46. Wrath of the Lǎodà
CHAPTER 46
WRATH OF THE LǎODà
J ia
Glancing up at the CityZen sign Marco had custom made for the big opening has my heart doing a silly dance. Everything is nearly complete, and my nerves are a wicked tangle of excitement and anxiety.
I clutch my cell and shoot a few pictures of the front of the boutique. “There’s a little spot on the left. Right by the Z,” I call up to Nicky, who stands on a ladder with a damp cloth, cleaning the sign. A stupid pigeon had the nerve to poop on the beautiful design, and I just couldn’t stand the sight of it.
“Did I get it now?” the big guard calls down.
“Just a little more on top.”
The click-clack of heels on cement turns my attention to a leggy brunette in a ruby-red Chanel skirt suit strutting our way. She’s on the phone, chattering away with earbuds in and completely oblivious to Nicky and the ladder.
“Watch out!” I yell, but it’s too late. She bumps the ladder, and the metal thing begins to tremble. I try to reach for it, but with my phone in one hand, the rungs slip right from my grasp. I watch with my heart shooting up my throat as Nicky falls, the ladder hitting the sidewalk with a sharp clang.
For such a big guy, I’m amazed by the guard’s agility. He lands on one foot, staggers forward, but somehow maintains his balance. Too bad the same can’t be said of his phone. It flies out of his pocket and hits the cement with a crash.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” the woman gushes. She scurries toward Nicky and pats him down, making sure to touch his chest and arms a handful of times. “Are you alright?”
A deep blush rushes my guard’s cheeks. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. No worries, lady.”
She bends over, giving him a bird’s eye view of her ass cheeks and picks up his phone. “Oh no, it’s broken! I’m so clumsy.” Handing the mangled cell back to Nicky, she turns to me and offers a saccharine smile. “Give me your phone and I’ll put my number in it. I insist on paying for a new one.”
“It’s really not necessary,” I mumble as I step closer.
She bats her dark lashes at my personal guard and presses her palms to his chest. “I really insist. I’m just so embarrassed.”
I barely resist the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes and turn to Nicky instead. “I’m sure Marco will buy you a new one.”
“Yeah, of course he can,” he says to his ogling admirer. “It’s really not necessary.”
Before I can stop her, the woman snatches my phone from my hands and begins jabbing at the screen with long, manicured nails.
Well, then. I guess she isn’t taking no for an answer.
I glance up at Nicky over the pushy woman’s shoulder and he shrugs, a shade of crimson still tingeing his cheeks. She hands the phone back to me a moment later, flashing a beaming smile. “There now.” Then she spins at Nicky and folds her hands around his big one. “Please call me and tell me what I owe you. My name’s Laura, by the way.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Nicky mutters.
Then she spins on her stilettos and marches down the block so quickly she’s nothing but a blur of Manolos and red Chanel.
“Well, that was interesting.”
Nicky smirks and bends down to pick up the ladder. “Yeah…”
I still have my phone in my hands, so I open the camera app to shoot a few more pictures when a video fills my screen. What the hell?
Then familiar moans erupt, and two dark forms coalesce from the dimly lit video.
“What the fuck?” I screech, sending Nicky scrambling off the ladder. How are they together? Did the head of La Sombra make a surprise visit to Manhattan?
“What’s wrong?”
I grasp my phone tighter, hiding the screen against my chest. Even as the rage starts to boil over, I have enough sense not to show Nicky a view of his boss fucking Esmeralda from behind. Her groans fill the air, and I’m filled with the most perverse need to watch.
I need to see it with my own eyes.
I lower the volume as I watch the muscles in Marco’s perfect ass strain as he rails into her. He fists her hair in one hand, free hand groping her ass. It’s like a car wreck, gruesome and so disturbing, but I can’t tear my gaze away.
I’m going to kill Marco.
I’m literally going to chop off his cock and then shoot him in the face.
How can he do this to me?
Hot tears threaten to spill over, but I clench my jaw and find the icy calm. Blood of the dragon, right? I’ll make him pay for this betrayal. As I continue to watch the nightmarish scene, my gaze settles on Marco’s hand.
His left hand.
Which is curiously missing a wedding band.
That cheating bastard… no, wait. Clearing my head, I force a deep breath into my failing lungs. I pause the video and zoom in on his ring finger. The white band of skin beneath the platinum band is non-existent.
Which means… this isn’t a recent video!
Nicky still hovers nearby, a wary expression twisting his lips. “What’s going on?”
I try to ex out the video, but my phone seems frozen, stuck on this eternal loop from hell. That woman…
“We have to call Marco!” I shout at my guard who’s the picture of confusion. “My phone’s not working either.” I race into the boutique then curse myself remembering Ari left for the warehouse, and I never bothered to put in a landline.
Something bad is about to happen, and I’m completely useless to stop it.
An hour later and a lethal mix of fear and panic has set in bone deep. I circle the kitchen island like a madwoman, unable to keep my feet from moving. I have to do something. I can’t just stand here.
Marco is gone.
Despite Nico’s assurances that we’ll get him back, I’m terrified. I haven’t been able to draw in a full breath since seeing that damned video of him and Esmeralda.
My gaze flickers to the dining room table, to the candles, the rose petals… I force my eyes away to keep from sobbing.
“Can I get you anything, Jia?” Maisy appears beside me, putting an end to my circling. “Some chamomile tea, maybe? That always helps soothes my nerves. ”
“I’m not just nervous, Maisy, my husband is missing!” I snap. “Tea isn’t going to help.” I bite my tongue, immediately regretting my harsh tone. My almost sister-in-law has been nothing but kind to me since we met, but I’m just so damned worked up.
“I know. I’m so sorry, sweety.” She pats my arm gently, like I wasn’t just a total bitch to her. “Nico’s right though, we will find him.”
“How can he just disappear like that?” I shout, again my tone is sharper than intended.
Nicky’s dark eyes dart to mine from across the room, the big guard’s mouth twisting. He’s already apologized a dozen times for screwing up. The whole damned thing with the phones was a setup. But why?
Clearly, this has something to do with Esmeralda, but what’s their plan?
Nico stalks into the kitchen from Marco’s office where he’s been camped out for the past hour. I’d finally found someone with a cell phone and called the operator to get the number for Gemini Corp. From there, I finally got a hold of his twin. That’s it, I’m never going to be so dependent on my phone again. From now on, I’m memorizing everyone’s phone numbers.
By the time I spoke to Nico, it had been nearly ten minutes after the incident with the woman in red Chanel. We returned to the penthouse to find it empty, and the dining room set up in a beautiful display.
My heart aches.
Marco was planning something special for tonight, and if we don’t find him, I’ll never know what it was. That thought alone has my throat thickening, emotion squeezing the airway.
No. I cannot lose him. I won’t. He’s the first good thing I’ve had in my life in years, and I refuse to give him up.
Maisy and Nico are right. We will find him.
“Maisy, can I borrow your phone? ”
“Yeah, of course.” She hands the cell over as the wheels in my mind begin to grind out an idea. “Do you want to call your grandfather?”
“No, I’m calling in my men. If Marco is out there somewhere, the Four Seas will find him or suffer the wrath of their new lǎodà .”