Page 87 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

“I did text him and he didn’t answer.”

That wasn’t like Brock at all. “He couldn’t have gone far. Did you check the basement? Maybe he’s showing someone the tunnels.”

“That’s my next stop,” Zach stated.

Just then Brock came down the hallway leading from the kitchen. The second Brock’s eyes locked onto Braxton’s, they narrowed.

“Where have you been?” Zach asked, stepping forward. He’d kept his tone down since there were guests walking around, but the anger and worry were evident. “I texted you twenty minutes ago.”

“I had to take Cora home.” He answered without taking his eyes off Braxton.

“Take her home? I told her I’d take her. You can’t drive, damn it.”

Brock nodded. “I know, but—”

“There’s no excuse,” Zach fumed.

Braxton understood Zach’s anger, but right now, there were more pressing matters . . . at least in Braxton’s opinion.

“Why did she leave early?” he demanded. “We need her here.”

Had she gotten sick? Had she fallen and hurt herself and didn’t want him to know? Something was wrong or she’d still be here.

Brock shrugged. “She didn’t say anything. I found her outside the bathroom. She didn’t look good. She asked me to take her home and didn’t want anyone to know, so I took her out the back.”

Uneasiness slid through him. “What was wrong with her?”

“She didn’t say, really. All she told me was that she wasn’t feeling well and she needed a ride home.”

It had only been a couple hours ago she’d been in his arms, agreeing to see him later. What had happened in such a short time? Dread slid through, pushing right through the uneasiness.

“Did she say if she heard Anna and me talking?”

Brock shook his head. “She didn’t mention Anna at all. I swear. She was quiet most of the way home and wouldn’t even let me walk her to the door. So I waited until she got inside. She didn’t look like she felt good, if that helps, but I got the impression she was upset more than anything.”

Damn it. If Cora thought something was up with him and Anna, that would be upsetting to her. But if that was the case, why hadn’t she come to him? Why hadn’t she just asked him about it? Did she truly think that he’d be intimate with her and have something going on with his ex?

“We will talk about this after the party,” Zach growled to Brock. Then he turned to Braxton. “People are still coming in, but if you want to leave and check on her, go ahead.”

Braxton weighed his options. Torn between loyalty to Chelsea, his brothers, and Sophie, and then to his feelings for Cora, he had no idea what to do.

She’d left upset, though, and that told him something was wrong. Had someone said something to her? Surely nobody treated her differently because of her blindness. He’d seen her chatting with guests, laughing, even, and a few times when he’d walked by he’d even heard her going over the types of services she offered.

So what the hell had gone wrong?

“I’m going to head out,” he told Zach. “I’ll be back, but I have to check on her.”

Zach nodded in understanding. It wasn’t that long ago that he was in a tough spot with Sophie, was torn between loyalty and love. Damn it, Braxton didn’t want to be torn. He wanted his world to be calm and settled, but since Cora had come into his life, he’d been turned every which way and now he had to choose which direction to go in.

“I promise I’ll be back to help clean up,” he stated as he headed down the hall. Right now, the need to see Cora, to figure out what happened, was taking precedence over the resort and he knew without a doubt that Chelsea would kick his ass if he ignored Cora’s needs right now.

Chapter Sixteen

Cora pulled her nightshirt over her head, wanting nothing more than to crawl between her cozy comforter and shut out the rest of the world. When Braxton had taken her aside earlier, showing her how much he’d missed her, making her believe they actually stood a chance, she’d grabbed hold of that hope and had fully believed they’d come back here and put things back on the righ

t track to move forward with their relationship.

He’d given her a promise of another shot at something special, but in the span of a few seconds, when Cora had been coming out of the ladies’ room, everything had changed. Cora didn’t even know what to think, how to react. She’d been blindsided and she’d run like a coward and now she was hiding in her house.

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