The Vincent Brothers (The Vincent Boys #2)(54)

“There’s no competition,” he said softly and I refused to cry in front of him.

“Just go, Ethan. Please,” I turned my head away from him and closed my eyes. After a minute of silence, I heard him stand up and walk away.

Silent tears streamed down my face as the words, “There’s no competition” replayed over and over again in my head.

Sawyer

I hadn’t been home an hour when Beau called me. He asked me to meet him down at the bar for a game of pool. I’d tried to tell him I just wanted to take a hot shower, two Tylenol and get in bed. My body ached. How the heck did he not want to curl up and crash too? Besides, what about Ashton? Didn’t he want to go see her?

Pulling into the gravel parking lot, I looked around for Beau’s truck. I found it over by the far end of the building. Ethan’s Jeep was right beside it. I needed to apologize to him anyway. I stepped out of my truck and headed for the door.

It was a slow night but then not many people came to the bar on a Wednesday. Thursday through Sunday were the busy times here. I’d only been a few times with Beau but I’d passed the place several times. I knew which nights had a full parking lot.

“Well, if it ain’t my favorite nephew,” Aunt Honey called out from behind the bar.

I nodded my head in her direction, “Hey, Aunt Honey.”

“Want a beer? I can already tell you that you’re probably gonna need it.”

What the heck did that mean? I started to tell her no and then figured if I couldn’t have a hot shower and painkillers a beer was the next best thing. “Sure, thanks.”

“Go on over to the boys. They’re waiting on ya. I’ll bring ya a beer in just a sec.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

“Told ya not to call me ma’am. Makes me sound like somebody’s mama,” she teased and shot me a wink.

She really was a piece-of-work.

I made my way over to Beau who leaned up against the edge of a pool table with his ankles crossed and a frosty mug of beer in his hand. It was the expression on his face that tipped me off that this wasn’t just a friendly gathering. I was here for a purpose. Slipping my hand into my pocket, I held Lana’s letter between my fingers. Remembering her words helped me deal. If this was bad news, I needed a reminder that she was out there and that she loved me.

“What is it, Beau?” I demanded the moment I was close enough.

“I got some answers for you that you’re gonna want. But you need to remain calm while you get those answers.”

My heart sped up and I froze, “Lana?”

Beau nodded, “Yep. Lana.”

“You know where she is?”

“Yeah, I do. But it ain’t my story to tell,” Beau turned his head and I followed his gaze to Ethan standing a few feet away from us. “Go ahead E, before he loses it.”

Ethan shifted his gaze from me to Beau and I could see the fear in his eyes.

“What do you know?” I started toward him, ready to shake him until he told me what he knew.

Beau’s hand clamped down on my shoulder and stopped me. “You won’t get your answers if you hurt him.” He turned to Ethan. “Ethan, tell him. I told you, I won’t let him rip your balls off.”

My heart started racing and the blood boiled in my veins. The idea that Ethan had somehow had a hand in Lana’s disappearance was making it hard for me to take calm steady breaths.

“You better do this quick E, cause he’s gonna blow in a second and I’m sore as shit from this week. I really don’t want to have to stop this,” Beau urged.

“Okay, yeah. Um, well, you see Sawyer. I got a call from Lana—”

“Why the hell is she calling you?” I demanded, taking another step toward Ethan who backed up a step.

“Get the f**k on with this E,” Beau growled as his hand tightened on my shoulder.

“No. Before. She called me before. The day Ash thought Beau cheated. She called me that day and told me she needed a favor. She said she couldn’t stay here anymore and needed my help. I picked her up and—”

“WHERE IS SHE?” I roared, taking another step his way. Both Beau’s hands clamped down on my shoulders.

“Easy bro,” he warned.

“Lord have mercy boy. Drink this beer and chill out. The girl is safe and if you’ll let the kid talk you’ll find out where she’s at,” Aunt Honey stood in front of me shoving a mug of beer into my hand. “Here, hold this. That way you can only hit him with one fist.”

“Go on, Mama. I got this,” Beau said behind me.

“Hmph, don’t look like it. But I hope you’re right. I ain’t payin’ for no repairs if he goes bat shit in here,” she replied.

Setting the beer down on the edge of the pool table, I didn’t take my eyes off Ethan. He knew where she was. He KNEW where she was.

“I took her to her friend’s condo at the beach.”

She wasn’t there. I’d called Jewel... wait. He’d taken her there?

“Did you see Jewel? Did she actually go into a condo?” I asked, hoping that I’d been played by that crazy ass friend of hers.

“Yeah, I carried her bags to the door. Jewel came outside squealing and all happy to see her. Then I went back,” Ethan began.