AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’ll have his inheritance and a few other trust funds, but he’ll no longer be in control of Prince Holdings, and all their subsidiaries. His legacy will be ruined.”
“Can’t Gabriel and I just run off to the courthouse? Do a quick wedding?”
Ronin’s smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Gabriel has a certain standard to uphold. I assumed you realized this by now.”
“Right. I get it.” This whole thing is making me nervous. Who knows what Bishop is capable of.
“I can help you get out.” Ronin’s eyes are set with determination. “I can help you leave.”
“Leave? No way.” I shake my head. “I can’t be on the run. Absolutely not.” I’ll stay here and take my chances with Bishop. I peek at my watch. “I have to go. I need to get back to work.” I don’t tell Ronin about my plans with the wedding planner. The less people who know my whereabouts, the better.
Chapter 22
Gabriel
“What do you mean he’s missing?” I say into the phone to Dean.
“I mean we followed him to Zanzibar, where he just vanished after leaving Bishop’s place.”
I drop my head into my hand as I sit parked outside the office building that houses Lana Devario, the wedding planner. “Zanzibar? How could you lose him on an island?”
“He caught a small boat to Africa, and then was gone.”
“But he made it to Blackstone’s place?”
“Yes.”
Today of all days has to be the day we can’t find Ronin. I should have sent someone with him to pay off Blackstone, but I figured he could handle it. I grind my teeth attempting to regain my control.
“Did you check the nightclubs and underground?”
“We’re sweeping the city, leaving no stone unturned.”
“Keep me updated,” I say before hanging up and exiting the car.
It’s two fifty-five and Clementine’s nowhere to be found. I know this because I scanned the street for her while I was on the phone. I unclench my teeth and remind myself she still has time, and she was the one who insisted I be here. I relax my shoulders, assuming the sophisticated manner I was brought up to exude in public, and head inside where the receptionist immediately escorts me to Lana’s office.
“Mr. Prince, hello,” her husky voice greets me when I step inside the rectangular room filled with enough lace and fresh flowers to make me light headed.
It’s what you imagine a wedding planner’s office would look and smell like—swatches of fabric and pictures of women in wedding gowns, all surrounded by the overwhelming scent of roses. I swallow my urge to gag. Clementine is going to pay for this.
“Lana, hi. Please, call me Gabriel.”
She rises and crosses the space to shake my hand. “Where’s the fiancee?”
“She should be here soon.”She better be.
I glance at my phone. I’d sent Clementine one text message asking her where she was before I walked into this building. The text still sits there, unanswered. I hate the fact I don’t know where she is, and I contemplate putting a tracker on her phone. Mayer would let me know if she wasn’t at work. Most likely she got held up.
I wish she’d just quit her job already. She doesn’t need the money. I understand she doesn’t want to give up that part of herself, but she could always open her own cake shop, or hell, bake all day in my state of the art kitchen. I shouldn’t like the idea of her always at home cooking as much as I do.
“We can get started as soon as she arrives,” Lana says. “Please, sit. Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
I take a seat in one of the two leather chairs in front of her desk, and we sit in silence until Lana fidgets and starts rambling.
“I’ve spoken with the Juniper about security for the event,” Lana states, lapsing into a detailed summary of what they provide.
