Page 168 of Theirs to Possess: The Marriage Claim

Fuck me.

Back door. Of course. She planned it. Waited for the one sliver of freedom and bolted. She fucking planned every single moment.

“I’m driving around, looking for her.” Before hanging up, the driver apologizes. “This shouldn’t have happened, sir.”

Fucking right it shouldn’t have. I slam my hand on the desk. “Fire him.”

A storm brewing in his eyes, Brennan grabs his cell. “I’m trying her again.”

I stab a button on my desk phone. “Get Lasker in here,” I bark at my admin. Lasker is head of security, and this is also on him. We need security footage and a plan. Stat.

Brennan switches to speaker, so that I can hear the ring. And then…voicemail.

Just like this morning.

Her voice—soft, steady, the one that readsJane Eyreto her cat—cuts through the line, making me want to smash something.

“Isla…Please.Call us. Let us know you’re okay.”

“And where the hell she is—” Before I can get out my demand, Brennan has pushed a button to end the call. “The fuck?”

“This isn’t the time for your shit.” He jams his phone into his pocket.

I slam my fist on the desk, the impact rattling a pen to the floor. My pulse hammers, a vicious rhythm.

Isla, my Isla, is alone out there, the senator’s staff wants to gut me, and the feds are sniffing closer. She’s outsmarted us. Outsmartedme. The realization burns, turning my blood to acid in my veins.

She’s gone, but a desperate part of me refuses to believe it. I need to see it. Need proof. Need pain I can hold in my fucking hand. “I’m going to the penthouse.”

He doesn’t argue. He never does when the world is tilting and I’m one step from destroying everything in my path.

As we pass my admin, he tells her to redirect Lasker to the apartment.

The elevator ride is a blur, the city’s pulse mocking me through the glass. I should’ve put a tracker on her, monitored her phone, chained her to my bed where she belongs.

Jesus.What the hell is wrong with me?

I’ve never been like this before.

The penthouse door clicks open, and the silence inside is suffocating. Marble gleams under the afternoon light, the skyline looming beyond the glass like a jury waiting to pass judgment.

I immediately stride to the bedroom.

Everything looks fine. Tidy. Ordinary. Except… Her copy ofJane Eyreis gone.

And of course, Calypso is with Isla.

So she left with only the two things that mattered to her.

My shoes echo, too loud, as I return to the kitchen. And there it is. The pink diamond ring—hers, Brennan’s, mine—sits on the counter, catching the light like a fucking betrayal.

No!I want to scream. To rage.

Instead, needing the connection to her, I snatch it up and grip it hard. The metal is cold and biting against my palm. And the weight of her absence crushes me.

I lock my knees, refusing to break. Not yet.

In shock, disbelief, I close my eyes. And she’s here with me—her defiance after the gala, green eyes blazing as she demanded answers. Her chin set stubbornly as she’d stood by me when having breakfast with Everett and Celeste.And…Her sweet and wicked surrender, arching under my touch, whispering my name as if it’s a prayer.