Bella throws herself into my arms. “Don’t leave me.”
The fire inside me slowly begins to subside from a boiling point to a slow simmer. That’s all it takes to calm me down. Her touch, her scent, her soft voice. I kiss her head, stroking her hair as she presses her face to my chest. “I won’t leave you.”
I hold her for what feels like minutes, knowing that he’s out there somewhere—either trying to find us or trying to escape. Once I’ve got her calmed down and I’m ready to think clearly, I step away to make a call in the bedroom.
I’m standing in front of the window, looking out at the city, as I tap Anders’s name. He picks up on the first ring and I cut right to the chase. “He’s here at the Manhattan resort. Bella blew our cover tonight by sneaking down to The Grotto.” Sensing her presence, I turn around and see Bella standing there. Her hip pressed to the doorframe and a look of remorse on her face.
“Baby, I didn’t mean—”
She holds up a hand, stopping me. “It’s okay. It’s the truth.” She turns and walks away and as much as I’d like to chase after her and apologize while explaining myself, I have to get things rolling.
My attention returns to the call. “I need all of our top men here. Put this place on lockdown. Contact Edward, Jason, Pedro, and all the head guards at the other locations and alert them of what’s going on. If Byron shows his face anywhere, they are to detain him and contact me immediately.”
“I’m on it, Boss. You want me there, too?”
“Yes, I want you here. You’re my head of security and I need you to fucking catch this guy.” I end the call before I blow up and say shit I’ll regret. It seems I’ve already put my foot in my mouth enough tonight.
With my phone still in my hand, as I anticipate a call back from Anders once he’s made contact with everyone, I leave the room. “Bella,” I holler out. She shouldn’t have heard that. Hell, I shouldn’t have said it. I was trying to get as much information out as I could, as fast as I could. “Baby, I didn’t mean it like that. Don’t be mad.”
Noticing the light on in the bathroom, I go toward it. “Bella?” I push open the door, but she’s not there. All I see is the pajamas she had on when she went to bed. She must’ve changed here before going to The Grotto.
I scoop up her pajamas and let them fall back to the floor, wondering where the hell she’s at. Something doesn’t feel right.
“Bella,” I holler again, now frantically searching the entire suite. When she doesn’t turn up, I scream. “Fuck!”
Why the hell does this girl keep sneaking off? Since the minute she came back into my life, she’s constantly disappearing and getting herself into trouble.
I hurry into the bedroom, pull on a pair of dress pants that were lying on the floor and fasten my belt. Skimming the room for a shirt as I try to hurry, I don’t see one. I rifle through the drawer I unpacked in. I go for the first white undershirt I find and slip it on, along with a pair of socks.
Once I’m in my shoes and ready to search this entire fucking property, I go to the door—without my key card, because she still has it.
What a fucking mess.
Just as I open the door, I hear her sniffling. My head snaps around and I see that the balcony door is open a tad.
Relief washes over me. I kick my shoes off and cross the room.
Sliding the door open, I see her leaning over the railing, looking down. She flinches; I know she’s aware that I’m here. I come up behind her, pressing my arms to the railing on either side of her.
“I’m sorry,” she says as I go to speak, “I didn’t mean to blow our cover.”
“That’s not what I meant. I had so many thoughts running through my head, and I was trying to tell Anders what went down and it came out wrong.”
Bella turns around. Her eyes are swollen and it’s obvious she’s been crying. “No. You were right. I’ve been careless. Hell, I’m always careless. I should have never left this suite to begin with.”
I sweep my thumb under her eye, then the other, before resting my hand on her cheek. “I love the careless side of you. The carefree, vibrant, ‘never giving a shit’ side. When you get something in your head, there’s no stopping you.”
She looks down at the space between us. “Yeah, I’m a royal pain in your ass.”
I tip her chin up, feeling the warmth swimming through my chest like it does each time I look at her. “That you are. But you make life interesting. Did you know that before you came back in my life, I did the same thing every single day? Wake up, drink coffee and have breakfast—alone—make a shit-ton of business calls, feed Amara, have lunch—alone—handle more business, have dinner—alone—and I’d attempt to sleep only to be haunted by my nightmares. You’ve shaken things up in the best way possible. I’d hide away with you forever if it meant being with you forever.”
Finally, a smile. It’s just a little one, but it’s something.
She raises a brow, chewing on her bottom lip and driving me wild like she always does. “You mean that?”
“I absolutely mean that.” I kiss her lips, tasting a hint of saltiness from her tears. “Without you, I’m nothing.”
Her hint of a smile grows to one that pushes her cheekbones up, showing her pearly white teeth. “I feel the same way.”
“Good.” I tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Now that we have that settled, I need you to promise you’ll quit sneaking off all the time. I’m not even thirty years old and you’re giving me gray hair.”
She laughs. It’s a beautiful sound that I want to hear every day for the rest of my life. Bella has given me life. She’s made me feel things that I swore I’d never allow myself to feel. My heart is no longer empty, it’s so full of love for this girl.
“I promise I’ll try to run things by you first.”
“Okay. That’s a start.” I kiss her again, and when I go to pull away, thinking she needs some sleep while I handle this business with Byron, she pulls me back in. Hands wrapped around my head, fingers intertwined in my hair. She kisses me hard and every emotion spills into my mouth. I feel it all. I feel her, the woman of my dreams, in my arms, and a permanent fixture in my life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Cal,” I grumble, rolling over to my side. I watch him in a pair of gray joggers as he paces the bedroom with his face in his phone. “It’s two in the morning. Come to bed.”
He holds up a finger, eyebrows dipped in a deep V as he finishes reading whatever is on his phone.
It was after midnight before I finally fell asleep, even then it was broken chunks. All I could think about was Byron’s dirty hands all over me in the pool room. The look on his face when he realized it was me is etched in my mind and will likely haunt me in my dreams.
Cal finally lifts his head and cracks a smile. “Anders has a lead. He’ll be updating me as soon as he has more information.”
“That’s great.” I pat the mattress beside me. “Now come and sleep while you can.” I’ve gotten used to having Cal by my side every night, and I sleep so much better when I’m in his arms.