Page 133 of Jude

The roar of the crowds at the Uber Arena did nothing to dull the persistent, thumping ache behind my eyes and the scalding in my soul.

My bandmates, sick of my foul temper and her obvious absence, decided to grill me.

They hustled me into the lounge bar in our hotel in Berlin late one night after we bused back from a show.

With beer in our hands, my five brothers surrounded me in a corner lounge, as the rest of our crew celebrated.

‘Man, you need to address the Sofia issue. We’re worried about her. We liked her, brother,’ Bishop led. ‘Where is she?’

I dragged a heavy hand through my hair, my jaw set.

‘To be honest? I don’t know.’

‘How can you not know where your wife is?’ Levi hissed, crowding closer. ‘She’s your wife!’

‘She’s the woman who lied to my face,’ I growled.

I gave them a short version of the drama between Sofia and me.

Deacon pursed his lips. ‘Sounds like you jumped to conclusions.’

I shrugged. ‘I’m ready to take an L if she didn’t lie to me, but as it stands she’s guilty as fuck.’

Levi shook his head at me. ‘Damn man, no matter how angry you are with her, you should still find out where she is.’

Deacon then tried to call her phone three times.

She never picked up.

‘You’re being a fuckin’ blockhead, Judah,’ Reign rasped. ‘You let your wife walk based on the word of a convicted felon. You accused her without a single shred of actual, objective verification.’

‘The photos don’t lie!’ I snapped back. ‘The facial alignment, the features, the skin tones, it’s all right there. It tracks.’

Another wave of emotion surged in me along with the realization I yearned for her, cutting straight to the bone.

‘I think I’ve fallen for her,’ I admitted, the confession rough in my throat like jagged glass. ‘Which is why this cuts so bad.’

‘Give the images to me,’ Bishop growled. ‘I’ve got a discreet mate in the security sector who handles digital forensics. Saint can run the files through a deep-pixel analysis and detect if they’re legit or not.’

The thought of another man laying eyes on Sofia in those trippy photos made my stomach churn with a fierce, possessive revulsion.

Still, I needed to know the truth, so I gave him a chin jerk.

‘Fine, brother. Let’s find out the freakin’ facts. Until then, brothers, not a word.’

My companions fell into an uneasy silence till Reign nodded.

‘Sweet, but if you’re wrong, my friend, you’ll have a mountain of work ahead of you to make up for jumping the gun.’

I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘Thanks, Captain Obvious. Bishop, with me.’

Slamming my beer bottle down, I prowled out of the lounge, with Bishop tracking right behind my heels.

We took the elevator, and I marched down the carpeted hallway of the hotel to my quarters to retrieve the manila envelope from my safe.

Swiveling to face him, I pushed the pouch hard into his chest.

‘I’m trusting you, brother, to do what’s best here,’ I muttered as I surrendered the packet. ‘Keep this locked down.’