passed out on a patio lounger.”
The relief I feel is short-lived. “If she’s not with Snyder, who the fuck is she with?”
“We already told you, we don’t know! We’ve never seen this guy before.” Ophelia puffs on her vape. Her eyes are bloodshot. “He was pretty sexy, though.”
Christ.
“You two claim you’re friends with Jo now,” I snap. “If that was actually the case, you’d be looking out for her. Not letting her leave with some random guy.”
“We’re her friends, not her mother.” Odette rolls her eyes. “Loosen up, Archie.”
“Fuck you, Odette.”
“Rude!” Tossing her hair dramatically, she turns her back on me and stomps over to the pool table.
Ophelia lingers a moment longer, staring at me. Her head tilts in contemplation. “The guy she left with… he looked a lot like you, now that I think about it.” She pauses to take another hit of her JUUL. “Do you happen to have a brother?”
The air vacates my lungs in a panicked gust.
I race home as fast as I can. I don’t worry about getting pulled over. All my thoughts are reserved for Jaxon.
Jaxon and Jo.
Together.
If he lays a finger on her, I swear to God…
Five miles has never felt quite so far.
My foot presses harder against the accelerator. With a white-knuckled grip on my steering wheel, I blow through a stop sign. I take turns on two wheels, ignoring every speed limit and school zone.
At the front gates of Cormorant House, my brakes screech to a stop with a shower of pea stone. Leaning half out my window, I punch in the access code with impatient fingers. As soon as the wrought-iron swings wide, I floor it once more, barreling onto the property like my life depends on it.
Like Jo’s life depends on it.
Beneath my boiling anxiety, a deep rage simmers. I’m so furious, I can barely see straight. After all I’ve done to keep her out of harm’s way… Jaxon comes along and drags her into it without thinking twice.
I shouldn’t be surprised — he’s never given much thought to anyone’s interests except his own. Never given much thought to anything, really, except where his next fix is coming from.
Don’t get me wrong, I do love my brother. I never blamed him for his addiction. After all, he was no more aware than any of us that a shoulder injury at a JV soccer game would wind up being the gateway to a world of pharmaceuticals. He had no idea, as he swallowed down his doctor-approved Vicodin, that he’d crave the high it delivered long after his prescription ran out and his pain was gone.
The problem is, addicts don’t take drugs for physical pain. They take it to soothe something deeper inside, where no one else can see.
I know that.
I don’t judge him for it.
I would forgive him almost anything.
I would absolve him of whatever he did to hurt me.
But not to her.
Because if he harms a single hair on Josephine Valentine’s head… I’ll kill him with my bare hands.
First, though, I need to find him.
My parents are at the cottage; I doubt he’d go there. I head for the main estate, slowing only slightly as I round the first bend of the circular driveway. Cormorant House comes into view, a dark silhouette in the distance.
My eyes move automatically to Jo’s suite on the second floor. Her window is dark. In fact, every window in the mansion is dark. Even the porch light is off. The stairs sit in shadow when I pull up before them.
Maybe he took her somewhere else.
When I spot the empty maroon sedan parked beneath a tree on the side of the house, its paint chipping into patches of rust, I know that’s not the case. It belongs to Jax; I’d stake my soul on it.
My pulse is erratic when I shut the engine and bolt from the truck. I bound up the steps in three giant strides. I can’t think clearly enough to form a real plan. All I know is, I need to find Jo. To make sure she’s all right. Whatever happens after that is a secondary concern.
I’m barely breathing as my hand closes over the front door handle and tugs.
Locked.
I begin to knock — tentatively, at first, then louder when a minute passes without answer.
“Jo!” I call, resting my forehead against the thick wood. I strain to hear any signs of life inside. “Jo, open up! It’s me.” My voice breaks. “It’s Archer.”
She’s a light sleeper. She’d hear me knocking, I’m certain