Page 50 of The Playboy Billionaire

Wrapping my hair in a clean towel, I change into one of the sets of clothes the women provided. I pull on the clean jeans. They’re a little baggy, but beggars can’t be choosers, and you never look a gift horse in the mouth.

The dorm room is empty when I let myself in. I spend time towel drying and de-knotting my hair before pushing my bag up against the wall and lying down. I curl into a foetal position, hugging teddy and my knees into my chest. The tears come again, only this time silently, and I let them fall. Better out than in, as Di would say. I’ll need to get a phone to let her know I’m okay, but at this moment, I’m too exhausted to think.

CHAPTER 22

CALEB

Nothing.

Where the hell is she?

I’ve been hoping April would turn up at the office, but nothing. The staff are on standby to call me should she appear. By four o’clock, I begin to realise she’s disappeared, and thoughts of New York spring to mind.

I call Don and Betty. They’re pretty shaken up but assured me their insurance will cover the damage. When I ask about April, they told me they haven’t seen or heard from her.

Where are you, little dancer?

Her phone continues to go to voicemail. She’s either switched it off, or… I think of the smouldering building and wonder if it’s a melted pile of plastic and metal.

I reopen the file Elijah sent me earlier and extract Samuel’s address.

I tried his phone earlier and it kept going to voicemail. If he’s not answering his phone because April is with him, that’s fine, but I need to know she’s safe.

I ping Mason, telling him to meet me at the car.

I pass him the address before settling back into the seat. Itry to concentrate on the influx of emails I have received, but I’m struggling to stay focused.

Damn you, woman, where are you?

We arrive outside the Edwardian Terrace. I walk up the steps and press the buzzer Elijah told me belongs to Samuel and his partner, Daniel Bishop.

“Hello?”

I recognise Samuel’s voice from the few times we’ve spoken.

“Samuel, it’s Caleb Frazer. Is April with you?”

My words come out in a rush. There’s silence, and before I know it, Samuel is opening the door in front of me. He’s wearing low-slung tracksuit pants and a t-shirt that looks like he’s just tumbled out of bed.

“Why are you looking for April?” he asks, smoothing down his hair and t-shirt, as if just realising how he’s answered the door.

I frown, and he shrugs.

“Sunny Down burned down last night,”

The colour drains from his face, and he puts out a hand to steady himself. “April?”

“She’s okay. She got out, but she’s missing. No one seems to know where she is. I take it she’s not here?”

Damn, I thought this was where she would have come. Samuel is, after all, her closest friend. Even Betty confirmed that.

“Come in,” Samuel says, stepping to one side. “I’ve been asleep this afternoon. We had an all-night rehearsal for the show I’m in. I didn’t get back until around nine this morning.”

He moves past me and takes the stairs two at a time. It’s clear he wants to find his friend as much as I do.

He pushes the apartment door open, holding it for me so I can enter.

The apartment is small and neat. A living room faces the front of the building, and an open-plan kitchen is on one side. Large sash windows look out onto the tree-lined street, allowing copious amounts of light into the room. The developer in me appreciates how tastefully it’s been decorated.

---