Page 72 of Reed

“You fuck anyone since the first girl?” Owen throws out, and Mase spins to glare back at him.

“No,” he clips.

“She broke you.” Tate chuckles.

Mase’s nostrils flare. “Shut the fuck up!”

“What was the problem? You said she was amazing, best night of your life, blah blah blah,” Shaw drawls.

Mase’s shoulders sag as he drops his head forward, and his Adam’s apple slowly slides down his throat while we wait on tenterhooks for him to speak. “That was until the end. The bit I keep trying to block out but fail. Every. Fucking. Time.”

“Was she really a man?” Tate chuckles, and I’m pleased when Owen reaches out and smacks him on the back of his head.

Slowly, he lifts his head, and his pale face has me sitting forward with concern. “Nope. A schoolgirl.”

You could hear a pin drop.

“That’s not possible. Oscar has rules that the women have to be twenty-one or above,” Owen interjects.

Mase rubs at his forehead, and a pang of sympathy hits me for my friend. He has no fucking luck with women, and if he thinks he’s slept with someone so young, no wonder he’s not in a rush to do it all again. If Owen is right, someone in Indulgence has seriously fucked up.

Shaw turns to me. “Sounds like he needs a lawyer.” He winks.

I blow out a deep breath. Great, another fucking job to add to the list. At least this one is in New Jersey, not fucking LA.

“Are you coming to LA or not?” Mase asks, his sudden change in conversation a welcome relief. Let’s face it, who the fuck wants to deal with that and the extra workload it will bring?

“Not,” I state.

He exhales theatrically. “I’m out. Looks like I’m going to LAalone!” He huffs and slams the door behind him.

“What’s gotten into him?” I ask as my eyes narrow on the door.

“Oh, I don’t fucking know, Reed. You’re meant to be his damn lawyer, and you just threw him to the wolves to stay home and play house. Not to mention, he thinks he slept with a teenager and can see a lawsuit coming.”

I scoff back at Owen. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same.”

His lip twitches and he shrugs. “Probably.”

“Besides, the teenager thing won’t be a problem. If what Owen is saying is right, I could sue the company for not following through with their own safeguarding and rules.” I grin widely.

“You’re going to sue the Mafia?” Owen asks with a raised eyebrow.

Yeah, probably not the best idea, and I wince.

I drown out of the rest of the conversations while my mind wanders to why Gia hasn’t messaged me back yet. She usually lets me know when Jax has his afternoon feeding and nap. Something isn’t right. Gia always sends me messages throughout the day. I pull up the tracking app I have on their phones, and when they both signal being at home, an ominous feeling deep inside me twists, making my blood run cold. She always messages me and tells me Bryce made it home safe.

Something is wrong.

CHAPTERFORTY-THREE

REED

A sickening feelingswells inside my stomach as I pull up outside Gia’s. Her car is parked outside the house, but Tyson’s truck is missing. He was supposed to be collecting Bryce from school and should be here by now. I glance at my phone again to see no missed calls or messages. Surely, she’d have called me if it was something to do with one of the boys, right? My heart flips at the thought. She would have.

I swallow back the bile gathered in my throat, switch off the car, and rush up the steps with my heart hammering in my chest and my fingers trembling. I dig into my pocket for the spare key she gifted me recently and unlock the door.

Silence greets me, which is rare. Due to how small the house is, every sound is heard, and I’ve become accustomed to my shattered peace, and I’ve grown to love the chaos of the small house. I glance around the hallway, and nothing looks amiss, but as I step into the living room, I notice Jax’s portable crib is missing, causing a pain to lance through my chest. I spin on my heels and dash up the stairs and into Gia’s bedroom. Her bedroom drawers are pulled out and empty, and when I throw open the bathroom door, her toiletries are missing.

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