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“I’m going to make the rounds,” he said. “Got a few clients here I’d like to check in with. Come find me later.”
He leaned in and placed one more kiss on my lips before departing.
Warmth and happiness in my heart, I began to make my own rounds through the gallery. Marianne was in the middle of explaining one of her paintings, Logan networked with clients, and Pearl was enjoying a drink from the bar while flirtingwith one of the servers. Roberto and his guards were posted throughout, trying their best to remain inconspicuous.
I stopped in front of one painting, a drawing of the beach. It was in the corner of the gallery, giving me a peaceful quiet to admire it. I found myself thinking of that first day at Logan’s, how overwhelmed I’d felt. If only I could’ve guessed what the next few weeks would hold.
I prepared to step away when I felt something hard press into the small of my back. Confused, I began to turn.
“Stay perfectly still,” a voice spoke. “Make a single sound and I’ll kill you and your baby.”
Chapter 30
Logan
“Something wrong, Mr. Stone?”
Where the hell was she?
John Lyman, the billionaire real estate mogul whose account my company managed, stood before me with a curious expression on his face. No doubt he’d noticed that my attention was elsewhere. I’d been trying to spot Emily in the crowd during my conversation but couldn’t find her.
“Sorry, John,” I said. “Just looking for my date, worried she’s getting bored.”
The smile returned to his face. “I saw her, such a gorgeous young woman. I don’t want to pry, Logan, but I couldn’t help but notice the way you two looked at one another when you arrived. Is she more than just one of the many models I’ve seen hanging on your arm over the years?”
I chuckled at how obvious I was being. “You know, she just might be.”
“In that case, go find her. I won’t keep you any longer.”
“Let’s set something up for this Monday at nine-thirty,” I said. “On Zoom. I want to make sure we’re on the same page for the next quarter.”
“Perfect. Have fun, Logan.”
John reached over and patted the side of my arm, offering one last warm smile before rejoining the crowd. Marianne was easy enough to spot, her tall, slender figure zipping from here to there as she eagerly explained her work to the many guests.
But Emily was another story. I scanned the place top to bottom, not finding her anywhere. Minutes passed, too many of them. Roberto was posted near the entrance, and I sidled through the crowd to him.
“Have you seen Emily?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Was just looking for her. Haven’t spotted her for ten minutes. I asked Marianne to run into the ladies’ room to see if she was in there.”
Tension gripped my gut. “What about outside? Any chance she stepped out?”
“Got my boys out there, they would’ve seen her.”
“Something’s wrong.”
He pursed his lips, nodding slowly. “Yeah.”
“Call the guys in. We’ll take a pass through the gallery, see if we can spot her.”
“Got it. We’ll meet here in five minutes.”
Without another word, we broke and moved through the gallery, Roberto taking the right and me taking the left. I hurried as quickly as I could without attracting attention, not wanting anyone to get the sense that something was wrong.
Halfway through my scan, I spotted something on the ground in front of Marianne’s beachfront picture—Emily’s white clutch. I picked it up and looked around.
She was gone. There was no doubt in my mind.
