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“If you knew her as well as you think you do, you would already know where she is. Or you can call her, see if she picks up.”
Harrison glared at my hand, still on the door, and I took a step back. Before slamming it in my face, he turned to face me. “Regardless of what happens next, I won’t be doing business with Dubois, like I won’t be doing you any favors. The contract you signed with my father was fair. It can stand.”
“Okay.” I started scrolling through my phone, looking for her number.
“I’m serious, Luc. I don’t care who you are married to. It will not protect you or your father from the law. Not now, not ever.”
“Understood,” I called over my shoulder as I ran back to my car. The driver was already waiting for his next order.
Amelia’s phone rang twice and went to voicemail. I tried again. Same thing.
Harrison would want me to leave it at that. Maybe try again in a few hours once she had calmed down. He said that if I knew her as well as I should that I would know where she was.
I called my security team and had them send men to the Met to look for her. Others went to the cafés along Central Park, and to cover my bases, I sent a few to Saks. My gut told me she wasn’t there, but I wanted to be sure.
Then I remembered her friend. Marco, the one she had cozied up with to make me jealous. Like I didn’t already know he was gay.
The dossier Henry had made for me was still in my home office. He had expanded it to include the names and numbers of all known associates. With any luck, Marco’s number would be there. Maybe he’d help me.
Two phone calls and many threats, begging, and bartering later, I was still nowhere. Worse, Marco hadn’t narrowed my search, he’d broadened it.
Olivia took pity on me and called Rose. She didn’t know where her sister was, only that she had given Amelia enough jewelry and purses to fund a trip anywhere in the world, and she had left on foot.
Within minutes, I had travel alerts set for her across the country, using pings from her cellphone, and my men were tracking her movements on CCTV.
Even I had to admit it was creepy and underhanded, when I saw her on a grainy black-and-white screen boarding a train. Had I taken things too far?
Then I realized when it came to her, there was no distance I wouldn’t go.
My beautiful bride was boarding a train heading to Los Angeles. The newer trains also had cameras, and I watched as she sat down in a row by herself and looked out the window.
Standing alone in my home office, I watched her stare out the window as she left her home, tears running down her face.
I had done this to her.
She was running from everything she knew and loved because of me.
The entire time we had been betrothed, I had been focused on what the marriage meant for me, for my business, and how she would fit into my goals.
I’d never even thought about what she wanted. What would her days look like being my wife? I had simply assumed they would be spent going to charity events, representing me at different luncheons and galas. Eventually raising my children and managing my house.
Did she actually want any of that? I sat and watched her for a little over an hour, the entire time trying to decide what the right move was.
Did I show her I loved her by letting her go?
Or did I run after her and drag her back here, force her to listen to me? To tell me what she wanted, and I would give it to her. Anything at all, anything as long as it wasn’t freedom from me.
That wasn’t fair. She deserved more. I picked up my phone and called my head of security to have one of my guards figure out how to get to the next train station and board so he could follow her. The very least I could do was know where she ended up and see to her safety.
She lifted her head and for a moment, I thought she was looking at me. Then I saw she was looking at the monitor under the camera. She gathered her things and stood like she was getting ready to get off at the next stop.
She couldn’t be too far from New York. Why would she take a cross-country train just to get off after an hour?
“She just got off the train. Do you know where she is?”
“Yes, sir. She is in New Jersey. I have a few friends out that way. I will follow her on CCTV and keep eyes on her until I have a man there. Do you wish for us to detain her?”
“No, follow her, but stay back. I don’t want her to know I have her.”
