Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

K ent

Mal pounded my back. “You must be on top of the world right now. Exonerated for crimes you didn’t commit, your reputation on the mend, and your position as CEO and president secured. This calls for a toast.” He raised his tumbler to me, his grin a match for his ostentatious purple tux.

I stopped scanning the room for Madison and clinked our glasses together. “It is a relief. And I’d like to thank you.”

“For?”

“You helped me keep control of Luxe Locations.” I scanned the party-goers, friends, and industry professionals with connections I’d established years ago as well as others on my wish list.

Madison’s knowledge and strategic abilities always awed me. How did she even know about half these people?

“Look, I’m young and adaptable, but I prefer not to get used to a new boss. I was doing myself a favor more than you.” Mal emptied his glass.

“Sure. I also have to thank you for Ife. I can rest assured she has someone in her corner until she’s ready to work on our relationship.”

Pink tinged Mal’s cheeks and he stared into his glass. “No problem. Hey, looks like we need refills. I’ll be back.” He took my glass and walked away.

I ignored the awkwardness of the moment to check my watch. Where was Madison?

Unease slithered down my spine. I wanted to dismiss the sense I’d overlooked something. Was it from tonight or earlier the feeling first plagued me?

“Dad?” Ife broke into my thoughts.

“Hey sweetheart, you came.”

“Where else would I be on a night celebrating you?” She hugged me.

“Does this mean you won’t run the second Madison arrives?”

My daughter stiffened in my arms. “Don’t ruin the moment, Dad.”

“Ife—”

She pulled away with a bright smile that didn’t meet her eyes. “Why don’t we try some of the hors d’oeuvres on offer?” She pulled me toward one with a smoked salmon and caviar-topped blini.

I took one, still glancing around. Every time my distraction showed, Ife hailed an acquaintance. After an hour, there was no sign of Madison and my unease turned into panic. I shrugged Ife’s hand off my arm.

“Dad?”

“I need to leave.”

“But there are people you haven’t greeted yet.”

“Make my excuses for me.” I patted her shoulder and rushed out.

Had something happened to Madison? I checked my phone but there was no message from any of her guards. I was so sure I’d handled all threats directed at her, but what if I missed something? Had Paulina hired another person in the event the first mercenary failed to abduct Madison?

My thoughts ran wild as I rushed home. All the cars were in their spots in the garage. If she hadn’t left yet, something bad must have happened. I ran into the elevator and punched the button for our floor over and over while praying for it to move faster.

The doors opened, and her guards were in the foyer. Standing. Chatting.

“Where’s Madison?” I stormed inside.

The closest man to me averted his gaze. Guilty expressions abounded.

“Answer me!” I yelled.

My scream caught Benson and Stabler’s attention. They came wagging their tails, but their welcome did nothing to calm me.

Finally, one stepped forward. “Ms. Montgomery told us not to follow her.”

I closed my eyes. “What did you say to me?” I strangled the words as they came out of my throat.

“Ms. Montgomery ordered us to stay here. Since she never gave us an order like that before, we thought she meant to return.”

“And when she didn’t, why didn’t you call me?”

They shared a look that spoke volumes of their fear of retribution without uttering a word. “She said not to.”

I stepped back, my breathing erratic. No, I had one other safety measure in place. I retrieved my phone and called the undercover bodyguard.

“Mr. Luxe?”

“Where is she?”

Silence met my question.

“Where is Madison?” I yelled into the phone, barely holding my shit together.

Benson and Stabler whimpered.

“I don’t know. I followed her to the airport, but lost her in the TSA line.”

I disconnected, unable to accept what I’d heard. My men were full of bullshit. Madison had to be here. She had no reason to be at an airport. The first room I checked was the bedroom.

My blood froze at the thick envelope sitting on her pillow. My hand shook as I reached for the item. A sense of foreboding swirled in my gut as I ripped through the seal and extracted ten water-splotched pages.

Words, useless words stared at me. Apologies. Excuses. And sharp, stabbing pain. Each sentence inserted an icicle into my heart, closing off my arteries and atrophying the muscle in my chest.

She’d really left me and told me not to follow.

She’d lost her goddamn mind.

I crushed the pages in my hand. Despite her warning that I wouldn’t find her, I knew where she would go. She had nowhere else. And I would be right behind her. Madison belonged with me. I’d cautioned her before that she didn’t get to walk away. Apparently, my little bunny needed a reminder.

I called my man at the airport. “How many flights are scheduled to depart for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport?”

“One left maybe an hour ago. There’s another expected departure in two hours.”

“Meet me at my airstrip.” I disconnected and called my pilots as I stomped out of the penthouse.

My little bunny was going to get a taste of the wolf she would never forget.

Warring emotions fought a pitched-fork battle inside my chest. Anger at her for daring to leave in the most cowardly way imaginable. Worry because she was alone and without her bodyguards to keep her safe. And uppermost, was sadness. The stained letter I couldn’t leave behind told a story of the tears she cried as she wrote her farewell. I choked back everything because once I saw her again, nothing else would matter.

After a three-hour flight, I disembarked in Washington D.C. Golden rays from the sun peaked over the horizon, and I boarded the helicopter I’d arranged in transit. I was in no mood to face D.C. traffic when I was on a mission to save my future.

As I flew over the urban skyline, I barely noticed the growing congestion below. My thoughts were on what I would do once I saw Madison. She had a lot to answer for after leaving me with a ten-page break-up letter.

We landed on the helipad above her building, and I made my way to her apartment.

I nodded toward my guard. “Open the door.”

Once inside, I dismissed him. While I waited, I wandered through the rooms. Despite the length of time Madison had been in Douglas, her apartment maintained a memory of her scent. I breathed in deep gulps, but nothing soothed me. I’d once likened her place to a blank space, and I wished I was wrong. Her sparse furniture, blank walls, down to the few pictures she displayed on random surfaces felt like a tease. As if Madison had been here but not when. Only the lack of staleness in the air supported my need to feel her surrounding me, which made her obvious absence even more painful.

I found a seat to wait for her. Hours passed without me moving. The sun rose and sank, welcoming the night, and still, I sat waiting for her to walk through the door. Another sunrise and sunset passed, and still, I sat waiting. She had to be on her way. She would show up.

My phone rang nonstop. Omar wanted to know when I would be in again because I hadn’t shown up for meetings; my pilots called to find out how long they needed to be on standby; and Ife… Seeing her name on my caller ID affected me the most. Although Madison’s letter didn’t name her as the reason for her leaving, she didn’t have to. Ife was the only person who could convince Madison to leave me, and from everything I’d seen, she’d succeeded.

By day five, the truth began to sink in. Madison had no intention of returning. She’d truly left me.