Page 90 of His to Possess

I go very still, a terrible feeling descending on me. “Who?” I demand.

“Aden Roth.”

* * *

I standin the doorway of Lilah’s closet, staring at the racks full of brand-new clothes, the clothes I bought her, having no idea how in the hell we ended up here.

Everything had been going so well. Hadn’t it?

“What exactly did she say?” I ask Mrs. Higgins through clenched teeth. It’s taking everything I have not to lose my shit on her. I can’t believe she just let Lilah leave.

“She said she was going to a friend’s house,” Maryanne says again.

“She didn’t say who?”

It’s a pointless question. We’ve already been over this twice.

When I got to Michelle’s rundown apartment and realized Lilah wasn’t there, I felt sick to my stomach. It had obviously been a ruse. She said she was going there just to throw me off so I wouldn’t follow her straight to the penthouse. By the time I figured that out and went home, she was already gone. She clearly hadn’t spent much time packing—it seems like everything I bought her is still hanging on the racks, most of it never worn. The black garbage bag is gone, though.

Somehow, that makes the whole thing hurt even worse. I’d bought these clothes out of a deep-seated desire to take care of her, to provide for her and make her happy. Seeing her in the things I bought always filled me with a feeling of primal satisfaction.

Her leaving it all behind, the same way she left me, makes an uncontrollable anger rise in me.

“You should have stopped her,” I bark.

Mrs. Higgins looks distraught—it’s almost enough to make me feel guilty for my harshness.

“I tried, Philip. What would you have me do? Physically restrain her?”

I know it’s ridiculous but yes, damn it. That’s exactly what I would have had her do. “I’m sorry,” I say, rubbing a hand over my face. “I’m just worried.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Not particularly,” I mutter. It’s almost funny to imagine how that conversation would go.Well, Maryanne, a crazy bitch submissive told Lilah I was planning to surprise her with an unwanted threesome at my sex club.I would laugh if everything wasn’t such a disaster.

“No thanks,” I say, brushing past my housekeeper who honestly feels more like family than most of my actual blood relations. But she can’t help me with this. “I need to make some calls.”

I have my phone to my ear before I even hit my office. I’m frustrated, but not surprised, when it goes straight to voicemail. Cellphones are forbidden behind the steel door at Wyld and though I’m sure Jane feels bad that Lilah overheard us, there’s no way she would leave the club until all of her depraved urges are satisfied.

Pissed at the world, I type out a message.

Me:She didn’t go to Michelle’s house. Need to find her ASAP.

The only thing I can do now is wait. I fucking hate waiting.

So instead I get my keys and go down to the garage. I could have my driver come back, but navigating traffic myself will at least keep my mind occupied. I spend the next two hours aimlessly circling through the streets of Charlotte, as if I expect to just come across her standing on a street corner somewhere.

I finally get a text back from Jane after two am.Must have been an entertaining night at Wyld,I think bitterly. I, of course, am still awake. I’m back in the penthouse now but I know sleep isn’t going to be an option. Not until I know she’s safe.

Jane:I made some calls but it’s going to be tough to get very far before morning. She’s a big girl, though, Philip. I’m sure she’s fine.

She doesn’tknowthat Lilah is fine, though. And it’s the lack of certainty that’s killing me.

That and the fear that I might have screwed this up so badly that she won’t come back.

Don’t think like that,I tell myself as pain lances through me. She has to come back. I’ll find her, or Jane will, and I’ll explain about Roth’s sub, convince her that I’m sorry about the investigating. Make her understand that everything I did was for her. Because I care about her.

Shit. I can’t fucking breathe without her.