Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
I call the house. Mrs. Halloway answers, confused. She thought Mable was at the library as well.
“Already on it,” Tomas says before I can ask, pulling up the GPS tracker.
Jenson disabled it. I’ll kill him.
I storm out of my office, past Tomas calling after me, down to the lobby, where the guard looks up in alarm.
“Mable,” I demand. “When did she leave?”
“Sir, I didn’t see—”
“Find the footage. Now!” I bark.
They scramble. I pace, phone in hand, trying her again. Nothing. Trying Jenson. Nothing. I order Tomas to put everyone on high alert at the airport and anywhere they could try to leave the country quickly.
Then I put a BOLO on Jenson’s vehicle so every police officer is on the lookout as well. I watch the footage of Mable running from the building, then outside speaking with Jenson, the tears running down her cheeks ripping me to shreds.
My mom ends up showing up in the midst of all of this. My composure long gone, I threaten to fire the entire security team.
“You can follow the camera footage,” I say. “Track them through the footage.”
“Caldwell,” my mom says gently. “She left with Jenson.”
“He’s fired,” I grit out, but I get what she’s alluding to. If she’s with Jenson, she’s safe.
“You’re not firing him. He’s helping your future wife. She won’t allow it.” That catches me off guard. “Now do you want to tell me what you did to make her run?” Now she levels me with a glare, the same one that she’d give me as a child.
The tables have turned.
I tell her the CliffsNotes version. I was hoping to not have to let anyone know. To protect everyone. Cordelia was to simply disappear, but that’s no longer an option.
“I’m sorry,” my mother says. “I’m sure my actions have played a part in this.”
“We’ll talk about that all later. Right now, I need to find her.”
“Okay, then find her.” She stares up at me. “If anyone knows where she’d go, it would be you.”
“What if she’s leaving the country even as we speak?” I know I can eventually track her down, but that’s not good enough. I want her now.
“She’s not,” my mom says with utter confidence. “As much as Solaria already adores her, she adores them too.”
They love her; I fucking love her. It hits me hard when I realize I’ve never said those words to her. My family loves each other, but it’s not often said. My brother says it, but the rest of us don’t. Shit. I can’t fathom what she is thinking right now.
“Where would she go, Caldwell?” my mother asks. Then it hits me, the one place I hadn’t thought to call. I take off toward the door.
“Take my driver!” my mother calls after me. I do exactly that, hopping in the car, pulling out my phone, and telling the driver where to go.
The dress shop. It’s the place that she would feel safest at, knowing the women there will protect her.
When we make it to the dress shop, the windows are dark, a closed sign showing. I pound on the door anyway. I’ll give them a few more minutes before I break in. That will give the tabloids something to talk about.
The door finally jerks open. Natalie, the owner of the shop, stands there, arms crossed, blocking the entrance with her body. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Too fucking bad. I’m going in one way or another, but I’m not trying to dig myself a bigger grave. As much as Natalie is pissing me off along with Jenson, I love that they all want to protect Mable.
“I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?” Her brows rise. “You hurt her.”
“I know. I’m an idiot. I’m the biggest idiot who ever—”
“All I want,” Natalie interrupts, her voice dropping, fierce and maternal, “is for you to make her your future queen. For you to make it right—”
“I promise you, that is my plan. She’s my future queen. My wife. The mother of my children.” I pull out the ring box, small and worn with age. I don’t show her the ring. That’s for Mable’s eyes first. “I’ve been waiting for the ring to be resized. Got it this morning. I—” My voice cracks. “I thought I could protect her from everything, even my own stupidity. I was wrong. Please. Let me fix this.”
“Good because we all hate that cunt Cordelia; she’s a snake.” Natalie then steps aside.
I rush in through the shop, heading toward the back. Then I see Mable, sitting on a velvet couch in the fitting area. Her eyes are red-rimmed, her face pale, but she looks up when I enter—a glimmer of hope or hurt, I can’t tell.
“Beautiful,” I say gently.
“Don’t call me that!” Mable huffs, jumping to her feet, her eyes lighting up with fire. It’s sexy as fuck but not this time. “Why are you even here? I heard, and you know what? It’s fine, whatever. You didn’t have to make up the big plan to try and and and—” She can’t bring herself to say it because on some level she knows I’d never hurt her.