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Rafi walked into the office the following morning, furious and terrified.

His security team hadn’t found any trace of Carys.

They’d even gone into her apartment and looked around.

There was evidence that she’d been there at some point during the weekend, but when they’d picked the lock on her door Sunday afternoon, she hadn’t been home.

Nor had they seen her come back that evening.

Was she in the office over the weekend? Was she working today?

There hadn’t been any news of her calling in sick, but her new boss, what’s her name, wouldn’t think to inform Rafi that one of her staff members called out sick.

Nor had there been any ransom demand, no chatter about her being kidnapped and no other indication that Carys was in danger.

“Carys, where the hell are you?” he grumbled under his breath and returned to his own office. His office was at the end of the window-lined hallway, but Rafi didn’t notice the incredible views of the city. He could only think and worry about.

Unfortunately, the fact that there hadn’t been a ransom demand didn’t prove she hadn’t been taken.

Everyone assumed that the only criminal elements were the mafia and the gangs from Central America.

What the average citizen didn’t know was that business leaders were more corrupt, more brutal, and more willing to participate in illegal activities if it gave them a business advantage.

Competitors weren’t just pushed out of business through illegal price gouging schemes.

Their loved ones were threatened, businesses brutalized, shipments stolen, and blackmail rampantly used.

There were also the illegal price fixing schemes or the way businesses mined social media, health data, and personal emails for clues as to how to sell products.

The world was terrified of what the rulers of foreign countries would do with a citizen’s personal data. But what they should be scared of is what corporations were currently doing with personal data.

And that’s why he was terrified. He hadn’t protected Carys. Not her health nor her personal safety. Rafi had known for a while that Carys was the woman he wanted by his side forever. And yet, he’d moved slowly, keeping his identity a secret so she wouldn’t run from him.

Run? He stopped pacing, his head unconsciously tilting slightly as he considered the possibility that Carys had hidden herself away for some reason. That thought hadn’t occurred to him before now but… had Carys run away?

The relief was short lived. No, Carys wouldn’t run away. Her father had run like a pathetic puppy to Arizona, leaving behind a terrified preteen daughter. Carys wouldn’t do the same. She would stay and fight.

Which brought his fears right back to the forefront of his thoughts.

“Sir?” his assistant spoke from the doorway.

Rafi turned, hopeful that there was news of Carys’s whereabouts.

“Have they found her?”

His assistant smiled and nodded. “She’s in the conference room, sir.”

Rafi was already in motion, his mind filled with questions. “Why the hell is she in there?” he growled, ready to pick her up and spank her adorable ass for putting him through hell over the past two days!

“You have a meeting with the marketing department, sir,” his assistant replied, rushing to keep up with Rafi’s longer strides. “A progress meeting you set up two weeks ago.”

Rafi didn’t give a damn about the marketing campaign progress.

All he cared about was finding Carys and demanding to know where she’s been since Saturday morning!

On the phone, she’d promised to meet him after she’d had coffee with her friend.

Where the hell had she been all weekend?

Why hadn’t she let him know she was okay?

That she wasn’t going to meet him for dinner!

Would a simple call be too much?

His fury ignited with the news that Carys was sitting in a conference room, pretty as a peach, while he’d been worried sick about her! Rafi had thought she’d been kidnapped or worse!

And Rafi also knew that he would have given up everything in order to ensure her safety!

When he stepped into the room, it wasn’t to find Carys sitting smugly at the table. In fact, there were about twenty people packed into the room. As soon as he appeared, everyone quickly found their seats.

“Sir, it’s a pleasure to present our final marketing campaign ideas,” his new director began with a professional smile that included every team member present.

“We have been working diligently to get this campaign ready for launch and we’re excited to present our final ideas to you before we send the graphics off to the printer and digital marketing team. ”

It took several seconds for Rafi to calm his temper enough to sit down. Every instinct within him screamed to scoop Carys up in his arms and carry her off somewhere more private!

Instead, he took a breath and carefully, slowly, sat down in the chair at the head of the table.

As soon as Rafi was settled, the new director, he really needed to learn her name, turned and nodded to Carys. Something inside of him relaxed slightly when the director acknowledged Carys. That was good. Progress was finally being made.

That’s when Rafi looked at Carys, really looked at her.

Why was she so pale? Had she been sick? Was that why she hadn’t answered his calls over the weekend?

For the next few minutes, Rafi berated himself for being angry with her.

He should have known that Carys wouldn’t have ignored him on purpose. Something was very wrong.

Carys stood up and pulled out the story boards. Rafi noticed that her fingers shook with the effort and wondered why. Again, he suspected that she was sick and he dug his nails into the arms of his chair to keep himself from going to her side.

Instead, he listened to her speak, describing the various marketing concepts and how they would be implemented in television and social media.

The longer she spoke, the more her voice cracked. And as she stood at the opposite end of the table, he noticed that she looked about ready to faint.

“Why don’t you sit down while you explain?” he suggested.

Carys lifted her chin stubbornly as she pressed her lips together. “It’s better if I explain while standing so that the rest of the team can see,” she argued, then continued.

He had to admit the ideas were brilliant.

Not just the concept, but the application of the concept was different than anything done before.

It was simple, and yet just a little outrageous.

The colors on the story board started off subtle, only to intensify as the product came into focus.

By the end of the explanation, even Rafi was ready to buy them.

This new campaign was going to be a raging success. He would need to revise his quarterly estimates upwards, possibly by about twenty or twenty-five percent, just because of the marketing ideas.

When the rest of the team finished explaining, Rafi nodded, smiling his approval.

“It’s incredible,” he announced, his look incorporating everyone on the marketing team, and lingering on Carys.

“It’s truly a brilliant concept and I appreciate the way that everyone on the team helped bring the idea to fruition so quickly. ”

He stood up and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Carys, could I speak to you privately?”

Rafi turned, not bothering to wait for her agreement. He walked out of the conference room and into his private office, then turned, leaning against his desk as he waited for Carys to follow.