Chapter 41 Bastian
BASTIAN
When I woke, I was alone.
Early morning sun was pouring through the windows. Damn, I’d forgotten to close the blinds.
I turned my head and noted that the other side of the bed was empty. Gut hardening, I reached out. The sheets were cool.
I leaped up and yanked on my sleep pants. I strode to the closet, and paused. Lark’s duffel bag was gone. My chest felt like I’d taken a round.
Mouth dry, I strode out to the living area, but I already knew.
It was empty. No Lark cooking breakfast, drinking coffee on a stool, or drawing on her iPad.
She was gone.
“Fuck!”
The silence was deafening. I’d never minded it before, but I did now.
Every sign of her was gone. Her laptop. Her iPad.
There was no note, but as I approached the kitchen island, I saw something resting on the marble.
One of her knives.
And beside it was her pearl bracelet that she shouldn’t have been able to remove.
I touched it, throat thick. She’d left it for me.
“Damn you, Lark. For not trusting me. For not trusting yourself.” My hand clenched on the bracelet.
Fuck this. I was going to find her. Whatever it took. Whatever it cost.
I found my cellphone and pressed it to my ear.
“Damn, Bastian, do you know what time it is?” Nash’s grumpy voice
“Lark’s gone. I need you.” I shoved a hand through my hair. “I need to find her.”
The rustling of sheets and a feminine murmur came across the line. “Did you get Theo to pull up the tracker?”
“She took the bracelet off.”
He cursed. “I’m on the way.”
I dragged in a deep breath. “Thank you.”
Next, I messaged the security team to check for any footage of her leaving.
I was pacing the living area when my friends arrived. All of them.
“I called everyone,” Nash said.
I gripped the back of my neck. “She snuck out and took her stuff.”
Nash held up his cellphone. “She left ninety minutes ago. The security team said she walked out the front doors.” He held out his phone.
On the small screen, I saw the footage showing the tiny figure striding through the lobby. She wasn’t hiding, wasn’t moving fast. The duffel bag was slung over her shoulder. She hesitated in the center of the lobby, and looked directly up at the camera, then she walked out.
Lark. My fingers tightened on the phone. “Find her. I— Fuck.” I shoved the phone back at Nash and then thrust both hands in my hair.
“Take a breath,” Nash said.
Cole nodded. “We’ll find her.”
Landon, Alessio, and Rafe all nodded.
“I… She’s mine. I can’t be without her. I—” I shook my head, battling back emotions.
“I get it,” Nash said quietly.
I met his steady gaze. I knew that now he had Georgie in his life, he understood.
“I have to find her.”
“Bastian.”
I whipped around. Lark was standing in the entry of the penthouse, her duffel bag at her feet.
Nash cleared his throat. “We’ll let ourselves out.” As my friends walked past her, they all nodded and murmured.
Nash touched Lark’s arm briefly, then closed the front door.
I just stared at her, worried she was a figment of my imagination. Worried she’d disappear in a blink.
“You came back.”
She nodded.