Gianni
“Boss?”
The sound of Roger calling for me out in the hall is what breaks the resolve I’ve barely been able to hang onto once five-thirty came and went. That was more than a half hour ago, and there’s still no sign of her.
She lied to me. She fucking lied to my face when she said she’d come home after work. I’d get a phone call if there was traffic or some emergency. Unless she was trying to avoid me.
Which means that’s exactly what she’s trying to do. She’s too responsible for this to be anything but deliberate.
I’m already halfway to the door before I bellow in reply. “What the hell do you want?”
He was on his way across the hall and now falls back a step. “I had a handful of contracts for you to look over. The new shipments?” He extends a handful of folders.
Folders I ignore. “I don’t have time for this shit right now.” The damn things could be written in Sanskrit, and I wouldn’t notice. I can’t care about anything but Caterina. Why isn’t she here? Why hasn’t she called?
Did she make a fool out of me again? Because I believed her, I did. I was sure she’d come back. Because she’s mine.
She is, isn’t she?
“Fuck!”
“What?” Roger calls out after me, but I’m already halfway down the hall and pulling up Caterina’s contact details on my phone. I’m not waiting another minute to let her know this is unacceptable. I’ll tie her to the bed from now on, the way I should’ve done last night. When will I listen to my instincts when it comes to her?
Her phone rings once, twice, while I march to her room. I don’t have the first idea what I’m looking for, though I can’t help wondering if she figured out the switch I pulled with her pills. No, that’s impossible. The packaging is identical. I didn’t leave anything out of place, either.
So why didn’t she come home when she said she would?
The answer is obvious once I find the three packed bags she left in the bedroom closet. There’s nothing I can do but stare at them while the rushing of blood in my ears deafens me to everything else but the burning rage that’s about to make me burst into flames. The evidence of her plotting against me is sitting right there. She hardly tried to hide it.
“Did you think it would be this easy?” I ask her voicemail since that’s the closest I’ve managed to get to speaking directly to her. “You think I won’t find you? Think again. And when I do, we’re going to have this out.”
It isn’t good enough. I need her in front of me. Now.
No more listening when she gives me her sob stories about wanting a life of her own. No more giving a shit about her satisfaction with her career or whatever the hell she thinks she’s building. She won’t have time for that once she’s pregnant, anyway.
I should have listened to myself. What is it about her that makes me forget everything I know?
On the way back to my office, I grab a trio of my guys hanging out in the kitchen, eating slabs of chocolate cake Sheryl left out tonight. “Earn your money,” I grunt, waving for them to abandon their plates and follow me instead. “What, do I pay you to gorge yourselves?”
“Sorry, boss,” one of them murmurs behind me. I don’t bother looking to see which one of them it was. It doesn’t matter.
“The three of you are going hunting.” I signal for Roger to join us once we reach his doorway. “And you, I want checking with the parking company that runs the garage attached to Caterina’s office building. I’ll text you the address.”
“What’s going on?” he asks, following me to my laptop while the guards fall in step behind him.
“I have reason to believe…” I trail off when my excuse rings false even to me. “Caterina hasn’t come home from work yet, and we’re going to find her and bring her back.”
If it was just the two of us, he might make an excuse about traffic or overtime. It’s one thing to speak personally, but another to do it in front of the bodyguards.
“You’ve all seen her car,” he says, turning to the men while I send him the information he needs. “The three of you will begin at her office building, then spread out.”
Something else occurs to me, something that makes my stomach churn. “And Roger, I want you to head to another address.” Because I’m starting to believe she may have signed that lease today, after all. She could be there.
She could also be at her father’s house. Should I send him there? Do I dare open that can of worms?
One guy snorts while I’m still digging through contact information. “I didn’t know we’d end up babysitting tonight.”
I raise my eyes, staring daggers at him. Nathan has been with me long enough to know I don’t accept shit like that. “Excuse me? Did you just question an order I’ve given?”
He knows he’s stepped in it—so do his buddies, both of whom place space between themselves and him. Like they don’t want to get caught in the splash zone when I blow his brains out. His face goes gray, and he moistens his lips with the tip of his tongue before choking out an apology. “Sorry, boss. I was only screwing around.”
He gulps audibly when I crack my knuckles, rounding the desk. What’s he going to do? Back away and make himself look like a pussy, or stand his ground and get the shit kicked out of him? Since he stays still, it’s clear he’s made his choice.
“What about this situation makes you think it’s okay to screw around? Since when are my orders treated as a joke?”
All he can do is stammer while his eyes sweep the area like he’s looking for a way out. There isn’t one.
“Come on.” I roll up my sleeves without looking away from him. “Tell me. What was so funny? Who told you to laugh at my orders?”
A bead of sweat rolls down his temple. “I… I don’t know. I’m sorry, boss.”
Wrong answer.
His knees buckle when I drive a fist into his midsection, so I haul him up by the collar for a jab to his nose. Cartilage crunches under my fist before blood flows.
“Hey, boss.” Roger wasn’t able to stop me down at the harbor, but this time he won’t let go until I lay off the pathetic sack of shit now bent at the waist, clutching his broken nose.
“Get him out of here before he bleeds all over my floor,” I warn the other two. “Then get the fuck behind the wheel and do what you’re told. You’re bringing her home.”
They waste no time dragging him out while he groans in pain.
I have to turn away from Roger when I catch him staring at me like we’ve never met. It’s that or ask if he would like a little of the same treatment I just dished out. I’m not in the fucking mood for his concern. “Well? What’s stopping you from doing what you’re told?” I demand.
“I’ve never seen you do that before. Beating on one of your own men.”
“Maybe I should do more of it, seeing as how they think it’s okay to make wiseass remarks when I’ve given an order.”
We both look down at the desk when my phone buzzes, and I might as well be jumping on a live grenade. I’m desperate to answer when I find the one name I want to see written in capital letters across the screen. My heart’s fluttering, my stomach’s in knots, and I’ve never felt this relieved.
She isn’t ignoring me.
“Where the fuck are you?” I demand, pushing aside the flare of hope. She needs to learn this will not be tolerated. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you know I’m about to send guys out to look for you?”
At first, I take her silence as guilt, and all it does is stoke the inferno already blazing in my head. “Well?” I bark. I hate Roger is witnessing this. I’m not proud of myself for letting her turn me into this person.
Finally, there’s a soft sniffle on her end. “Can you please come get me?”
The fragile tremor in her voice calms my rage like water drowning a fire. She’s in pain, or scared, or both. “From where?”
“The emergency room.”