Chapter 385

On most days, Andrew Lane kept his true nature under wraps. But tonight, he let that violent streak break free, every ounce of his pent-up anger focused squarely on Kevin Lane.
Kevin stood there, brow furrowed, his voice steady but cold. “It’s late. What do you want?”
Andrew planted himself in the center of the living room, struggling to keep his emotions in check. His sharp eyes glinted, and his voice was rough. “Where’s my guy?”
There was no need for elaborate explanations between two men who knew how to read each other. Kevin knew exactly who Andrew meant the man Andrew had stationed to keep watch outside Emily Blair’s apartment.
Kevin’s expression remained calm as his weary eyes settled on Andrew’s face, scrutinizing, almost judging. “It’s late,” he replied quietly. “I brought him back to rest. You’ll see him first thing in the morning.”
Andrew’s gaze grew razor-sharp, his voice dropping even lower. “Where did you take Emily Blair?”
He had given his man explicit instructions: check in every half hour to confirm Emily Blair’s whereabouts. But tonight, Andrew had been tied up. Isabella Austin had needed him—she was pregnant, struggling with depression, and unusually clingy. He couldn’t leave her side, nor could he risk checking his phone and alarming her with talk of Emily Blair.
He spent nearly an hour soothing Isabella, sitting beside her until she finally drifted to sleep. Only then did he reach for his phone, expecting to see the regular status updates. Instead, apart from the first message confirming his man had arrived at Emily’s place, there was nothing. Not a single update after that.
By his calculations, his man should have been there for an hour, which meant there ought to be at least two more check-ins. But there was only silence.
Something had gone wrong. Andrew realized it immediately.
He sent another team to Emily’s apartment right away. He would’ve gone himself, but Isabella was startled awake by a nightmare and needed him to comfort her. She seemed so fragile, so anxious, that he softened his tone, never mentioning Emily or anything related to her, doing everything he could to keep Isabella calm.
Half an hour later, his men reported back: Emily was gone. The apartment was empty.
His first man’s car was still parked outside, but the man himself was nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, Andrew’s people were efficient within ten minutes, they’d dug up details about Emily’s school records. To pull that off so quickly, there was only one possible culprit: the grandfather who’d raised him.
At this point, assigning blame was pointless. What mattered now was finding Emily Blair.
Nearly two hours had passed; she’d almost certainly left by now, probably taking a bus or train out of the city. Andrew wasted no more time. He fired off a message to his team, ordering them to track down exactly how and when Emily had made her escape.
He was still sitting on the edge of Isabella’s bed, the room lit only by the soft glow of a bedside lamp and the pale blue light from his phone. One hand held the phone, the other lay motionless beneath the covers.
The stark light cast his features into even sharper relief, making him look colder, more menacing than usual. The tight line of his mouth betrayed the storm brewing inside him.
Isabella was finally asleep, and Andrew was ready to join the search himself. He put away his phone and tried to slip his hand free from under the blanket.
But as he moved, Isabella whimpered in her sleep, gripping his hand even tighter. The comforter slid back just a little, revealing why Andrew’s hand had been hidden all this time-Isabella hadn’t let go. She was holding on for dear life, her fingers wrapped around his as if she’d never let go.
Being pregnant and battling depression, Isabella’s moods were a minefield. For weeks now, Andrew had done everything in his power to cater to her needs, careful not to upset her.
So when she’d asked him to hold her hand until she fell asleep, he’d agreed without hesitation. It had taken almost an hour for her to finally drift off, still curled around his hand.