Page 50 of Forbidden Boss

I know she’s at the office. Her own guards are with her. She wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without me knowing. Still, unease sits low in my gut, unfamiliar.

“Text her guards,” I tell Yuri. “I need to know her whereabouts in the next thirty seconds.”

He does it, but I’m too impatient. I’m already dialing my assistant.

She picks up immediately. “Good afternoon, Mr.—”

“Is Mari still in her office?” I cut her off.

“I saw her leave a few minutes ago,” she answers matter-of-factly.

This isn’t right. Mari wouldn’t just leave without talking to me. Whatever she found must have scared her. I look to Yuri, who’s still watching his phone for a response from Thom.

“Did she have her detail with her?” I ask through clenched teeth.

“She made them wait in the lobby,” my assistant confirms.

“I need you to pull security footage,” I say. “Confirm that she’s with them now.”

I wait a beat, listening to the telltale clack of her keys.

A moment later, she says, “It looks like she was with Mr.Sterling.”

I take a deep breath and look at Yuri again, who shakes his head. He dials Thom.

Yuri speaks in a low voice with Thom, and I wait, impatient for any update.

“When did you lose visual?” he asks, which spikes my blood pressure.

What the hell am I paying any of these people for?

“Right,” he says. “I need you to pull the lobby cam and send it to me right away.”

He hangs up and looks at me, his expression as apprehensive as mine.

“Marcus was in the elevator with her,” he says slowly. “He told Thom that he needed five minutes, but she never came back through the front.”

“And he didn’t think to call us?” I say, my jaw tight.

“He—”

“If you say he assumed, I’m throwing your phone out the window,” I say. “Take us through to the garage,” I tell our driver.

The driver takes the next right without asking. I call Building Security. “I want every bay camera in the garage and every elevator feed for the last thirty minutes,” I say. “Send it to Yuri. If you’re missing a single angle, you’ll be looking for a new job in the next hour.”

We hit the underground ramp too fast. The SUV leans. The security gate lifts for our plate. We punch into Level B and brake hard. I’m out the door before we stop.

I scan rows, corners, blind spots.

“Where’s Thom?” I bark when two guards jog over.

“Sir, he’s on Level A,” one says. “He and Jareth are in the lobby.”

“Did either of you watch the freight elevator?”

They glance at each other.

“We didn’t have word he was moving her that way.”