Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 259

CMWMBB 59

AARON

The door clicked shut behind Andrea, the sound quiet but heavy enough to settle into my bones.

For a second, the room felt hollow.

Like all the air had been pulled out with her.

Venus didn’t move immediately. She stood where I had left her, shoulders tight, eyes still fixed on the door as if she expected Andrea to burst back through it laughing.

Then she turned to me.

“What are you up to?” she asked, voice low but sharp. “Aaron, don’t leave me in the dark anymore. Not now. Not after everything.” Her breath hitched. “What was that about Rick? And where is Iris?”

The questions landed fast, desperate, layered with fear she had been swallowing for too long.

I stepped closer slowly, careful not to overwhelm her.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

The apology wasn’t enough, and I knew it. But it was the only honest place to start.

Her brows pulled together. “Sorry doesn’t answer me.”

“I know.” I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to stay calm even though my pulse had already started to climb again. “And I will explain everything. All of it. Rick. The surveillance. Every piece of this mess.” I paused, searching her face. “But not here. Not yet.”

Her jaw tightened. She hated that answer.

But time wasn’t on our side.

“I have to go,” I said quietly.

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“I got a text from Connor earlier,” I continued, voice steady despite the tension pulling tight through my ribs. Colton’s on Iris’s trail. Andrea had a decoy distract them, but he made contact before losing signal. Connor is there with our men.”

Hope flickered in her expression.

“She’s close?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

The word felt fragile, like glass between my teeth.

“I need to join them,”

Her fingers curled into the sleeve of my jacket before I could step away.

1/4

“I’m coming with you.”

She didn’t say it like a suggestion.

I shook my head immediately.

“No.”

Her expression hardened. “Aaron-”

“You can’t,” I said gently but firmly. “You need to go to George and mom. Hold things together there.”

“Iris is my daughter too,” she shot back, voice cracking. “You don’t get to decide I stay behind.”

“I’m not deciding you’re less important,” I said softly. “I’m deciding you’re essential.”

She stopped.

I continued before she could interrupt. “Andrea’s arrest cannot leak yet. Not until Iris is in our hands. If word spreads that Andrea is down and Iris is out there, every opportunist, every rival, every person who wants leverage will start looking for her first. And Iris becomes a target again.”

The reality settled between us.

“We can’t afford not to be the only ones chasing her,” I added.

Her shoulders sagged slightly.

Logic had always been her strength, even when it hurt.

“But you-” she started.

“I need you holding the other side of this,” I said. “George needs stability. Sabine needs calm. If everything collapses at home while I’m out there, we lose more than just this fight.”

She swallowed hard.

I saw the battle in her eyes-the pull between mother and fighter, between love and fear.

“You’re asking me to sit and wait,” she whispered.

“I’m asking you to be strong for me,” I said, stepping closer. “My brave woman. Can you do that?”

Her lips parted.

Tears shimmered but didn’t fall.

After a long moment, she nodded.

“Yes.”

Relief moved through me like a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

2/4

She laughed softly, shaky. “I hate when you say it like that. Like I don’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” I said quietly.

She studied me for a second longer.

Then she stepped forward and grabbed my lapel, pulling me down into a kiss.

Deep and grounding, like she was memorizing me before I disappeared back into chaos.

I held her face between my hands, leaning into the kiss just as fiercely.

For a second, everything else disappeared-the noise, the threats, the weight of Andrea’s final words.

Just us.

Just breath and warmth and something steady beneath all the fear.

When we finally broke apart, her forehead rested against mine.

“Bring her back,” she whispered.

“I will,” I said.

“I mean it, Aaron,” she added, voice rough. “Don’t come back without her.”

A faint smile touched my mouth. “You’ve always known how to motivate me.”

She didn’t smile back.

Not really.

I brushed my thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tear she refused to acknowledge.

“I’m going to end this,” I said quietly.

She nodded again.

I stepped back reluctantly, already feeling the distance between us grow.

As I reached the door, her voice stopped me.

“Aaron.”

I turned.

She stood in the center of the room, shoulders straight, eyes fierce despite everything.

“Be safe.”

Two simple words.

I held her gaze.

A silent promise passing between us.

3/4

Then I opened the door.

The hallway buzzed with movement-officers, murmured radios, distant echoes of reporters still waiting for answers they wouldn’t get.

My men straightened as I stepped out.

“Car’s ready, sir,” one of them said.

I nodded once and moved quickly, already dialing Connor.

He picked up on the first ring.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“North ridge road,” he replied, voice tight. “Colton split off. He found something-abandoned vehicle. We’ve got unconscious bodies. Signs she was there.”

Was.

“Any confirmation?” I pressed.

“Not yet,” he said. “he was saying something about a Gabby though.”

Who the hell is that?

“I’m on my way,” I replied, ending the call.

As the city blurred past the window, my focus narrowed to a single point.

Iris.

Every road led to her now.

And this time,

I wasn’t arriving late.

P

曲

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