Page 28

“H e’s not even paying attention.” Ivan’s laugh pulls me from where my mind wandered. Imagining Megan lying across my bed, black rope tied around her wrists and ankles, spreading her body open.

“When you finally get to the fucking point, I’ll pay attention.” I shoot Ivan a look and adjust myself in my chair. If my cock gets any harder, I’m going to tear through my pants.

“The development agreements will be ready by Monday morning,” Kaz says like he’s already said it twice.

Maybe he has. I’ve been busy recalling the taste of my wife’s pussy and wondering if we could skip dinner tonight altogether. I’m sure after spending the afternoon shopping with Elana, she’s going to need some rest.

And once I’m done with her, she can have it.

“Good.” I check the time on my watch. They’ve been gone a few hours already. Any minute she’ll be home.

“The man gets married and now he can’t keep one fucking thought in his head.” Kaz shakes his head at me with disappointment. “If this is what marriage does to a man, you can count me the fuck out.”

Ivan slaps his shoulder. “You’d have to stick to one woman for more than one night in order for marriage to be a danger to you.”

“If Kaz ever settles down, I’ll give him my Cosmic Starship.” Lev doesn’t part with his motorcycles easily. Two months ago, he broke every finger on a man’s hand because he laid his hand on the bike he was riding that day.

“No. If I ever sell my soul like that, I want the Fighter,” Kaz counters. “That thing is sweet.”

“That thing is worth more than your soul. It’s also a limited edition. It’s not for you. You couldn’t handle it,” Lev tosses back. “You couldn’t handle the Harley either, but I’m sure you won’t ever get a woman to marry you.”

“I can handle a fucking bike.”

“Perhaps a Schwinn.” Lev grins.

A call from Artem comes through my phone, but when I swipe to accept it, the line is dead. Megan’s little icon on the tracking device I put on her phone shows them headed this way. I send her another text asking how things are going.

It’s the second text I’ve sent in the last hour. We need to have a discussion tonight about answering promptly.

A lesson I was sure we’d both enjoy.

“You’re going to have to smack him in the head. He’s daydreaming again.” Kaz’s voice rang through.

“Touch me and die, little brother.” I shoot him a death glare that only works to entice another arrogant grin from him.

“You could try, big brother.”

“This could go on for a bit. Maybe you should just tell us what you found out, Lev.” Ivan stands between Kaz and me.

“Found out?” I turn to Lev.

“Yeah. I was just telling them. Your wife’s boss? Megan was right, he does have dirty ties. Marco DeAngelo. They aren’t blood related, but looks like their fathers fought in the same unit in the Marines back in the day.”

“Which makes them practically blood in their eyes, I’m sure.” Ivan nods. “You think he found out about his wife’s affair and went after Thompson to get him to stay away from her?”

“She filed for divorce a month ago,” Lev explains. “Looks like it will be pretty fucking nasty, too. The company your wife worked at is minuscule compared to the other shit he’s into. Big real estate guy. Started building luxury apartment complexes out in the suburbs two years ago and they’re getting bigger. He stands to lose a shit ton of money if she gets this divorce without him proving she’s a cheat.”

“Maybe Thompson was a loose end, and she was afraid he’d tell, so she killed him?” Kaz muses.

“I want to know who the fuck was able to tell Megan how to get into Obsidian and where to find the drive. That’s the guy I want.” My phone goes off again and I swipe it open.

“Alexander… shit… are you there… can you—fuck!” Artem cuts out again. The little hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.

Megan still hasn’t answered my texts, but it looks like she’s still with Elana in the car. And they’re parking.

“They could be tied together. If her boss wanted proof, and she was fucking Dexter here in the club, this person might know that. It might be time to talk to Mr. Carmine,” Lev suggests.

“Fine.” I nod. “Bring him in.”

“Here?” Ivan’s brows peak. “You want him in the pit?”

“Not yet. Just a friendly conversation. But if it goes bad, there’s always the pit.” Footsteps fall fast outside the office door just before it flies open.

Elana runs inside, her face flushed, and her hair looks like she’s been tugging on it.

“I’m sorry, Alexander. I’m so sorry.” She rushes to me.

“For what?” My insides tighten when I look at the door and Megan doesn’t walk through.

Artem does, though, and his expression tells me everything.

She’s gone.

“Where is she?” I demand.

“I don’t know.” Elana wipes a tear from her cheek. “It’s my fault. I scared her. It was an accident. We were just talking, and then I mentioned your age difference and she got kinda weird. Then she took her purse and went to the bathroom, but she never came back.”

I look at Artem.

“Where is she?”

“She never came out of the bathroom.” Artem’s hands are fisted. “But there’s an exit door in that hallway. She could have left through it. When she walked past me to the bathroom, she looked upset.”

“I didn’t mean to scare her like that.” Elana sniffles. “I swear, Alexander, we had a good afternoon. I had no idea she was going to leave.”

“Her phone, where is it?”

“I have it.” Elana pulls it from her purse. “She left it on the table. If she had taken it with her and grabbed her purse, I would have thought something was up.”

“I checked the alley and the street. I questioned the staff. No one saw anything, but it was a busy lunch rush. We were at Cafe Spiaggia. There are no cameras there.”

Cafe Spiaggia is known in my world as a safe place to meet out in the open. There being no cameras is deliberate.

“Why would she leave her phone? She would need it.” I quickly scroll through her text message history, checking to be sure I haven’t overlooked anything.

Nothing that offers any help.

She ran away?

Why the hell would she do that? Especially when there’s still danger lurking behind her. This morning, before I tore myself away from our bed, she had snuggled deeper into my embrace and asked me to stay a few minutes longer.

It was the first time in ages that I wasn’t downstairs just as Mrs. Wells was pouring my coffee. I’m a man on a schedule, and with one soft little plea from her lips, I’d casually ignored it. All because I wanted—no, needed—more time with her in my arms.

And now she’s gone?

“I want men at her old apartment.” I clench her phone as I snap the words.

“I already sent them.” Artem stands behind my sister. “I tried calling you, but my phone kept breaking up. Before we left the restaurant, I had Sergei and Yogi head over there.”

“What did you say to her, Elana?” I level my stare on my sister. Her cheeks are pale and her eyes wide with fear. Of me or that my wife is gone, I’m not sure.

“Elana?” Kaz’s voice is softer as he moves to stand beside her. “What happened exactly?”

Elana swallows. “Nothing really. We were talking, and I teased her about your ages. I mentioned having a baby and how old you’d be when the baby grew up.” She wiped a tear from her cheek.

“Go on.” I temper my voice. Whatever my little sister said may have spooked her, and I need to know exactly what it was.

“I told her that you’d never let her go, even if she wanted a divorce, and she didn’t say she did, only that if she did.” Elana hurries her words. “I told her you love her and that’s why you wouldn’t let her go.”

My chest tightens. “You said what?” There’s a tremble in my stomach.

“I told her you love her, and you do.” Elana points her finger at me. “I think she only just realized that she loves you back and it might have freaked her out a little. I don’t know. All I know is she said she had to pee and never came back.”

She loves me back.

I roll the tension out of my shoulders.

“She didn’t leave on her own,” I say, looking at my sister. “She wouldn’t have, I know it.”

“What do you want to do?” Lev moves to stand with my brothers and my sister.

“We’re going to have a chat with Mr. Carmine. And for his sake, there had better not be one fucking hair out of place on my wife’s head when I find her.”

“I’m coming too.” Elana tries to run after us, but Kaz stops her. I leave him to argue with our little sister.

I have a wife to find.