Page 50 of Her Three Bosses


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I didn’t know what to say to that because he was right. I was the shittiest man alive at that moment, and I regretted everything I’d said and everything I felt. Maybe I was just doomed to not be lucky in love, but not because of the other person. I was the only one to blame here.

“And she didn’t say where she was going?” Hunter asked again. I shook my head. “Shit. We need to find her. Right now. Someone might be waiting for her to be alone like this to strike.”

CHAPTER27

Brooke

Imanaged to hold back my tears until I got into the back of the cab. I’d gotten practice crying quietly when I was a teenager, so I took the seat behind the driver and let it out on the ride back to my apartment.

How had I ended up in this situation again, tossed aside by a man who “liked” me but not enough to take a risk? Wasn’t that what love was supposed to be? I’d taken a risk with Chase, and with all of them, and now I was crying in the back of a cab the same way I had when Dane dumped me.

What was so wrong with me that no one everchoseme? I was always second best. Hell, even my parents had thought so. Everyone at school thought so, too.

But the attention that Chase had given me had fooled me into believing that I was worth it to him. Were the other two next? Were they going to reveal themselves to be the kind of men who pulled the “it’s not you, it’s me” card?

Maybe. Lucas was distant, too, when I needed him most, but Hunter was smothering me like a helicopter parent. Lucas was breaking my heart, but at least I knew Hunter was mostly coming from a good place. Mostly. But what if we eventually went down to the path of being controlled? I didn’t want that, either.

It was all falling apart. We were under a lot of pressure, but so was life. Love couldn’t crumble with a light kick to its foundation.

I was over it—over feeling worthless and like I wasn’t enough. I didn’t need to waste my time feeling like this anymore when I could be happy with myself the way I was.

We soon reached my building. Seeing it again after staying in Hunter’s enormous home made me realize just how I’d gotten used to the nice things that they’d given me. I charged the cab ride to my company card and went upstairs to my apartment. Hunter and Lucas were still with me—at least as far as I knew—but I had so many memories of Chase there that I couldn’t go back.

I dug through my purse for my new keys, but my door was cracked open. I frowned and nudged it open. Our fire alarms were a little bit touchy, so sometimes Jamie cracked open the front door when she was cooking something. But it was the middle of the day. Why would she have been home cooking?

I stepped inside fully and gasped.

The apartment had been turned upside down. The storage ottoman was flipped over onto its side, the contents spilling across the floor. Somehow, our huge, heavy couch had been pushed over several inches. I froze. What if the person responsible was still in here?

I called the cops first and told them what had happened. Since it wasn’t an active threat, they didn’t seem particularly motivated to rush over. Then, I called Jamie. I doubted she’d gone berserk and trashed the place, but maybe she knew what was going on.

I didn’t want my gut instinct to be right. I didn’t want this to be connected to the crime ring whatsoever. But what other reasonable explanation was there? Jamie had gone through another breakup, but her most recent ex had moved to Dallas and wasn’t hung up on her.

If this had happened after Jamie left for work, it might have been a random burglar, but why us? Our apartment wasn’t easily accessible. If I were a thief, I’d go for the lowest hanging fruit.

I dialed Jamie up, pacing in the entryway since I didn’t want to go too deep yet.

“Hey, what’s up?” Jamie said.

“The place got ransacked,” I said. “Like someone was looking for something. You didn’t know about this, did you?”

“What? No!” She swore under her breath. “Why are you back? Should I come home? Are the police there?”

“No, no police are here yet. The dispatcher made it seem like they had more important things to do, so who knows how long it’ll take for them to get here?” I said. “And I just… I just had to come back.”

“Ugh. Okay, I’m on my way. Or will be in a few minutes,” she said. “Stay safe and don’t investigate without a weapon or something.”

“I won’t. See you soon.”

I ended the call and sighed, tucking my phone into my bra, after remembering I didn’t have any pockets.

I turned to the kitchen. Whoever did this had also taken food out of the fridge and tossed it on the counter. Who did that? Why? Did they think I was hiding something behind that carton of yogurt that had been living there for way too long?

I picked up one of the kettlebells that Jamie had purchased. It had a fine layer of dust on it, but it was still fifteen pounds and ready to swing around. I peeked around the apartment. We didn’t have many places where people could hide, but I didn’t want to take my chances yet.

I crept into the kitchen, looking through the cabinets as if someone could squeeze in there. Nothing. I grabbed a knife, too, just in case.

I checked the bathroom, which had also been turned inside out, then Jamie’s room. The intruder had taken out all of her clothes from the closet and thrown them everywhere. Asshole.

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