Black Dagger Brotherhood 11 - Lover at Last

out his phone. “And there’s GPS on the vehicle, so this is going to be fine. I’ll just hit up V and he’ll be able to locate her for us.”
    After he sent the text, the queen reassured the butler some more, and Blay hung around, waiting for a response.
    Ten minutes later? Nada. Which meant the Brother with the IT skills was in the middle of some business downtown.
    Fifteen minutes.
    Twenty.
    He even called, and didn’t get an answer. So he could only assume that someone was bleeding—or that V’s phone had gotten shanked during fighting.
    “Qhuinn’s not in the gym?” he said, even though that question had already been answered.
    Beth shrugged. “Not when I checked.”
    Blay put in a quick call, got Ehlena, and a moment later was informed that the workout room was empty, Luchas was asleep, and there was no one in the pool or on the basketball court.
    The guy wasn’t in the house. And not in the field, because he was off rotation. That left only one other conceivable place.
    “I know where he is,” Blay said gruffly. “I’ll go get him while we wait for V to check in.”
    After all, that female was carrying his young—so if she went AWOL into the big world by herself, he had a right to be involved in locating her. And sure, maybe Qhuinn knew where she was, but Blay had a feeling he didn’t: hard to believe he would have left his phone in his room if he was aware that she was going out in the car. He’d want some way for her to get in touch with him.
    On that note, why had he left his cell behind at all? Not like him.
    Unless he thought Layla was doing okay…and he didn’t want to be interrupted.
    Great.
    Looping back to his room, Blay picked up a gun—because you never knew when you might need one—and a coat that was only to cover his hardware. Then he jogged down the stairs and went out the vestibule…and dematerialized into the night.
    He resumed form in the back parking lot of the Iron Mask, and when he got to the club’s rear door, he hit the bell and showed his face to the security camera. Xhex opened the way in.
    “Hey,” she said, giving him a quick hug. “How you been? Long time no see around here.”
    “I’m looking for—”
    “Yeah, he’s at the bar.”
    Of course he was. “Thanks.”
    Blay nodded to the bouncers, Big Rob and Silent Tom, and pushed out of the staff area into the club proper. As he emerged on the far side, the bass drum of the music went right into his sternum—or maybe that was his heartbeat.
    Annnnd there he was: Even though there were a hundred people crowded around the bar, Qhuinn was a neon sign to him, standing out from the rest. The fighter was sitting at the far end, his back to Blay, his elbows splayed on the black varnished wood, his head hanging low.
    Blay exhaled a curse as he thought, here they were, back at the beginning. And yup, before he could even make it over, a woman closed in, her body sliding up to Qhuinn, her hand lingering on his arm, his head turning so he could get a good look at her.
    Blay knew what was next. A quick up-and-down with that mismatched stare, a slow smile, a couple of drawled words—and the pair would go off to the bathrooms—
    Qhuinn shook his head, and put his palm out in a stop. And though she was inclined to make a second appeal, it just got her a another round of talk-to-the-hand.
    Before Blay could get moving again, a guy with hair down to his ass and a pair of sprayed-on velvet pants made an approach. His smile was brilliant white, and his lean body seemed made for acrobatics.
    A sudden nausea blendered Blay’s gut—even as he reminded himself that after their last run-in, Qhuinn would not be looking for sex from him ever again—so why should he care who the fighter fucked. And God knew the male had a sex drive—
    Mr. Lounge Suit with the extensions was given the heave-ho as well.
    After which, Qhuinn just refocused ahead of himself.
    An abrupt vibration went off in Blay’s pocket, his phone letting him know there was a text. Taking the thing out, he saw that it was from Beth:
All good—Layla home safe. Just went for a joyride, and is going to watch some tube with me.
    Blay texted back a thanks, and returned his cell to his inner pocket. No reason to stay and bother the fighter with what had been a nonevent…although this was a chance to do a little damage control on his H-bomb delivery from a week ago.
    Blay walked over, wending in and out of the bodies. When he got within range, he cleared his