Zade Hale wasn’t used to being ignored.
Yet the hours had passed in silence—then a full day—and Alex Steel still hadn’t responded. Not to the seven missed calls. Not to the twelve texts. Not to the simple “Where are you?” he sent at midnight, or the more desperate one after sunrise that read, I didn’t do this. Call me back.
But her phone stayed off. Or blocked. Or dead. He didn’t care which. He just knew she was gone.
And it was driving him insane.
Zade paced the length of his living room, cold coffee in one hand, frustration tightening his shoulders. He had meetings. He had clients. He had a new shipment coming in from Zurich. But none of it mattered.
Because she thought he betrayed her. Again.
Because when she slammed the door on him in his office, the look in her eyes hadn’t been anger. It had been pure devastation.
And for reasons he couldn’t begin to explain—not even to himself—it had stuck to his ribs like barbed wire.
By noon, he gave up pretending he was fine. He grabbed his keys and drove straight to the Steel Corp headquarters.
***
The receptionist looked up, startled. “Mr. Hale?”
“I need to see Alex Steel,” he said flatly.
She blinked. “I—I’m sorry, sir, but Ms. Steel hasn’t been in today. Or yesterday, actually.”
Zade’s jaw clenched. “She didn’t check in?”
“No. Her assistant said she left after the board meeting and hasn’t returned.”
That was two days ago.
Zade turned on his heel and headed straight for her floor.
Her assistant looked like she wanted to flee the second he walked in. “Sir, I really don’t—”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” the girl stammered. “She left the building after the press release… and hasn’t contacted anyone. Not even her father.”
His pulse skipped. “Luca hasn’t heard from her?”
“She texted him once. That’s all I know.”
Zade stormed out without another word.
Luca Steel answered the door with cautious confusion. His button-down was half unbuttoned and his expression unreadable. “Zade.”
Zade didn’t waste time. “Is Alex here?”
Luca frowned. “No. Why would she be?”
“She isn’t answering her phone. She stormed out of my office two days ago. I’ve called her. Texted. Nothing.”
Luca leaned against the frame. “She sent me a message the same night. Said she’s leaving the city for a while. Needed time.”
“Where?”
“She didn’t say.”
Zade exhaled sharply through his nose, already expecting that answer. Alex was like that. Always vanishing on her own terms, refusing to be cornered or comforted. Her silence wasn’t unusual.
But it had never felt like this.
It wasn’t the silence that scared him.
It was what she might be doing because of it.
He nodded stiffly. “If she contacts you again, let me know.”
Luca hesitated. “Zade…”
Zade turned.
“She doesn’t trust easily. You know that, right?”
Zade’s jaw tightened. “I know.”
Then he left.
***
Back at his penthouse, the walls pressed in around him. The silence wasn’t peaceful—it was stifling. For the first time in months, Zade didn’t have control. Over his business. Over his emotions. Over her.
He poured a drink. Didn’t touch it.
He tried reviewing his upcoming negotiations. Couldn’t focus.
He watched the security footage of her walking away from him on loop until he wanted to throw his phone at the wall.
He’d said it—this time, it’s not me. And he meant it. But she hadn’t believed him. Why should she?
Zade had lied. Manipulated. Pulled strings. Orchestrated chaos.
And now, when he was actually innocent, no one gave a damn.
Not even Alex.
Especially not Alex.
Zade stood in the middle of his apartment, teeth grinding, hands balled into fists.
He didn’t care that she hated him. He didn’t care that she’d vanished. He didn’t care that the board was demanding answers for Steel’s plummeting stock.
Except—he did.
He fucking did.
And that was the worst part.
Because he couldn’t explain why.
He told himself it was for the plan. That she was still a piece on the board, and he needed her in play. That she had information he hadn’t squeezed out of her yet. That he couldn’t let her spiral and ruin everything they’d both built.
But none of that explained the pressure in his chest. Or the pounding in his skull. Or the fact that her silence was louder than any explosion he’d ever caused.
Zade finally grabbed his laptop and started digging.
Three hours later, he had his answer.
The shares hadn’t been bought by the Hales.
They hadn’t been bought by any competitor Zade recognized on the surface.
They were acquired—covertly—by Stewart Corporation.
A handshake enemy. A snake in a suit. And the last person who should’ve laid a finger on anything related to Alex Steel.
Zade didn’t even finish closing the files before he was out the door.
***
The Stewart building reeked of polished fake civility. It was all glass walls and stone floors and artificial smiles. Zade hated it.
He didn’t stop to check in. Didn’t ask for permission.
He walked straight into the top-floor office and found Gale—Stewart’s secretary—scribbling into a planner.
Gale looked up and paled instantly. “Mr. Hale—”
Zade slammed the door behind him. “Why the fuck did you touch Steel’s shares?”
Gale stood up so fast the chair clattered back. “Sir, I—I was just following protocol. Mr. Stewart made the offer—”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Zade’s voice was ice. “Didn’t think it would matter that one of our allies is gutting the company of a woman I’m directly associated with?”
“I didn’t know the connection was active—”
“Don’t bullshit me.” Zade stepped closer. “You people talk behind doors every damn day. You knew exactly what this would do. You wanted her unstable. Is that it? Wanted to distract her while she’s on the edge?”
“Sir, please, I didn’t—”
Zade’s glare could’ve burned through steel. “If Stewart pulls another stunt like this, I will ruin him. Slowly. Publicly. Do you understand?”
Gale nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes. I’ll inform him. He’ll retract.”
Zade turned and left, not bothering to wait for the apology.
It wouldn’t help.
It wouldn’t change a thing.
***
Back in his car, Zade gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles cracked. He stared at the city lights bleeding through the windshield, his breath shallow.
It didn’t help.
Nothing helped.
The information. The confrontation. The fact that he wasn’t behind this.
None of it lifted the weight sitting on his chest like a goddamn anvil.
It wasn’t about the company anymore.
It was about the girl who had looked at him like he was the last monster in the world—right before she disappeared.
Zade Hale had been called many things.
But today?
Today he felt something dangerously close to regret.
And that was a feeling he didn’t know what to do with.