Page 36 of Forbidden Boss

“Lock the scene,” I say. “Have our lawyer call the manager in two minutes. Pull their footage before anyone has the chance to edit it. Someone knew we were there.”

“Copy.”

I take the second phone from my inner pocket. There’s only one thought in my head: Mari. She has a dentist appointment this afternoon. She’s with Jareth and Thom, but that means fuck all if she’s in danger. I dial her. It goes to voicemail. I call again. Voicemail again. My chest tightens in a way I don’t like.

“We need to get to this address. Now,” I tell the driver, handing him my phone.

Yuri is watching me. He understands faster than anyone. He calls her detail. Thom answers on the first ring. I hear him sayshe’s inside the building, and traffic behind him tells me he’s not at the door.

“Get eyes on her,” I order. “Nobody loses that hallway.”

We hit three lights wrong. The driver runs one. The SUV surges, and we make the left into the garage. I’m out before the car stops. I take the elevator and don’t wait for someone to hold the door.

The dental lobby is bright. The receptionist lifts her head with a practiced smile that dies when she sees the men with me.

“I’m here for Mari Gonzales,” I say.

“I’m sorry, sir, we can’t?—”

“Where is she?”

“I can’t disclose patient information.”

I lower my voice.

“She’s under my protection and could be in grave danger,” I tell her, my tone cold. “If you don’t tell me where she is right now, I’ll tie this practice up in litigation so overwhelming your grandchildren will feel the consequences. Is that what you want?”

Her hands shake.

“She isn’t here,” she says. “No one by that name checked in.”

I look at Yuri. He’s already on the phone with Thom. I hear the words I hate.

“She told me to wait in the lobby,” he says.

“Find her,” I say.

Yuri touches my shoulder.

“Lev—”

“Find her.”

We sweep the floor. The hall is clean. There’s a doctor’s office down the hall with a frosted glass sign. The clipboard at the desk has six names. None are hers. I’m five seconds from pulling open every door when Oliver pings Yuri.

“Got her on the security cams,” he says over the channel. “She exited the elevator on the fourteenth floor.”

I move, finding a staircase and taking the stairs two at a time. There’s only one office on this floor. A nurse behind the glass starts to stand when she sees me with my men.

“Can I help you?” she asks, her voice frosty. She shoots an annoyed look between us and the worried patients in the waiting room taking in the scene.

I quickly scan the check-in clipboard and see that Mari had an appointment thirty minutes ago. She’s still here.

“No,” I tell the nurse as I push through the door to the exam rooms.

“Sir, you can’t go back there,” she shouts, and I’m sure she’s ten seconds away from calling security. Yuri will handle it.

I head down a narrow hall with several doors closed. There’s no way to know which one she’s in, so I just start knocking and entering. Thankfully, she’s in the first room I try. I’ve caused enough of a scene. I don’t want Yuri to have to pay off every patient in the practice.