.”

She lets out a deep breath like she’s composing herself.

“I’m going to let that go because I know you’re hurting. I’m also going to tell you that you won’t be able to find her if you’re dead, and right now, you’re looking close to it.”

“I’m fine.”

“Will you just stop being a stubborn asshole for two seconds?” she snaps, that carefully composed calmness gone in the blink of an eye.

Good, that makes two of us.

“Listen to you?” I snort, rising from the chair. Her eyes go wide as if she thinks I might hurt her. “Why the fuck would I want to listen to what you have to say?”

Storming inside, Bella follows me, hot on my tail. I ignore her, grabbing the bottle of whiskey from the cabinet in the kitchen and flicking the lid off.

—Only for it to fly at the wall a moment later when that pissed-off rage takes hold.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she snaps, and Levi takes one look at the scene, his eyes going wide before he jumps off the couch. He places a hand on her shoulder, trying to wrangle her in, but she’s not one to be persuaded. “Your wife is missing, and you’ve been staring at your hands for the last two hours like she’ll magically appear? And now you want to getdrunk?”

I stand to my full height, my chest bumping hers and knocking her back into Levi.

“What the fuck else do you want me to do?” I growl, and Levi yanks Bella back from me. “I’ve got surveillance teams all over the fucking country looking. I’ve got the goddamned copsandFBI involved. You want the fucking president next? Want me to send up smoke signals? I can’t fucking find her, and this ismy fault!”

Paulina steps out of the room, her eyes glistening. Her tear-streaked face means nothing to me. She may as well be the shattered whiskey bottle lying in pieces on the floor.

The room is silent, everyone having stopped what they were doing to look at me, currently losing my fucking mind.

Great. The more, the merrier.

In a rush of anger, I whip the barstool beside me at the wall, watching it splinter. The fragile wood is a replica of my self-control.

Then, because that felt so damned good, I threw the next one too.

Fuck those stools. I’ve always hated them, anyway.

My head spins at that moment, and I stumble back a step, falling to my knees on the hardwood floor. The blood rushes in my ears, my heartbeat a pounding drum in my throat. Sweatcoats my skin, and for the first time since my wife went missing, I realize what the feeling in my gut is.

It’s fucking hopelessness.

“This is my fucking fault,” I breathe, and no one says a word. I’m not even sure anyone even breathes. When the man who’s always in control finally snaps, shit tends to get volatile.

As expected, Bella is the one to speak up.

Wrenching away from Levi, she drops down to her haunches in front of me, her light blue eyes flashing with tears.

“Then fucking find her.”

And then it clicks.

“The cabin.”

Everyone stares at me, no one understanding what I’m saying.

Except Levi.

One look at him, and he understands.

“The fucking cabin.”

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