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“Boss,” Kevin said. “You are very wrapped up in the well-being of this girl. This entire drama is caused solely by her and her presence here. Now, I don’t know why you’re invested, but what I do know is this. You’re putting yourself at risk by pursuing this and not cutting her loose.” Kevin clamped his mouth shut and waited. His hard eyes bore holes in me.
I nodded slowly. “You’re right. But I’m involved, and I’m not going to ‘cut her loose.’ She’s a human being, and it’s my job to protect her. I chose it by picking her up that night. So, we can chat about this all day, but all I really want or need right now is to know that you’ll either help me or resign so that I can find someone whowillhelp me,” I finished.
Kevin’s face remained unreadable. “What do you need me to do?”
“Find out as much as you can about what’s going on with the two families. You know people on both their security teams. I know you do. Find me everything about them and the feud. Get me info on their businesses and their future plans. Everything. I’ll figure out what to do once I know what exactly I’m dealing with,” I said. “And lastly, I need you to never speak ill of Sarah or my decisions again!”
Kevin nodded, and his eyes softened slightly. “Yes, Anthony.” He rarely used my real name, not since we were in middle school together. He was not my friend then, just a mere acquaintance in a sea of preteen kids.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a one-armed hug and slapping him on the back. “Also, I need one more thing. New ID cards for Sarah with her new hair. Just in case. Can you do that?”
“Yep, I’m on it.” Kevin nodded and swiftly walked from the room. My phone rang a second later with his number.
“Uh, Warwick, where is Sarah? I’ll need new images of her if I’m going to change her identity.”
“She should be in the bedroom, I think,” I said. “Let me go get her.”
I bounded up the stairs, happy to be working on solving the problem, not basking in my feelings. I’d apologize to Sarah, and then we’d figure out the rest from there. I rapped on the spare bedroom door, but no one answered. Tentatively, I opened it and discovered an empty room.
“Maria!” I yelled.
Maria appeared a second later beside me. “Yes?”
“Have you seen Sarah?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, help me look!” I said, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
Maria and I raced around the beach house as we searched for Sarah. She wasn’t anywhere to be found. I expanded our search to the beach and surrounding land. Finally, I checked the employee’s house, hoping against hope that she would be there. She wasn’t.
“Where could she have gone?” I demanded, my face flushed with worry and anger.
I scrambled back down the hill to the water and didn’t stop until submerged. Had she come for a swim, and had something happened? She was angry when she left the kitchen and, in that state, anything was possible. I splashed around, hoping for a clue, something that would reveal her.
Defeated, I emerged twenty minutes later. I slumped down on the day bed in a dazed panic. How could she have just disappeared? I enlisted the help of all of my security team. Kevin scanned the cameras, and the only evidence of her was when she stormed out of the house after our fight. She’d been heading east, away from the beach. I searched through the treeline and the adjacent vacant land for almost three hours before I finally found her. I saw her feet sticking out from behind a densely shrubbed area near the ravine. I ran to her, fearful of what I would discover.
“Sarah,” I called, careful not to raise my voice too loudly in case I wasn’t alone.
“What?” she mumbled.
I rounded the corner and collided with her. She sat on the damp ground in the dirt, and her knees pulled to her chest. Her face was red and blotchy, as if she had been crying for hours. She stared at her dirty sneakers when she spoke.
“Please leave me alone. You made your point earlier. I get it, but I can only say I’m sorry so many times,”. Her voice sounded mature and firm and cold.
“I know, I’m an ass, and I am so, so sorry.” I dropped to the ground on my knees, leveling my eyes with hers. “I’m genuinely sorry.”
Sarah nodded, but her body remained stiff.
“Look at me,” I said. I took a deep breath. “I’m better at solving issues than at explaining them. You were right back there. I never did intend to have sex with you, but I did. And I loved every second of it,” I said.
“But?” she added flatly.
“But nothing. I have feelings for you. There. I said it. But the fact is that we can’t be together. You know that. I’m sorry that I said it the way I did. I thought you felt the same way. But on the other side, I don’t want this to be over yet because then that means we’re not over. Does that make any sense?”
Sarah nodded slowly. “Yeah, it does. I’m sorry I took off. I just needed somewhere to think. Nothing feels safe to me right now other than you. I’m terrified I’ve messed up beyond repair this time.”
I helped Sarah to her feet and guided her back toward the house. I had to find a way to end this before her dad or family got seriously hurt. Once Sarah was in the shower, I made a quick call to Kevin.
