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She smoothed her sundress, one she’d worn already since she fled from her mother. I made a mental note to take her shopping after our family lunch today. A glance at my phone showed we had plenty of time before we had to leave, and I held out my arms to her.
“I know you’re all pretty and perfect, but let me mess you up some.”
She leaned over and kissed me, then slipped out of my grasp. “I need coffee, and there’s no way I can be still right now.”
“Oh, we don’t have to be still.”
She stuck out her tongue as she backed out of the bedroom door. “Do you want me to make you some, too?”
With a groan, I got out of bed. “Yes, might as well. Come and join me in the shower after you turn the machine on.”
She paused and looked at me, standing naked in the middle of the room. Her eyes traveled up and down, causing my cock to swell at her hungry gaze. “Aleksei, I’m all ready for lunch.”
“Which is hours away,” I told her. “I want to suds you up all over.”
She closed her eyes. “Okay, fine. You win. As soon as I get the coffee started.”
I laughed victoriously and headed to the shower, listening to her hum as she skipped to the kitchen. Right before I stepped into the shower, I heard her shout that I was out of coffee and she was going to run down to the corner market and get some.
“Hurry. I’ll be waiting,” I shouted back.
For a brief moment I thought about going with her or running after her to make her stay put. But the promised war wasn’t going to happen now that my brave woman took care of everything yesterday, and if Sofia kept her end of the bargain, the trouble should have been well and truly over. Theresa was so antsy from worrying about what my brothers were going to think of her, it would do her good to get a little fresh air.
Of course my brothers were going to love her. Almost as much as I did. I studied my face in the mirror, frowning at the raccoon eyes and swollen bump on my nose. The cut on my head was barely noticeable compared to the giant bruise on my jaw. It was a wonder Theresa didn’t run in terror from such a face and the fact she could still want to kiss me looking like that made me feel ridiculously soft. She made me feel almost like a completely different person, but I guess that was what being happy did.
I got under the stinging hot shower spray and let the water soothe my aching muscles. It turned out swimming for your life after getting the shit kicked out of you was quite the workout. According to my messages from Yuri and his contact at the police department, the coast guard still hadn’t recovered Roman’s body. He’d wanted me to get eaten by fish so I couldn’t feel too sorry about his fate.
I stayed under the shower until the water turned cold and my fingers were prunes, and Theresa still hadn’t joined me. Annoyed that she had decided to stay dressed, I finally shut the water off and stepped out. Quickly toweling off, I wrapped myself in my robe, which now smelled like raspberries and vanilla thanks to Theresa’s shampoo, and headed to the kitchen to tease her about what she’d missed out on.
Except she wasn’t in the kitchen, or the living room, the guest room, or out on the balcony. I called down to the concierge, and he said she’d gone out but hadn’t yet returned.
Okay, no reason to panic. She’d been awfully jumpy, maybe she’d just walked farther than she originally planned. Or something in a shop window had caught her eye and she was now browsing. Finding my phone, I called her, still more annoyed than worried. The call rang to voicemail, and I hung up, sending her a text to answer me. Theresa always obeyed my commands. I put the phone down and went back to the kitchen to start making breakfast for when she got back, but checked it after only five minutes. No answer.
Now I was worried.
Dressing in a rush, I went downstairs and jogged to the corner shop where she said she was going. I shopped in there all the time, and the employees all knew me well. I described Theresa to the kid on duty behind the counter, and he said she hadn’t been in. There was a coffee shop across the street, and I cut through the traffic to see if she’d stopped in there for her caffeine fix. No sign of her there, either.
Don’t panic. Do not panic.
I was mildly panicking. She didn’t run from me, did she? She never did say she loved me when I told her how I felt last night, but even though it stung, I chalked it up to her being overwhelmed from the events of the day. I knew she loved me, even if she didn’t say it. Until now, when she seemed to have disappeared into thin air. She had been awfully nervous about meeting my brothers, but was that enough reason to run? I called her again, and once again it rang through to voicemail. That wasn’t like Theresa, not now. My panic level rose.
Damn it all. I hadn’t been able to go through with my planned proposal on the yacht and put a ring on her finger that really meant something. Did she leave because she thought I wasn’t going to marry her? No, she hadn’t left me. And she wouldn’t worry me like this. Even if she was mad at me for some reason I couldn’t figure out, I trusted her enough to know she’d talk to me about it, not run away.
There was someone I didn’t trust at all, though. Back at my apartment, I angrily called Sofia, demanding to know where my woman was.
“I have no idea,” she said, sounding surprised enough that I almost believed her.
“None of your people would act without your orders, would they?”
“Dear God, we’re planning my father’s funeral, you ass. I don’t have a clue where she is, and I don’t care.”
“You’re sure?”
“I know what side my bread is buttered on, Aleksei. I swear I don’t know where she is.”
She ended the call, and I sat down, staring at Theresa’s half-finished canvas by the window. I believed that Sofia was telling the truth, which for whatever reason, only made me panic more. Where in the hell was Theresa?
Chapter 24 - Theresa
