Chapter 42 - Rurik
Going another full day without seeing Clem took its toll, and I probably owed apologies to a couple of my employees for impatiently snapping at them, but I survived it. I had told her I’d be back the next evening with dinner, and I wanted her to see I meant what I said.
I rolled up with her favorite takeout, shaking my head that this was supposed to be the meal we shared before she got spooked and ran off. No more of that. We were on our way back to what we should be. Those rings would be back on her finger soon enough.
I wasn’t too shocked she hadn’t turned up at the office in her state of mind, but I was still disappointed and missed her so much I raced up the steps and pounded on her door.
No answer, and when I peeked in through the cracks in the blinds, it was clear she wasn’t at home.
Since I was in such a hurry, I hadn’t paused to speak with her guard, and I called him now, still hoping perhaps she was only in the shower as I continued tapping on her door.
“She left around lunch time and hasn’t returned yet,” he informed me.
There was a brief flash of panic until he said my cousins had come to take her out. If she were with them, she’d be covered by their security patrol, and no one would dare to mess with Nat or Mila even without an armed guard nearby.
Knowing how much my cousins loved shopping, fine dining, and gallivanting around art galleries, it was no wonder Clem hadn’t returned yet. I called Lilia and told her to let my wife come home.
“She’s already at home,” Lilia said. A new jolt of panic didn’t let me recognize the mischief in her voice until she told me Clem asked to be dropped off at my house instead of her apartment.
“Brilliant,” I said, the stress of the long week without my wife beginning to melt away. “And thanks. For whatever you did.”
“Maybe now you’ll stop moping,” she said.
Moping? Who? I hung up on her and ran back to my car, breaking a couple of speed limits on the way to get there.
No LA traffic was going to keep me from reuniting with my wife.
She finally decided to come home, and I couldn’t have been happier as I bounded up the steps and through the front door, calling her name.
Everything was quiet, and I grinned, suspecting a surprise since Lilia had sounded so pleased with herself when she told me Clem was back where she belonged. The first place I went was the library, our sanctuary, opening the door slowly and peeking in.
No warm greeting. Nothing. The place was as empty as the front hall. The kitchen, the pool area, and our bedroom were also deserted. Nobody was home. I called her phone, but there was no answer, and she didn’t immediately call me back, so what did I do?
Panic all over again. This wasn’t fear for her life this time; it was fear for my well-being. It only took a week without her to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I couldn’t live without her. I thought the other night proved she couldn’t live without me.
But maybe those things she said to try to make me angry had actually been true? What if she really did have a lapse in judgment? What if getting dropped off here instead of going home, where her guard would only follow her wherever she went, was a way to break free of me again?
“Damn it,” I hissed, trying her phone again. Same thing, no answer.
There was no doubt I’d go after her again and at least make sure she was safe, with the ultimate goal to bring her home. But I wanted her to know this was where she belonged and chose to be here instead of me constantly dragging her back.
That would only make me exactly who she feared I was. Maybe I had to let her go, like she asked.
Hell no. I had too many enemies who knew she was mine.
Her safety had to come first. It was more important than anything, even more than what she wanted.
Definitely more than what I wanted. If she didn’t want to be with me, we’d figure that out, but I wasn’t going to let her fall into the wrong hands.
Crushed but determined, I headed to the security office on my estate to find out where she ran to this time.