Page 50 of Ruthless Commander

I opened my eyes, shoved away from the desk, and strode toward the door. That coiled viper in my gut hissed and writhed. It was more than the psycho bitch and Baldeon’s murder fueling this dread inside me. And it was more than the damn weather.

A storm is coming, brother…my brother’s words returned as I stepped out of the conference room and headed for the front door of the building. I wanted to check on each team of guards, wanted to see for myself that the place wasn’t going to fucking Hell.

Because that’s how it felt.

Control was slipping through my fingers and that storm my brother had spoken of felt like it was bearing down on me. The brutal gusts hit me the moment I stepped out. Two of my men followed behind me as I lowered my head and strode across the grounds, until that viper inside lifted its head and its slitted black eyes blinked at me.

I jerked my gaze up, finding Xael hurrying along the sidewalk, heading toward the building.What the fuck was she doing out in this?I glanced behind her to her bodyguard, who just looked at me with that savage glare that saidback the fuck off.

Then she was gone, disappearing through the door of Building Two.I didn’t like her out here…

I fought the need to follow her. Instead, I made my way toward the back of the island to her own building. The fake Evan hadn’t come with her own bodyguards and at first that had seemed strange. Now it all made perfect sense.

She was a fucking murderous liar.

That chill snaked its way along my spine, sending goosebumps across my skin. I glanced over my shoulder, found the door had swung shut after Xael, and pushed down the need to follow her again. She was fine, safe…her bodyguard was watching over her and for all intents and purposes, she didn’t fucking want me.

Not after what I’d done.

I shoved aside the hunger and strode toward her building, catching sight of one of the new guards assigned to keep watch over them. He lifted his gaze as I pressed my card to the scanner and stepped through the doors.

“Commander.” He stepped forward, scowling. “Everything okay?”

They didn’t know about our little psycho situation. No one did, apart from myself, Michele Valachi, and the real Evan, who was at this moment holed up in an apartment not far from my own. Not even Bruno Bernardi knew of the psycho breathing down his neck.

The real Evan wanted it that way, until she was able to make contact. I lifted my gaze to the bodyguard and shook my head. “Yes. Any problems?”

“No, sir. Ms. Davies and her personal detail just left. Ms. Valachi is upstairs.”

“Good. Call if there’re any issues.”

My phone vibrated.I looked down and found Laz’s bodyguard’s name splashed across the screen. What now?

I answered the call. “Logan?”

“Katerina VanHalen’s missing.”

My gut clenched and that eerie feeling came rushing back, only this time with a vengeance. “What do you mean, missing?”

“I mean there are two guards here telling us they’re assigned to Kat and they sure as hell aren’t the ones she left with.”

There’s a storm coming, brother.

Edon’s words rose in my mind. “I’m on my way.”

I ended the call and pulled up the cameras on the island, left Xael’s building behind, and hurried out. One scroll of the counter and I rewound the CCTV footage of her foyer, watching as Katerina VanHalen left with two men who weren’t mine. The longer I watched, the more anxious I became.

She was jumpy…watching them.

They weren’t my guys…they weren’t my guys…that warning in my gut grew louder as I lengthened my stride. By the time I plunged headlong into the powerful gusts of wind, I was running.

I slammed my boots into the ground, and as I ran, something else roared to the surface.

Xael…

What if they had her, too?

I yanked up my phone, punching Xael’s number as I drove myself toward Kat’s building. It rang and rang and rang…