Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 85

OCEANS.

M

I stood in the living room with the watch closed inside my palm, my phone pressed to my ear, and my patience hanging by one thin, miserable thread. Reeves was speaking, but half of what he said came through like noise because my mind kept circling back to the same impossible question.

Could it be her?

Could Moonie be the girl?

The thought made no sense. It made too much sense. It made my skin feel too tight.

If she were the girl, why run?

If she was not, why have the watch?

And if she had stolen it, who the fuck had she stolen it from?

The irony was not settling in properly. The girl whose father I was meant to hate until my last breath was the one I owed my life to.

I almost laughed.

“Sir?” Reeves called.

I blinked and forced myself back into the room. “Repeat that.”

“We have eyes on Freda’s house. No sign of Moonie yet. Her driver is still unreachable. We’re checking if she switched cars at the Marcelle.”

I heard footsteps behind me and dropped the call.

“Sir.” It was Jeff’s. “Miss Harry just left the premises.”

For one second, I did not understand the sentence.

Then I did.

And irritation at his insensitivity clouded me.

“I know.” I kept my eyes on the street below. “She’s not the priority right now.”

“She left on foot, sir. Alone.”

I pressed my tongue to the inside of my cheek and looked down at the watch in my hand.

It was a good thing she left. She could be as angry as she wanted for as long as she wanted. The last thing I needed right now was her in this house, pulling me away from the only thing that mattered tonight.

If she had stayed, I would have ended up dragging her into my bed and fucking her until Moonie and the watch and all of it dissolved into her skin, and I couldn’t afford that. Not tonight.

“She lives two streets away.” I turned back to face Jeff. “She’ll be fine. Find Moonie.”

Jeff went quiet.

22

O

O

16:41 Fri, May 22 d

Chapter 85

M

I was already reaching for my phone when something stopped me.

The hooded figure.

We hadn’t resolved that just yet. Marcus hadn’t closed that thread.

And, now, she had left alone at this hour of the night.

Fuck.

I stood still for a moment before pushing it down.

On second thought, it could be nothing.

Maybe she had overthought things. Kiss had a tendency to read threats into things that turned out to be nothing. I had watched her do it more than once.

This could be one of those times.

The hooded figure could have been a neighbor, or a stranger who was only walking fast, or even someone who happened to turn the same corner at the same moment.

But one thing I knew for a fact was that she was not helpless.

She was two streets away, and there were security cameras all over the block, men at her gate, and Elgin would come running to the front door the moment he saw her through the window, because that man had attached himself to her life like a dramatic little conscience with cheekbones.

She will be fine the moment she steps into her apartment.

That, I could guarantee.

***

KISAREL

I could be stubborn at times, and most of the time to my own detriment. But I didn’t give a damn about that tonight.

A text from an unknown number who had refused to show themselves or their motive was not going to make me turn around and walk back through Oceans‘ door like a frightened little thing. Whoever it was could say whatever they wanted. I was not going back.

I had looked around frantically to see if there was anyone – maybe a man in a black hoodie – following me around, but the street was quiet and almost empty.

For one terrible second, I expected to see the man in black again.

I got a taxi almost immediately, which was the first thing that had gone right all evening, settled in, and gave the driver Elgin’s address.

I wasn’t going to set foot in the house Oceans‘ got for me. I didn’t want to be anywhere around him… Not even two streets

away.

The taxi moved through the city, and I sat in the back and watched the streets, and kept my phone face up on my lap.

The unknown number didn’t text again.

I texted Elgin and told him to meet me at the house.

22

O

16:41 Fri, May 22 M.

Chapter 85

The closer the taxi got to Elgin’s house, the more my confidence began to crack.

My gaze kept shifting to the rearview mirror, then to the side window, then to the dark road ahead.

By the time the taxi slowed in front of the old building, my chest had already started doing the thing it had done the last time I walked on this street at night, as images of the hooded man came replaying in my head.

My phone almost slipped from my hand as I dialed Elgin,

He picked on the second ring.

“Cherie?”

“Are you close?” I asked, my eyes darting around the dark street.

“I’m fifteen minutes away,” he said. “Maybe less if the driver continues to treat traffic laws as personal suggestions. Are you there?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Go in. Lock the door. Do not do that horror–movie thing where you stand outside looking around like the ghost is waiting for a proper entrance.”

I tried to smile, but it did not work.

“I’m fine.” I pushed the taxi door open and stepped out onto the pavement, my eyes already moving. “Just hurry.”

I was almost fumbling with my keys. The key found the lock on the second try.

I heard the taxi drive away, and suddenly, the silence returned.

I froze with the key inside the lock.

For one second, I thought I heard footsteps. And, maybe I did, because the moment I pushed the door open, a hand grabbed mine.

22